Arriving

From David......
Friday

Arriving in Israel always has a special significance for me. I always feel a sense of being home. Coming here from Poland brought with it a host of other feelings. This time I felt relief to be here. I also felt sadness that the Jewish Homeland did not exist when it was so desperately needed by the Jews of Europe. We landed in darkness on Friday morning around 3 am. We rode to Kfar Maccabiah in Ramat Gan outside of Tel Aviv, checked in, and went to sleep until 10 am. Only when we woke up did we see the Israel in the light. Our new day had begun.

This hotel, convention center, sports complex is really quite wonderful. I initially felt that we should be in the middle of Tel Aviv, but this area is lovely and the 20 minute ride to Tel Aviv is not difficult. Here is the website for kfar Maccabiah. http://www.kmc.co.il/en/

We started the day with welcomes from Shlomo Balzam, who was born in France in 1948. He is chairman of Alumim (children hidden in France during the Holocaust) and works to find documentation regarding French Jews who perished. He helped us to make the transition from Poland to Israel. I spoke with him about the French film The Round Up and Sarah's Key (he preferred the later).

We also learned more about the March of the Living program. In Hartford, Yachad is recruiting teens for this April and the Federation is putting together a group of adults. This will be a huge gathering. They are expecting 8,000-10,000 people. Anyone interested should call Heather Fiedler at Yachad or Cathy Schwartz at the Federation. We also heard about smaller groups that experience versions of the March at different times of the year. It is important for them to make it as easy as possible for groups to come.

We welcomed Shabbat with Rabbi Yonatan and Shana Neril. Yonatan is committed to focusing on environmental issues. He was ordained in Israel and founded the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development in Israel. Part of what they do is to run Eco-seminars in Israel. I learned that he was a graduate of the JCC preschool in Walnut Creek, CA where I was the executive director from 1988-1992, and went to the summer day camp there. Jews today live in a kind of universal Anatevka, making connections wherever we travel.

We lit the candles and welcomed the Shabbat together, followed by an amazing meal at the hotel