Alliance community mission a life-altering experience

The group take a moment for a photo in front of the Benno Elkan Knesset Menorah located on the edge of the Rose Garden. It was created in 1956 by Benno Elkan and is 5 meters high. /Marty Cooper

Earlier this month, Alliance Board Chair Sharon Gaines and I had one of the singular thrills of our lifetimes co-leading our Alliance Interfaith Leadership Mission to Israel. Accompanied by Rhode Island government, business, clergy, legal, philanthropic and policy leaders, we traversed the country from modern, high-tech Tel Aviv to old-world Nazareth, from an evening boat ride on the Sea of Galilee to an afternoon camel ride near the Dead Sea, and from the multifaceted splendor of Jerusalem to the religious solemnity of the Old City.  The 18 members of our group were led throughout our journey by a most magnificent tour guide, Nomi, a fiery Yemenite grandmother and former jeweler (who used to conduct business in Rhode Island).  

Along the way we were challenged and educated by an incredible group of speakers, including David Horovitz, the erudite founding editor of the Times of Israel; Bill Grant, the accomplished Deputy Minister of the United States Embassy in Tel Aviv (whose wife’s relatives live in Saunderstown); and Amit Segal, the engaging anchorman and political correspondent for Israel’s Channel 2 news.

Asher Abraham, an innovative Israeli crowdfunding investment guru, spoke to us as did Kobi Merom, a retired, captivating IDF colonel; Dany Terza, a brilliant military strategist who built the West Bank Security fence; and Ksenia Svetlova, a passionate Knesset member from the Zionist Union opposition party who is a staunch two-state solution proponent.  

Viewing the Holy Land through the eyes of first-time interfaith travelers was enlightening. I will never, ever, forget the collective images of our group ascending the magnificent Mount of Beatitudes; walking where both the Last Supper and the Immaculate Conception were believed to have occurred; praying together at the Western Wall; witnessing some of our travelers dipping their rosary beads in and bottling the baptismal waters of the River Jordan; marveling at the playful dancing Hassenfeld Fountain at the multicultural Teddy Kollek Park; and fighting through tears and stunned disbelief at Yad Vashem.  

We had so many other once-in-a-lifetime experiences.  For instance, how powerful was it for us to take private tours of Independence Hall in Tel Aviv and the Knesset in Jerusalem with Speaker of the R.I. House Nicholas Mattiello, RI Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed and Central Falls Mayor James Diossa.  How fortunate that we were able to have lunch with the staff and residents of the Yemin Orde Youth Village along the Mediterranean,  a fascinating academic and social laboratory for teen refugees from Ethiopia, Russia, Israel and now, not surprisingly, France, in the company of R.I. State Board of Higher Education Chair Barbara Cottam, R.I. for Community and Justice Executive Director Toby Ayers, and diversity experts and consultants Linda and Charles Newton.  

What an opportunity to examine the Israeli terrain and eco-systems with R.I. Department of Environmental Management Director Janet Coit, and learn about Israeli innovation, public policy and government alongside R.I. Foundation Vice President of Development James Sanzi, United Way EVP for Community Investment Adam Greenman, and governmental and business lobbyist attorney Chris Boyle.  

How gratifying it was for Dr. Margaret Van Bree, president of RI Hospital and Hasbro Children’s Hospital, to be given a private tour of the Hadassah Hospital trauma center by an Israeli doctor who is coming to Rhode Island this spring.  And how lucky we all were to have the head of the R.I. State Council of Churches, the Rev. Dr. Don Anderson, provide spiritual and religious guidance throughout every inch of the journey.

In 1961,  legendary Broadway composer Jerry Herman created an unforgettable musical about the State of Israel titled “Milk and Honey.” In the title song, Herman wrote that Israel “is the place where the hopes of the homeless and the dreams of the lost combine. …This is the land that heaven blessed and This lovely land is mine.” Almost 55 years later, I am trying to determine whether such words were prophetic, timeless, hopelessly naive or a combination of these and many others sentiments.

David Horovitz referred to the Middle East as “the dinner guest that will not leave.” Clever yes, but I am searching for a more powerful answer.   To do so, I need to process certain other emotionally impactful moments during and after our Mission to provide me with some direction.  

I first remember the day we took jeep rides across the Golan Heights and the Druze neighborhoods, stood upon a mountain where we could see Syria, Lebanon and Jordan all at once, and heard thunderous rounds of gunfire between Al Qaeda and ISIS emanating just across the Syrian border.  

I next think about standing below the West Bank separation barrier abutting Bethlehem, wondering what exactly transpires in the neighborhoods and settlements on the other side of the “fence” and still remaining incredulous having learned that at least a dozen Palestinian terrorists are apprehended with weaponry each month at such a checkpoint. I then think about our group walking happily and worry-free through the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, only to learn about the brutal terrorist attacks in Paris the night before we flew home, and then the five heartbreakingly senseless murders that occurred in Israel Nov. 19.  

Before any more dread and unease overtakes me, my mind travels to the spiritually joyous Shabbat dinner we conducted at the Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem,  the childlike frolicking we experienced together alongside hundreds and hundreds of others in the Dead Sea during Shabbat and our remarkable closing dinner in the heart of downtown Jerusalem on Nov. 14.

At that dinner, each one of our group paid moving tribute to the Mission, the life-altering effect Israel had upon us, the unbelievably close friendships we had made in one week’s time and the fact that no one could ever read about Israel in the newspapers with the same lens as they did prior to participating in the Alliance Mission. The conversations we shared with one another, the joint initiatives we are already planning to benefit the entire state of Rhode Island, and the lessons we learned from Israel and her proud citizens are firmly ingrained in all of us.

Does Israel still remain the proud land of Milk and Honey?   Interestingly enough, Herman also wrote a lyric in that title song to the effect that the “honey’s kind of sweet, but the milk’s a little sour.” And maybe that little quip from 1961 singularly captures the complexity that is the State of Israel and the Middle East in 2015. There simply are not, and may never be, any easy answers. But if you have never traveled to Israel, or have not done so recently, I encourage you to do so, and try to answer this question yourself.

JEFFREY SAVIT is president and CEO of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.