Friday was
the final day of planned programming for the teacher delegation. I awoke in the morning to no heat and temps
in the mid 40’s. Instead of returning to
our match school Dorot, I was invited to an Orthodox Religious public school,
Netiv Zevulun, which is matched with the Hillel School. Upon arrival I was
warmly greeted by the principal, Menachem, as well as a number of teachers
involved with the “Bridge.”
The school
day was going to begin with a special Shacharit service that had 2
additions. The first was because it was
Rosh Chodesh Adar, the Fist of the month of Adar the service would include
Hallel prayers and a Torah reading which is not regular on any given Friday
morning. The second part was explained to me when I asked why so many adults were
in attendance were. In Israel they do not celebrate Mothers’ Day. Last year I
learned that the Arab’s do celebrate a mothers’ day. Rather, they celebrate Yom
Mishpacha, Family Day. Menachem said they made the entire week family week. The parents were there with their children
and at the end of the service they sat together to study about Purim.
The
service was Orthodox with a mechitzah, set up in the gym. The women and girls
could not see or hardly heard the men and boys. Menachem offered me a seat in
the front row but no siddur. I also did
not bring my tallit or tefillin. During the Torah reading the first aliyah was
for a Cohayn, the second for a Levite, and the third and fourth for the general
public, Yisrael. Menachem motioned to me
to come up for the 3rd but I shook my head no. I explained that I am a cohayn, often
connected with my name, Katz, and therefore did not come up for those aliyot.
After the
service there was coffee, cookies and cereal for the kids and guests. It was wonderful to see the small groups
gathering for conversation. We then reconvened in the library where the
teachers brought in food for the guests.
Besides me there were also teachers from the Hillel School as well as
the principal Tracie Glazer. It was very lovely and they displayed their
pleasure for our presence.
Menachem
asked if I then wanted to just walk around or go into a class. After saying I’d
do what he thought best. He brought me
to a 6th grade boys class and introduced me as Rabbi katz from
Rochester and told them I would talk about the different streams of Judaism.
This is the third time he told the students that they would be exposed to
something more than Orthodox Judaism. Later at a final meeting with his
teachers and the Rochester teachers I thanked him for being so open and
positive. I emphasized that my congregants and others like to know that there
are these positive relationships between Orthodox and non-Orthodox since they
often only here about the tensions and struggles.
In the
class I spoke about Rabbi Sapowith being a woman as well as Elise in her
cantorial role. I told them that girls have Bat Mitzvah at 13 like the boys and
surprising for them, girls are called to the Torah and lead the service. I
explained that even though I fast and pray on Yom Kippur I do drive to
services. In Israel even most of the secular
do not drive on Yom Kippur and the roads are empty. They asked lots of
questions and couldn’t quite get either the equality issues or the reason we
choose not to do many of the ritual practices. The teacher was helpful and
explained that it was a different way to practice Judaism, making no judgments. After class she told me the boy who did the
most challenging earlier had questioned her why they only get one opinion and
do not bring other opinions on various subjects. I not only taught but continue to learn from
the students from the questions asked.
At the
concluding discussion in Menachem’s office there was an exchange of gifts
between the two schools and his statement of a strong commitment to the
Partnership and the educational bridge.
From there
all the teachers gathered at the Modi’in municipal library for lunch a final
assessment of the trip. There was a mixture of opinions in regards to the
schedule of the program as well as to the new perspective of the pilot program
of Standards and Benchmarks. Some felt more preparation was needed before the
teachers arrived. Some wanted more time
in the classrooms to which they are matched. A few who have been to Israel
before felt the touting was not necessary.
There was even a suggestion that to make the pilot program and
connection between individual teachers stronger that perhaps delegations would
go not for one but for two years. All were appreciative of all that was done
for them and the graciousness of their hosts both at the homes and in the
schools.
Vicky and
I went to YOZMA for the tefillot for Shabbat.
Rabbi Nir Barkin lead the service and Vicky’s granddaughter, Noam, was
one of the three talented musical accompanists.
She plays the guitar and sings. Once when she visited Rochester she
helped with music at a summer service. I
was greeted by many congregants I have gotten to know over the years as well as
from Rabbi Barkin. He welcomed me and
the delegation officially and honored me by calling me to open the ark for
Aleinu, along with Carol Greer.
One of the
teens who was there from the youth group is among the students coming to
Brighton High School in March. Two of the adults have sent children on an
earlier exchange and two adults were part of our Partnership’s Ramim, adult
exchange program.
After
dinner we went to Vicky’s son Natan and Sigal’s for dinner across the street
from the synagogue. At dinner Noam had a
friend over who participated in Journey for Identity in 2013. The dinner was
highlighted by a tremendous downpour of hail.
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