Good Morning!

I have to admit that I am very annoyed at this moment. I was sound asleep when I heard a faint knocking. It was persistant, finally I opened my eyes and saw that my roomate was not in the room and all the lights were on-on his side of the room. I don't get awoken feeling polite.

But I guess I was already annoyed because when we walked into the room there was only one bed. Back in Jerusalem, we saw that the 2 narrow beds were together and I saw what his eyes to be grow big. When he left the room, I decided to explore and sure enough the nightstands and the bed were movable, so I separated them. Certain straight men flatter themselves. All I could think was please. But, if it eased tension then fine.

But there were not two separate beds this times. I immediately said,"Let's go back down and get another room." But, we discovered around the corner was a couch and it pulled out. "I'll take the couch." It came out of my mouth and immediately I wondered why I would capitulate. He is the one who might have issues. (Not that I am a fan of sleeping next to a relative stranger, especially one who gave the impression he voted for Bush) He said, we could switch rooms (he didnt offer to take the couch) and I wanted to say let's flip for it, but was too tired to keep talking.

So when I woke up and heard knocking, I walked to the door and it is him and he asks, "where is the key?" "I dunno, I have been sleeping. What time is it?" "6:30" I thought, "Oh the phone should be ringing with a wake up call. or did I miss it?" I found the key within seconds and my roomate disappeared. He seemed odd, but I was barely awake. I jumped into the shower. Hmm, still no wake up call. Well, when I got dressed, I called down stairs and it was 4:40. Let's just be thankful I am a person of prayer.

So, in my haze I thought more about Ramallah. In fact, I thought about wiritng a sermon about how challenging it is to be open to the other's narrative. I thought I would be. I asked the Jews who were concerned about going to Ramallah, why did they feel this way. I said, "Can't we just go over and hear their situation. One doesn't have to take on responsibility, listening to another's story is what important. Can't we agree that their situation is sad at the very least."

True it is sad, but when the presenters rhetoric around Israel was charged and in my opinion misleading my internal protectiveness surged. Eyes locked around the room. But we sat their politely. I wanted to challenge some of the assumptions, but didn't feel safe. I forced myself to be open to what I could. Reluctantly. Then when we had an Israeli speaker from the American Jewish Committee, Eron Lehrman, and a Muslim reporter from the Jerusalem Post of whom we were told would present an objective (dangerous word) history.

Not only did they not present a history, they gave a fairly right wing pro Israel version of their narrative. The Muslim reporter was pretty powerful, I have to admit. Their treatment from a few Muslims of the group though was shocking in the force of their response and the desire to shut up the reporter. At first, I was uncomfortable, not with their message but with the misleading we had been given. Just as someone us felt "set up" in Ramallah, I could see how this must have felt like a set up. But then I was conflicted, we had listened to a painful and from my opinion and many other Jews, an inaccurate narrative but we were polite. I wondered if those who were challenging recognized the safety that being in Israel afforded them.

I haven't sorted all of this out, but here is the jumble: loyalty, loving the "enemy", honoring competing and conflicting narratives, the humanity of all, hospitality, representing all of one's people, the responsibility or lack thereof of our leadership, how to treat guests.


Well, it's time to get on a 9 and a half hour flight.


My prayers for New Orleans have been heavy on my heart.

Warmly,

Joshua

Sunday before going to Ramallah, I went to Sunday morning church services with Lanny Peters, the minister at Oakhurst Baptist, Darrell Elligan, Gerald Durley, Amira and Ken Brandt. While everyone else was going to an Anglican Church, St. Georges, we went to the Baptists Church of East Jerusalem. A lovely white haired Palestinian man picked us up in his van and it turned out to be the pastor himself. He was so happy to have all of us and so hospitable. What a gentle soul. He turned to me and said we have lots of Jews come to our church, but the Messianic ones, you will be the first regular Jewish rabbi ever to come. We introduced ourselves and the church was an incredible bastion of international good will. There was a Ghandian approach to the conflict. Blessings abounded for all people. Prayers were sung in English and Arabic. The Baptists in the group were blown away by my ability to offer up spontaneous prayer during the petitionary prayer. It was a powerful prayerful service shared by some of my favorite people.

Speaking of favorite people, I chose Tayyibah Taylor as my partner for the trip to Ramallah. She is a remarkable Muslim who founded a magazine to accurately acknowledge the celebrations and challenges of American Muslim women. She is one of the most open and accepting people. In Turkey when many Muslims did not speak to me in depth out of homophobia, she went out of her way to graciously meet me. I trust her implicitly and often work with her in interfaith settings. I knew this would be a challenging day.

Sitting in the front of the bus, we had a clear view of the wall that cut through the land. Graffiti marked the wall from the oft repeated expression "The Wall Must Come Down", we also saw F*&K all the Jews, Peace, Remember the German Wall and images of a silhouette of a girl with balloon floating above the wall and the swatiska equated with the Jewish Star. It was a hard site to see. A market place had sprung up around the wall and there seemed to be chaos around the check point.

We drove through and honestly what I saw was plain confusing. We had little context. There were some beautiful homes, unfinished buildings, ruins of house, empty lots. What had been bulldozed? What had been stopped because of funding shortage? What had been retaliation? What was simply in the process of being built? We stopped at the home of people the Muslims on our pilgrimage met the Al Aksa Masjid. They made us an incredible lunch and the men and women went into different houses. We had very little interactions though on the men's side. I made it a point to speak with a guy who was in his 20s and split his time between Ramallah and New Orleans . We did not talk about the situation, rather about his new child, his family and his job. We also spoke about discrimination of Muslims in Louisiana. On the women's side, it was very different. The hostess spoke of the Israeli's oppression and how horrible their life had become. This was upsetting to some of the Jewish women who began to disagree. It seemed like a tense experience. Leave it to the men to stay away from the hard topics/

We then had a tour guide join us on the bus. We stopped to over look some of the bombed out buildings and overlook the governmental compound that had once been Arafat's and now is Abbas' compound. An impoverished family greeted us and their children were excited to see and they handed us flowers. Our guide began to give us a pretty slanted view of Israel's role, anger seemed to seethe. As a group, the Jews were very respectful though we sought out each other's eyes for safety. We then toured the refugee camp, which was not what I expected. People lived in crowded conditions, the quality of life was equal to if not a bit better than my students who lived in public housing in New Orleans--though that is not saying much. But I was expecting total squalor and tents and it was not that. We then listened to Doctor Bahruti who came in second during the last election. He is someone who supports democracy and wants to put an end to corruption though he seemed very political. He founded a medical relief center sending 1.3 million Palestinians, 1/3 of the population. He claimed that a silent majority of Palestinians made up a silent majority who wants democracy Though he said several things that seemed inaccurate, he was more balanced than the first woman. He claimed that the main purpose of the wall was to steal Palestinian land not safety. He suggested that Sharon only promised to leave Gaza because he wanted to set up a distraction to the building of the wall. However he was barely self reflective and that has to be part of the solution I think. Why is the majority silent? He made comparisons to South Africa and apartheid. We left feeling pretty hopeless.

I will reflect more on this when I return home. Later that evening we heard from an Israeli speaker who was not much better. I will elaborate later.

Again, it is late and I plan to keep writing after I return. We leave for Paris tomorrow and the Atlanta the next day.

Shalom-Salaam-Peace,

Joshua

Pulling threads

Haverim,

Before I reflect on Ramallah and the last few days I would like to pull together a few threads of experiences.

Thank you David Lewis for reminding about our trip to Bethlehem. Indeed, in order to get to get to Bethlehem, we had to traverse through a narrow gap in the wall. Marc Crenshaw was my partner that day and I remembered gasping at what a horrible feeling it was. My eyes welled up in tears, as Marc put his hand on my shoulder. It was also a bit of a shock because no one had prepared us for this. The bus was abuzz, clearly many of us had a reaction. Later that night we were asked to check in about our experience. While many people shared about different things, which would not be appropriate for me to discuss, I spoke on the wall.

I shared with the group how the Wall was such a sad thing to witness. On one hand, I knew how it impacted people's lives and livelihoods. It separates neighborhoods that were once adjacent, but now takes a timely circuitous route to arrive. This means family and friends are now distant from each other. Travel time to jobs are increased and in some cases many impossible. Poverty has increased. On the other hand, I also recognize the relief in terror attacks that the wall has brought. It leaves me with the question of its necessity. Many of the other Jews on the trip are certain of its importance. I cannot say that I have this kind of certainty. Does it increase more hatred? More safety? More division? A haunting suggestion made by an Israeli speaker was that when the wall is complete will the 3rd intifada arise from within: the Israeli Arab citizen? No wall will be able to be built around them.

On the second go round, I also shared with the whole group the challenges for me as a gay man taking this trip encountering people who didn't know like my roommate Omer. Choosing whether or not to disclose when I was feeling so vulnerable in the first place just being in Jerusalem. I reflected on my first trip to Turkey when people were very upset that they may have to room with a gay or lesbian person since there were 4 out of 46 of us were. I reminded folks that while I knew my identity presented a religious or spiritual issue for them, it was in large part my experience as a gay man dealing with discrimination that allows me to open my heart to the other. The part that celebrates their difference comes from knowing my own. The part of me that is open to them in fact, is the part that many of them reject. As it says in the Torah, "Do not oppress the stranger, because you know the heart of the stranger."

Luckily, this has put people much more at ease. Though the 2 people who were not there, were my roommate Omer, and another guy Mansoor. Mansoor is a Muslim man in his twenties who studied in Syria for 4 years. He has an incredible devotion to his faith, speaks Arabic and has an incredibly open heart. The hilarity is that he was my seat partner the day after I shared with everyone. Shortly after he sat down next to me on the bus, he said, "So are you married?" I said, "No." "Is there a lucky lady?" "No." I was thinking how much I did not want to have this conversation. But ultimately, I thought, I needed to. "Mansoor, this my be distressing to you, but you should know in missing last night's group discussion, you missed my answer to your questions. I am a gay man." His response was completely enlightening. He relayed that earlier in his life he was much more immature in his response. He would have been upset. But he has met some gay Muslims in his travels and since then has come to the conclusion that it is not for him to judge, rather it is for Allah. We continued to talk and had a great day. He has been one of the people I have felt has brought a sense of calm and openess to this pilgramage.

The itinerary today is unclear and I am being called to the breakfast. Clearly, the ramallah visit and the ensuing meeting with a former Israeli intelligence officer currently working for the American Jewish committee is still stirring around me. I don't mean to be so vague, but I have so much to say.

I will write again today if I can.


Warmly,

Joshua

Haverim,
Right now, I am using an internet connection in a hotel lobby in the heart of West Jerusalem, the Kings hotel. It is hard to concentrate because there are dozens of orthodox children running around and slamming the piano. There has been a large orthodox contingent and they have had the most chaotic children and the hotel has has been a complete balagan.

I am also exhausted from the day because it has been the most trying. We have been to Ramallah. But I am get ahead of myself. It has been awhile since I have checked in. We left East Jerusalem for the north where we visited Christian sites around the Galilee. We went to Copernum, which was the site of the feeding of 5,000 at an old historic synagogue we also vegetated the Church of Beatitudes and the mystic city of Tzfat. There was a klezmer music fest when we arrived but barely got a chance to listen to. The evening ended with us going for a boat ride on the Galilee where we sang spirituals, Motown, and some Whitney Houston.

The next morning before we returned to Jerusalem, we stopped at the site on the Jordan River that was once believed to be where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. A large Christian group in white robes was getting prepared for an en masse baptism. Upon arriving in J town, we dropped our Muslim friends off at the Jaffa gate so they could go and say Juma prayers. Then we went to Machaneh Yehudah, the Jerusalem open air market where there were fresh vegetables, fish with wide eyes flapping around on the ice, bushels of spices, cookies, challah and falafel. It was packed because it was early Friday afternoon. We ate lunch together stuffing ourselves with our first falafel as well as barekas (stuffed pastries with spinach, mushroom, cheese or potato).

We had a very spirited Shabbat service at Shirah Hadashah, a modern orthodox synagogue with an egalitarian twist: there was a mechitzah which split the room and the ark; however, a woman led kabbalat shabbat for the community and the a man led ma'ariv. The mechitzah was removed for announcements. They have men and women read from Torah, give d'vrei torah. It is a very interesting concept. I had a wonderful time clapping and singing with all of the other pilgrims joining us. We then came back and had Shabbat dinner together. Unfortunately, one woman tripped and hurt her toe and had to go to the ER, but in the end everything was alright.

Sat morning, I went to services with my sister, Rabbi Ron Segal, Jan Swanson and Shelly Rose at a progressive synagogue called Kol HeNeshamah. There was a bat mitzvah service which was delightful. Afterwards at the oneg, a man came over to me and complimented me on my shirt. He asked after talking for awhile if I had been to the open house, which is the gay and lesbian community center in Jerusalem. I said, not this time. He smiled and said, "With your shirt and the size of your arms, I was able to pick you out." Wow! I was outted by my biceps. We had a nice walk through an incredible shabbat breeze. The weather was Jerusalem at its best.

After a bit of Shabbat rest we went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Israel Museum. My partner this day was Booker, a Muslim man in his 60s who is now a real estate broker, but used to play bass for Otis Redding. He is a completely wonderful man. We had a great time walking around the museum. The night ended with Havdallah followed by a trip to an Arts festival that was made a blast by my buddies, Tiffany- a Candler seminarian, Monica- a Columbia seminarian, Darell Elligan, Omer (they have been mentioned earlier). We laughed the whole way through. There was performance art with mimes, belly dancers and some interesting arts and crafts.

So, folks it is late, I will tell you about my tense day in Ramallah tomorrow. We wake up tomorrow at 5:30 am as we ready ourselves for Masada, Ayn Gedi and the Dead Sea.

Shalom-Salaam-Peace,

Joshua

Wednesday PART 1: Bethlehem and the Wall


Haverim-

My travel partner today was Marc Crenshaw. He is someone I have known for quite awhile. He and his wife have been over my house for a Passover Seder. He recently had a son. Marc is the executive director of the Interfaith Disabilities network. He is an incredibly bright, warm and funny guy. He has Cerebal Palsy. It was a powerful day and a wonderful opportunity to get to know him better.

We were sitting on the bus talking on the way to Bethlehem when the Jewish men were asked to take of their yarmulkes before we arrived at the check point. Though I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that we would have to encounter the Wall, I had not been emotionally prepared for it. A huge concrete structure that felt necessary on one hand and fearfully harsh on the other. A Protector of Life-- A Barrier for Living. I expressed this to Marc and he asked me how I felt having to take off my yarmulke. I explained to him on my first trip to Minsk that one of my group members kept insisting that I take off my yarmulke. She was horrified that I did not; especially in the Berlin airport. While couching it the language of fear for my safety, it became apparent that she was concerned for her own. I realized that my actions affected the sense of safety for the whole group so I was fine taking it off. In fact, once I was in Minsk, the body guards that accompanied also would not permit me to wear a yarmulke outside. (The second trip things were much more relaxed and not an issue.) So for the safety and well being in the group, I was ok with removing my yarmulke.

Bethlehem is one of the West Bank cities that is better off than most and still there is great poverty. Bethlehem was home to Naomi before she left for Moab and returned with Ruth. It was home to King David during his shepherding days. And of course the birth place of Jesus. Though no one explicitly made the connection, all 3 of these stories connect in a messianic lineage. We went to the Church of the Nativity, which is shared by three communities: The Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and the Armenians. It was a cavernous space in which the oldest part the walls were crumbling. We toured the believed spot of Jesus' birth. Services were occurring in 3 separate spaces.

On the way we passed the Grave of Rachel, but were not allowed in as it is a contentious holy site. After we went to a store that I nicknamed "JesusRus", it was a large tchochke shop that had knickknacks of all faiths but predominately Christian carvings. Needless to say, I went back onto the bus for a quick nap.

We passed the Shepherding Fields in the valley on the way to lunch. Then we returned and made our way to Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, is the Jewish peopleÂ’s memorial to the murdered Six Million and symbolizes the ongoing confrontation with the rupture engendered by the Holocaust. Containing the worldÂ’s largest repository of information on the Holocaust, Yad Vashem is a leader in Shoah education, commemoration, research and documentation

They have opened up a breathtakingly awesome new museum whic h is architecturally haunting. Marc and I made our way through the burgeoning crowds as we were forced by the design to zigzag through an incredibly detailed account of the vast horrors. At a certain point, due to time constraints, instead of fighting to read every placard, I began to tell him about my trip to Poland. At one point we both became choked up by the entire experience and it was not need to be stated because our awareness was shared that both of us would have been victims by the Nazi's regime.

Each of us is asked to give a reflection during the trip and mine was slotted for Yad Vashem. We made our way to the chapel in Yad Vashem, a beautiful space. As we chanted El Maleh Rachamim, the Jewish mourning prayer that asks for the souls of the departed to be bound with the Divine Presence. I told my stories and a crowd gathered beyond our 39. Many joined us in saying Kaddish. Afterwards, a man in his seventies walked to the wall of the synagogue and began to waiinconsolablyly. Caroline, a Christian pilgrim went to embrace him. He then sought me out and he hugged me tight and began to sob and shake in my arms. "Thank you rabbi, I need this. I needed this prayer." I began to sob with him in this remarkable sense of grace. There are times when a moment justifies one's entire path.

The bus is leaving, but when I return to the blog, I will share with you the challenges of our first real dialogue.

A good night's sleep is invaluable. It inspires optimism and goodwill. I went to bed last night at 10:00 pm ( way early for me) after sitting in a Bedouin tent with a group of the other pilgrims talking about the day's experience. There is a rooster wailing in the background and it makes sense why the first awakening prayer in Jewish tradition is "Blessed is the Source of all who gives the bird of dawn discernment to tell day from night."--except some needs to tell this rooster, he's a bit off. I woke up at 5 am by roommate's wake up call; the Muslims in the group start there first prayer before sunrise.

My "dance card partner" was Darell Elligan, a minister in North West Atlanta and currently the president of "Concerned Black Clergy." He is a great guy. He preferred to lag behind the group and so we were often bringing up the rear. We joked and laughed alot, which got us scolded at the Church of the Holy Selpuchre.

Yesterday, we walked all through the Old City with its twists and turns, a sacred labyrinth punctuated by long stretches of hawkers selling their wares in between holy sites. We saw the typical T-shirts even in the Arab quarter of Nike Ads that said "Just Jew it!" and the Superman logo with paos that read "Super Jew". We started in the Jewish Quarter as we traveled under the city in the excavated caverns. I joked with my fellow Atlantans that this was just like "Ruby Falls". We learned about the First and Second Temples , the Israelites, King Herod, the Romans and the Mamelukes, (Egyptian Muslim Slaves who were brought to Jerusalem and they overthrew their masters and took over the city redesigning it). To think of the technology back then used to carve through mountains is unfathomable to me.

We then went to Al Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, above the Western Wall. Non-Muslims are not allowed in these sites at the moment, a political decision, not a religious one (but can you really distinguish the two? not so easily here in Jerusalem.) A Muslim woman spoke about prayer and they went into the sites as we explored the massive courtyards and the exquisite mosaic and calligraphy on the Dome of the Rock. By this time, the sun was already beating down hard.

We then made our way back to the Wall, here I distributed the rest of the prayers that I had not put into the Wall underneath the City. Same Western Wall, just one part is submerged. So, many pilgrims were honored to share in helping facilitate Bet Haverim's prayer and place them in the Wall.

After lunch, we went back to see the Christian sites. St. Anne's Cathedral was filled with tremendous arched ceilings that allowed for an 11 second echo. We sang as a group together with the falls bouncing the sound all over and then we listened to one of our pilgrim's sing His Eye is on the Sparrow. Then we went to pools of Bethesda, which were dried up because I could of gone for a dip, the sun had made me weary. Here was the pools that people used for healing and in the New Testament, Jesus performed miracles here. Bethesda-- is English for Bet Hesed, House of Compassion. We traveled the Via Delorosa, the stations of the cross and arrived in the Church of the Holy sepulcher: it is here that is believed Jesus is buried. I went into the tomb which was highly claustrophobic, and then one of the priests made his way in and saw that there was a strange liquid right by the burial site. He started yelling at us very distressed. It turned out that one of the other priests had just added oil to the lamps inside and had spilled some of the oil.

Then we split up as a group, some going home and others of us staying. Mishele and I decided to go off on our own. We walked through the Muslim market place really saddened by the desperation in people's stories of the dearth of tourists. Mishele bought a blouse in one place and I a Jewish star in another. People asked us if we felt safe, and we did. The hospitality that many of the Muslims offered us, hot tea as well as great pressure for the sale! was genuine. Shortly afterwards we hopped into a cab that took us to the main center of the city. We shopped some more where Mishele bought a beautiful star and chamsa. I found my friend's coffee shop and he happened to be in and Mishele and I split a carafe of fresh lemonade with mint and a salad as we listened to David Ehrlich tell us about the year he lived in Atlanta and was part of CBH. We updated him and I hope to see him later in the week.

Well, breakfast calls. Our trip to Hebron may be off, so that is a disappointment but we will see what the day holds....

Grateful for sleep,

RJ

This morning we spent in the Old City. I prayed a quick shacharit at the Western Wall after a long wait in the security line before enterring. We toured the rabbinical tunnels underneath the city and walked a good part of the length of the Wall underground. Fellow pilgrims helped in finding places, both above and below ground, to place the prayers from our community. The notes have been delivered.

I will write more later...

J

Do you ever feel cursed?

My curse of late is water damage! Water in my old office, my new office and of course the water from the faulty roof that caused incredible damage to my home.

I have been sitting here in the hotel's Computer Center answering e-mails and all of a sudden I heard a huge noise right behind me. I jumped out of my seat and inches from my head, a ceiling tile fell-- a LARGE ONE--and now water is dripping through all over the floor.

Well, perhaps I am blessed-- it didn't hit me in the head. Let's pray for no more loud bangs, my hair can't get any whiter.

Headed back to bed,

Joshua

Shalom Haverim-

We have all safely arrived in East Jerusalem. It is 3:00 am here and I have been up for an hour. I am wide awake, though I only went to bed at 11:30 Jerusalem time. Jet lag is going to hit hard, no doubt.

At Hebrew School, the morning of my flight, many people gave me tzedakah (charity) to distribute when I arrived in Israel including one entire classes charity collected from last year. After we gathered as a group on the flight for a brief prayer and a reflection for the journey I began to hand out the money to other people and explain to them the custom. To be a shaliach mitzvah, is to be engaged in or on the way to doing a good deed. There is the belief in Jewish tradition that if one is on his/her way to perform a good deed than no harm will befall him/her. I shared this belief with many as I shared CBH's hoped for a safe flight for all of us.

The flight on Air France was fine. I was seated next to Mishele, my sister, which was fun. We played games and talked for most of the flight. My Survival Guide: Worst Case Scenario travel cards were a big hit as a group of us took turns asking questions from the ridiculous: "What is the safest way to approach a seal?" to the dangerous: "How can you use your children to frighten off a mountain lion?" to the practical: "How to dress for a plane crash?" Sleep was a fickle friend on the flight, maybe I snagged an hour or two.

The group has seemed to calm down a bit. Already, there is a greater ease in speaking with each other. In Charles DeGaulle airport, I had an intense conversation with two Christians over baguettes and cheese. There are so many layers: race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age and they are so on the surface with a group like this. It's a wonder that we ever come out of our own small sheltered groups--but I guess that is the beauty of us too-- we change and grow and so we too, are not a static, fixed being.

Ah, speaking of sexual orientation, my roommate is a 24 year old Muslim man named Omer. A very nice guy, who was the only person that had trouble at Israeli passport control. 30 minutes later after heated questioning he was let through. He joked that my attempt to have a single room failed. Just as we were falling asleep, he asked "You're married, right?" OY! "No," I said, a bit refreshed that there was still one person in Atlanta who didn't know my sexual orientation. Already half dozing, I thought is this the time I want to have this conversation. I decided against it hoping a simple no would suffice. He was recently married 8 months ago, so still in wedded bliss, I imagine--or perhaps moving out of it, he asked, " So are you one of those cynical guys who don't believe in marriage, thinking no one is ever good enough?." "Nope, that's not me?" "So you do want to get married one day?" "Yep!" "Oh, that's good!" With the lights off, I smiled thinking of the ludicrous nature of half truths and the irony of fighting for the right of marriage, all mixed with a little guilt that I didn't mention that I had a Jewish wedding with my former partner. Ah, step by step, we get to know each other.

When we arrived at the Israeli airport in Tel Aviv, it was much more subdued than I had been warned. Virtually no one had orange ribbons (against the disengagement from Gaza) nor blue ribbons (for the disengagement), people were just lined up to see their loved ones! It was only until we were on the bus that we saw the orange ribbons on antennas or inside cars, a few blue ones as well. Graffiti marred the highway embankment with messages of protest. Our guide Gila is a former Conneticut Yankee who has been in Israel for over 30 years and our bus driver is Riyadh, a Muslim Israeli Arab--our travel agent is an Arab Christian.

We stopped on the Mount of Olives with a breathtaking view of the Jerusalem and the sun making it descent behind the Dome of the Rock. The sky was glowing and we listened to each of our trip leaders (one of each flavor: J,C,M) give a reflection. Arab children came by and ran in an out of our circle. They laughed and tried out their few phrases of English. One sat next to me and kept squeezing my bicep and slapping me on the chest as if the were proud of his new donkey or trying to sell me off. We lingered with the city in our eyes for a bit.

Arriving at the Ambassador hotel in East Jerusalem at 7:30 we quickly got ready for dinner. After dinner, I led a group of people (most went to bed) to the Old City. I had never entered in on the Muslim side but I was excited to show a group of 14 of us one of the most beautiful places on earth. We passed the Kings Tomb and the Garden Tomb, where some folks believe Jesus to be buried. He didn't make any appearances last night We also saw where the buses take groups of Palestinians back to their homes in the West Bank. As we wound up and down hills, we arrived only to find the Damascus Gate completely strewn with garbage, which makes sense because it is an open air market. It looked filthy. I was sad that this was some folks first impression of the Old City, but truth is truth. I did joke out loud, "if the garbage of the holy city was holier than other garbage?" As we filed down the steps, we saw groups of Muslim people gathered, some were cleaning the ground and in their midst were a couple of Hasidic Jews walking hurriedly through the Muslim quarter. Interesting juxtaposition. We walked back under a swollen waning moon. It look like an apple with a bite out of it. The breeze was amazing.

I hear sounds but still most are sleeping as they should be! Our bus leaves at 7:45 for the rabbinical tunnels under the Western Wall. Today, we will be visiting the wall and I will be putting the prayers of our community with the prayers of so many others.

Be well,

Joshua

Haverim (friends)-

People keep asking me if I am nervous going to Israel during such a tumultuous time. The truth is I feel like if it is not one tumultuous time it is another. I love going to Israel- though my first time was rough; I expected a magical feeling and instead I kept getting pushed out of the way waiting for buses. Though after numerous visits, there is such chutzpah mixed with holiness mixed with the love/hate family relationships tied up in intense politics.

I am much more nervous that my group of 39 Jews, Christians and Muslims have not had any discussions about what we will find. This feels very vulnerable to go with people of other faiths while I feel so conflicted about the occurances in Gaza. I know that I have the tendency to hide things like this within the "Jewish family"; yet the whole world is watching anyways. The cover story on yesterday's NYT was heartbreaking though--a woman (settler) was being carried out screaming by a female Israeli soldier who was crying.

I am looking forward to sharing this experience with my sister who was invited on this trip by the organizer. Sharing such a meaningful place and trip together will be something that we will never forget. My World Pilgrims trip to Turkey was such a powerful experience thatI look forward to meeting the new folks as well as deepening my friendships with those from the past trip. Each time my hope for humanity is strengthened. My journey begins with my seat mate on the plane who is a Muslim journalist close to my age. We should have interesting stories to swap.

I do not know how much if any computer time I will have while I am away. I am hopeful so I set up this blog. Keep us in your prayers for safety and harmony.

Warmly,

Rabbi Josh