Shabbat Shalom from Russia!
Shabbat Shalom from Moscow!
By Cantor Shira Lissek
Mi-shenikhnas Adar, marbim b’simchah, “from the beginning of the month of Adar, we increase our joy.” On the recent PAS Women’s Israel Trip, 37 women ages 38-83 increased our joy as we built connections with each other, celebrated Rosh Hodesh Adar with the Women of the Wall in Jerusalem, visited galleries in Tel Aviv, hiked in the Negev, and strengthened our bond with Israel. It was an honor and privilege for me to be a co-leader of this first-ever PAS Women’s Israel Trip together with Debbie Cosgrove.
Our six days were packed with new and inspiring experiences. We began in in Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev. Just as the Israelites experienced freedom in the desert, so too did the desert setting free us from the distractions of our daily lives and of city living. Hiking in the Machtesh, the Ramon Crater, we climbed through the breathtakingly beautiful geological layers and learned that they were not exposed by a meteor impact, but carved by flowing water over the hundreds of millions of years since the Negev was covered by an ocean. There we meditated, connecting with our souls and each other. We also learned about David Ben Gurion’s vision that “the future of Israel lies in the Negev,” and asked ourselves what will be our contribution to the Jewish People.
On our way north to Tel Aviv, we visited Moshav Netiv HaAasara, located on Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip. We counted off 15 seconds together – try it, it’s not very long. It was sobering to learn that once a siren has sounded, 15 seconds is all the time residents of the moshav have to take cover in one of their many bomb shelters.
In Tel Aviv we delighted in the art scene and were moved by a tour of the Yitzhak Rabin Center, where we were thrilled to meet and hear from his daughter, Dalia Rabin-Pelossoff. Next we headed to Yerushalayim, where we heard from women who are leading the way in raising the status of women in Israel, continuing dialogues for peace, and working to create a more pluralistic egalitarian practice of Judaism in Israel.
On Friday morning, January 31, we joined the Women of the Wall for Rosh Hodesh services. The night before, many of our group had concerns and questions about what would happen there. Would we be threatened or welcomed at the Kotel? I explained how important it was to me to be able to find my voice in prayer as a woman and as a cantor. Many of the women in our group were inspired to buy tallitot that night so that they could wear them the next morning in solidarity with me and the Women of the Wall. The next morning we prayed, sang, danced, and listened as two Bat Mitzvah girls read Torah at the Kotel. (There was no actual sefer torah as the women were not allowed to bring one to the Kotel plaza, but the service was complete and beautiful and peaceful.) I was moved to tears when we sang the Sh’ma and when we sang Ozi v’zimrat Yah from the Song at the Sea: “The Lord is my strength and my might; God is my deliverance.” I remain tremendously grateful to the women on our trip for their support and solidarity.
Throughout the trip, we met incredible women with great vision and inspiring leadership. They taught us that change is a process that takes persistence. On Shabbat morning, we learned about the month of Adar, Shabbat and making our connection to the divine from Rebecca Sykes, Jewish Yoga Guru. Teaching that “If you believe/engage/stretch/reach into that which you cannot see, it will lift you HIGHER,” she inspired us to turn upside down and stand on our hands in order to increase joy in our lives. We were particularly moved by Rabbi Tamar Applebaum, who founded Zion, a new pluralistic, egalitarian, singing Ashkenazi and Sephardic community. We were thrilled to join her there for Kabbalat Shabbat services.
It was hard to end the trip, but we all know that coming back to NYC was not the end, but the beginning of new friendships and inspiration for initiatives in our community. One of the women who spoke to our group, Hamutal Guori, quoted an African proverb, telling us: “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.” That wisdom will serve as our motto as we continue our Jewish journey. I look forward to increasing our joy and the joy of our community this month and on into the future.