Day 9: Packing and Unpacking

I am now sitting in my hotel room in Tel Aviv, with my clothes strewn all over the place and postcards all around me trying to figure out who I can write to in the next 45 minutes, while I pack, shower and make sure I don’t forget anything behind. As I write this, I think about how we worry about forgetting things behind when leaving places. Of course I am talking about material things, but I feel that this applies so much more to our experiences in these times and places. As I wrote last night, my biggest fear is forgetting the lessons learned. As I pack things up to head back to LA, I too will be trying to unpack all the conversations, all the sights and sounds, the laughs and the tears, hoping that as I am putting everything into my suitcase, I have also put all these experiences in my heart.

The last two days here in Tel Aviv were a large change from the other 8 days spent here in Israel. First of all, Tel Aviv is the super metropolis of Israel, very modern, very beautiful, as it sits on the Mediterranean Coast. It is a very cosmopolitan city, and it is hard to imagine that this is also the Land of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus and the twelve Apostles. I wonder what Jesus would have thought about the thirteen story hotels and surfers along the ocean boardwalk. It’s a far scream from biblical times, and so the ability to reflect has been a little more challenging. Of course fatigue has also set in.

We started yesterday by visiting another school that has partnerships with schools in Los Angeles. I filmed most of the parts of the students speaking, and I will work on posting the conversation because I always find the voices of the students to be very accurate and innocent to the realities that the youth of Israel face. Please look back for that.

We then continued on to the Yitzhak Rabin Center. It is a new memorial museum, remembering the life and work of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who worked diligently towards peace between Israel and Palestine. He was assassinated during a peace rally here in Tel Aviv. After the experience of hope from visiting the Hand in Hand school, the Rabin Center was a shot of reality. I walked out of there challenged again by the reality of peace here in Israel. I know that this will not be something that I will easily forget when I get home, and I am working on finding my place in the peace building process.

In the evening we were joined by students from the Bina Secular Yeshiva, which is a house of Talmudic study for high school graduates doing an interim year of study and volunteering before entering into the Army. I don’t know if this is the best explanation, but I am trying to be brief as I look at the clock and the need to shower and pack. I was incredibly impressed by these young adults who are known here in Israel as secular because they do not follow the Orthodox laws of Judaism, but they have a desire, as one student said it, “that burns within him”, to study and learn the Judaic writings of the Bible and Talmud. They do it not so much for religious purposes, but because it is a part of the Israeli culture, and they feel that it is important to know that history if you are going to know yourself. I saw a lot of parallels between many Catholics in the US who identify themselves as Catholics by culture but not by practice. It was amazing to see the close relationship that they have, and it was a great opportunity to help share with them the realities of our Catholic faith.

As the evening continued on our conversation would shift from religion to politics and then to the conflict, and I feel that I was able to articulate my hopes towards the road of peace. I am a firm believer in education as a tool to achieve justice. I feel that, as the Hand in Hand school demonstrated, that education will be key to Israel and Palestine’s peace. Only when each community can begin teaching the other to see eye-to-eye, rather than inciting more misunderstanding and confusion, then peace will be found. As I was sharing this with Bar, who finds himself a minority in the voice of his people, when he speaks about peace and supporting Palestine, he screamed a great Amen, and there was kinship in that moment that I will not forget. His affirmation of my thoughts tells me that I am not alone in thinking this, which means that we have moved one step forward in achieving this. Step by step we will get there.

As I finish this up, I want to thank you for following along on this journey with me. I will continue to write when I return, and will be inviting my students to share their thoughts on the lessons that I bring back. I encourage you to continue revisiting this site, and continue to share your comments because the best thing that can come from all of this is dialogue. I will continue to pray for peace in the state of Israel, and hope that you will continue to join me in this prayer!

Paz, Shalom, Salaam, Peace

Day 8: Friendships Forged

Tonight will be my last night in Israel. My last 24 hours has begun, and I don’t know if there will ever be enough time to understand fully all that I would like to about this Holy Land. When I was in Micronesia I feared coming home. I was afraid of the culture shock and the change of pace, and the unpacking of so many lessons learned, and so many lessons still needed to be taught to me. I have no doubt that similar challenges await me on my return home, but my time in Micronesia has taught me not to be afraid, but rather to be blessed and honored by the challenge to unpack all the time and heart moving experiences that we have had. The most important part about going home and unpacking, and the aspect that made it most easy for me, was sharing my story. This blog has been a great source of reflection for me, and I am grateful to all those who have read it, I hope that you share this with as many people as you would like. I wish I could stay up and write more, but I cannot keep my eyes open, I guarantee I will return, because there is much to say about my visit to the Yitzhak Rabin Center, a walk through an open air market, playing in my first drum circle, Swimming in the Mediterranean, and an amazing dinner with students whom I love. I love you all and will be back to write more soon!

Day 7: From Pain to Hope

Today is a day that brings hope! We packed up and departed from Galilee this morning and headed southwest to a town named Misgav to visit a school. Not just any school, but a very special school that is working on bringing peace to Israel, two students at a time. The School is named Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel. It is a bilingual education school that brings students from Arab villages and Jewish villages, and puts them in classrooms together to work on learning both Hebrew and Arabic, as well as parts of each others cultures and traditions. It was an incredible place to see. For many reasons, but most especially for the fact that peace is happening and it is possible. There is not doubt that it is a struggle, which they named, but it was not and will not be a deterrent for the people who are working at the school, and for the families that choose to take a stand for peace and send their kids to the school. There are a lot of problems a bilingual school may encounter. This has clearly been an issue in the LAUSD school system, so you can only imagine how much more complicated it gets when you add a national conflict that has been going on for many years into the mix. Some of the problems that they have faced is the need to develop a brand new curriculum that will work for any student, coming from any background.

Choosing holidays for example, can be a very challenging thing. Between the Muslim, Jewish and Christian holidays there would be no school! So they take a few holidays from every tradition, and try to balance it out for each community. The one holiday that I found to be most exciting and fascinating was what they call the “Feast of Feasts”, which celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah, and the Islamic New Year together. To carry out these plans they have an extra large staff, one Hebrew speaking teacher and one Arabic speaking teacher in ever classroom, as well as two co-principals.

These schools have been in existence for going on twelve years, and have had tremendous success with every class, yet it is getting harder to keep the class sizes balanced with a 1:1 ratio of Hebrew and Arabic speaking students. The students pay a large social price, because they do not return to the neighborhoods of their classmates in the evenings, yet we were assured that sleepovers still occur. This school clearly is going against the main stream of thought in Israel and Palestine, but it is working to build bridges between the two communities. The strength of the staff and the students to be so brave and strong brought me great comfort after days of confusion and questioning. The principal, Orna Eylat, who spoke with us, ended by talking about the way they teach about the history of the state of Israel. She said that the students will write a new chapter in history, one they will call “From Pain to Hope”, and they will live in a place where peace is not only possible it is celebrated.

Day 6: Swords into Plowshares

Today was a day spent on borders. I have included some maps, so you can understand the size and nature of Israel, in comparison to California, and then its locations in regards to other countries. It blew my mind to be driving around today and staring across borders of other countries, especially countries with which Israel has a very volatile relationship. Although we drove along side Jordan to arrive in Galilee, it was only today that I realized how close we are to so many countries. Israel is a small country. It is not easy to notice when you look at a map up close, but it is actually smaller than Lake Michigan, and you can drive the entire country in a day. As we drove around today, the remnants of past wars could be seen along side the road. In signs that posted danger of mines, in abandoned bunkers, and in tanks and military patrol vehicles that are constantly vigilant of the two countries that border them.


I feel very fortunate to have the guide that we do. He is very knowledgeable about the area and the history that has lead the country to look the way it does. Much of our mid-day conversation surrounded the Golan Heights and Israel’s relationship with Syria. It makes such a huge difference in understanding the conflict that the Golan Heights presents when you can actually see it in person. You can begin to see the strategic and defensive value in having a place like the Golan Heights, when you are standing upon its ridges staring down at Israel on one side and Syria on the other. As with many things I have been writing about, there is no easy answer as to what should happen with the Golan Heights. The one thing that has been very powerful for me is the education in the history and seeing first hand the locations and how they exist in proximity to everything else.

In the latter part of the afternoon we were joined by a former Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Colonel, Kobi Marom, who was the Brigade Commander of the Eastern Front, South Lebanon. He gave us a very detailed tour along the Lebanese Border sharing with us his expertise and knowledge of the First and Second Lebanon War, and the current situation between Israel and Lebanon. To be able to have someone who had experienced the battles of the wars was very informative. The Colonel also shared his perspective on the current diplomatic issues that Israel faces with different countries in the world including ours. They all tied back to Iran, and the dangers of its nuclear proliferation, which hopefully are not news for you. He shared that the issue of Iran’s attempt to develop nuclear technology, should not just be something that Israel is concerned about, but one that the whole world needs to be concerned about. He shared the realities of the current armament of Hezbollah and the dangers that face Israel because of that. As I mentioned earlier, Israel is a small country, and due to the close proximity of these countries, one could throw a stone and break a window in another country. With rockets one can do far more damage. It seems to me that the question of peace has just gotten a lot harder.


To enhance our tours alongside the Israeli borders, we were joined with several IDF soldiers, who shared their personal experiences in serving in the army. Two female soldiers joined us early in the morning, and will be spending about a day and a half with us. As we were going to different sites of former battles, I asked one of them, Liora Manelis, if she knew all of the information we were getting from our guide. She answered, “Of Course, you need to know where you were, to know where you are going!” She stressed the importance of knowing one’s history, in order to make the right stand and make it well. Knowing her history is vital for her to serve in the army, because how can she fight for a nation that she knows nothing about. Hearing her say this reemphasizes the importance of studying our own US History. It is not something that we as Americans should take for granted, but unfortunately how many of the US Citizens can actually tell you about the important aspects of our US History?



At the end of our day we sat down for dinner with six other IDF soldiers who are working on the front lines along the borders, in the most vulnerable areas of Israel. This was probably the most enlightening not only for myself, but I hope also for the soldier who I shared a meal with, Ido Amar. One of the struggles that Ido shared with me at dinner was his thought that all Americans think that they are baby killers. When we asked him why it was that he thought that way, he responded that it was the way that the news portrays the IDF. He also shared that a number of soldiers believe that the reason Obama is being so harsh on Israel was because he is a Muslim. This idea again, as we Americans know, came from the US media. We were very quick to explain the misconceptions that the media had put out there, but just like toothpaste out of a tube, once its out, you can’t put it back in without making a mess. Too often does the media make a mess of situations when pulled out of context and are far from accurate. These two examples are excellent case in points. Obama is not a Muslim, and all IDF soldiers are not baby killers. It is a tragedy that it is so hard to find quality unbiased news media anymore, and that so many people make presumptions on the news that they do receive, which has lead to much hate and violence towards another group. It is impossible to escape, so how do we find accurate information about situations, before passing judgment on the situations and how they occur?

Again, I am at a place with many questions and few answers. But I am not left without hope. Another stop along the way today was the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. The passage reads:

Matthew 5
1 AND seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set down, his disciples came unto him.
2 And opening his mouth, he taught them, saying:
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.
5 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
6 Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blesses are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.
10 Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: 12 Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.
13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men.
14 You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house.
16 So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

As I sat there on the Mount overlooking the Sea of Galilee, I thought of Jesus. I thought about all that he worked and died for. Perhaps I haven’t been the only one asking the questions of peace and justice, because here Jesus seems to be addressing them. They may not be concrete answers, but then again when did Jesus ever give concrete answers? Although he may not be offering me answers, he does offer me hope. And as I stand on these hills of land mines and tanks, I pray as the prophet Isaiah prayed centuries ago. I pray that, ‘He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.’ Is. 2:4

Day 5: Standing in Discomfort

My legs are so sore from my hike down the mountain of Masada yesterday. I can only imagine what the Jews and Romans must have felt like. Today, we started off by listening to a speaker share with us the importance of perspective when looking at museums. In this case in particular she was talking about the Holocaust museum. We spent the first half of the morning visiting Yad Vashem, which is the Holocaust Museum here in Israel. If you have ever been to the Museum of Tolerance in LA or the Holocaust Museum in DC, you might understand the challenge that perspective brings to viewing the Holocaust, especially the importance of Yad Vashem. What our speaker shared with us was how each of the American museums views the Holocaust from an American perspective. When you visit Yad Vashem, you see the Holocaust through the eyes of Israelis, through the Jewish community that sprung out after the Holocaust. It is never a comfortable thing to share in the experience of pain from the Holocaust, but it is important. Our job is to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. If we ever find ourselves slipping into comfort, we may find ourselves forgetting the important things we have learned. It is a difficult place to sit in discomfort for that long, but it is what motivates us towards change, and to make sure things like the Holocaust do not continue to happen. My thoughts as I walked through the museum today were of pain and challenge for all of the genocides and mass killings that have happened post-Holocaust. The situations that are happening in Darfur and the Congo, in Sudan and in Iraq, are clear examples that we have grown comfortable, and are willing to turn our eyes from what might be painful to look at. These atrocities continue as long as people let them. A quote that stood out to me today while at the museum was, “A country is not what it does, it is what it tolerates” – Kurt Cholsky, German Essayist.

What evils do you allow to happen around you? What role do you play in stopping or perpetuating the issues of Genocide in our world?

On our way out of Jerusalem, we stopped by to learn a little about the Israeli Supreme Court. We then made our way up north towards Galilee, along the Jordan Rift Valley, driving through the West Bank, at times write along the walls that have been put up between Israel and Palestine. These walls were put up after the second Intifada to help prevent suicide bombers from entering Israeli communities. They have been left up ever since, and continue to be a very controversial issue here in the country. I cannot pretend that I know enough about them to tell you what I think, because after many of the speakers we have heard, I have learned that I know very little about the situation here, and I need to learn more before I pass judgment. What I can say is that looking at these walls remind me very much of the Peace Walls I experienced while in Northern Ireland that were put up between the Protestant and Catholic communities, to keep people from hurting one another. It also reminds me of the wall along the border of Mexico, which has worked at keeping immigration from Mexico into the US down. In the end walls are walls, and will keep us from one another, will keep us from seeing eye to eye, and unless we make a point to move beyond comfort we won’t be able to make progress on bringing those walls down.

We continued our way along the Jordan River, and made a stop at a Kibbutz. A kibbutz is a collective community that is established as an attempt at utopian society, where all is shared, and all receive the same, as much as one needs. It’s an amazing attempt at socialist living, but as we learned today, it has experienced its challenges with sustaining its way of life, from where it started in its precepts during the 1920’ until now. Kibbutzim (plural for Kibbutz) started as agriculturally based societies, where every aspect of life was taken care of by the community, food and clothing, hospitals and Education. This worked out for a while, but recently the impracticality of socialism has begun to set in, with the youth of the Kibbutz wanting to move out, not enjoying the lifestyle, because they want more. The Kibbutzim have begun making changes and taking steps away from their socialist ways, to now adopting capitalistic ways. The way the guy showing us around told explained it was as an evolution of the Kibbutz movement, because if it does not evolve it will perish. He also said that some Kibbutz communities have been able to maintain their socialist ways, but mostly because they have the money to support it. I wonder if it is possible to have your cake and eat it too. It is difficult to say what will become of the Kibbutz, but for now, we are staying at one, which has developed a very nice hotel. So, perhaps I can share more with you after spending more time at one.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I would love to hear what you think, so please if you can leave a comment I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts.

Day 4:We Belong to Each Other

I am losing steam. My body is worn out and I need to sleep. Today was not as busy as the past few days have been, but it was a lot more time in the sun and I think that wore me out. We started our day by going to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. There we were able to finish the last few Stations of the Cross that ended in the laying of Jesus in the tomb. The most interesting aspect of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is how the different Christian traditions divide up and share the different sections of the church. The church is split between the Greek Orthodox, the Armenian Orthodox, and the Roman Catholics, which here in Jerusalem are known as the Latin Catholics. Things have not always been cordial between these three different religions. In order to keep things smooth and to keep peace between everyone they formed an agreement known as the “Status Quo”. Which means that everything that each of the Christian religions had at that time, would keep those things and only those things. One of the most interesting examples of this was a ladder that sits on a ledge outside the main entrance. The Greek Orthodox were using the ladder to clean the windows before the agreement was signed. After it was signed they wanted to get the ladder, but the Armenian Orthodox said that the ledge was theirs, therefore they could not get the ladders. And so the ladder has sat on that ledge for over 100 years. Nothing is simple here in Jerusalem. We all may worship the same God, but the differences that we have can sometimes be barriers to seeing God in one another. Mother Teresa said that the problem with our world is that “we have forgotten that we belong to one another”.

What is it that keeps us from one another? How can we remember that we belong to each other?

Following the Church of the Holy Sepulcher we departed through the Mount of Olives to get a great view of the city, and then headed out of Jerusalem to head south east towards the Dead Sea and the town of Masada. Masada was the place where the Jews made their last stand against the Romans after the second temple was destroyed. It is a powerful sight to see, as you approach the mountains you find a flat mountaintop that was once Herod’s palace. Because of its high location it served as an excellent fortress and a safe hide out for the Jews after the Romans kicked them out of Jerusalem. It took the Romans seven years to get to the Jews, and finally the day before Masada was over run, the Jews decided to take their own lives rather than let themselves be taken. I got a chance to hike down the mountaintop, and it was tough, and so hot. But, I can only imagine what it must have been like to be a soldier at war in the region, fighting for your life or fighting to keep your family safe. It was humbling to be able to go down in the same way that the Jews and Romans would have done so 2000 years ago.

After the hike down from Masada we stopped at a Spa & Resort for a quick “float” in the Dead Sea, which was such a crazy experience, but enjoyable none the less. We then headed back two hours north to our hotel to listen to another speaker. Tonight’s speaker was an Israeli Arab Muslim, who works as a journalist of the Jerusalem Post. It was another challenging evening of eye opening experience and perspective. It was as if he spoke directly to all my thoughts and questions about the issues in Palestine and the current struggles of the people. What it boiled down to for him was the need to clarify that being Pro-Palestine is not being Anti-Israel. Unfortunately, what he has found, especially in universities across the US, is that most groups that are supporting Palestine do not fully know the realities of the situations in Gaza, due to the lack of quality and factual news sources coming from the region. He admitted to the fact that there is no freedom of the press in Gaza, and the fears of writing something that would look in anyway negative of the government can result in your disappearance. It is so easy for me to take for granted the freedom of speech that I have as a US Citizen, and one that also exists among the Israelis, which is why, as an Arab Muslim; he chooses to write for an Israeli newspaper. Because it is there that he is given a platform from which to speak, a voice to share with the masses and all those that want to hear. Unfortunately, not many people want to hear the realities, and I have to admit that I was one of them. I have come here with my biases, and my world has been rocked upside down. I am learning a lot, and it is very clear that God is with me every step of the way.


I returned to the Western Wall to pray again. My prayer is one for peace, for the City of Jerusalem, which finds so much conflict. I ask you to join me in this prayer, because there is so much need for it here in the City of Peace.

Day 3: Death and Resurrection

(This is reflection was written in two parts and are annotated in that way, it was also written yesterday, but I ran out of internet time to post. In a way it works out because it fits very well with today's post, enjoy)

I am frustrated.

I am challenged,

by the realities that exist here in the Middle East,

The realities that build walls rather than bridges.

I am challenged.

I am challenged by the cacophony of sounds that break the peace of silence

I am challenged by the silence that breaks the hopes of those not allowed to speak

I want hope.

I want peace.

Are prayers enough?

What will work?

Out my window I hear the prayer call of the Muslims,

Out my window I hear the church bells resounding

Out my window I hear the Holy Land

Where is the peace?

Where are the voices of those who have been silenced?

Where can we find peace?

Today has been a day filled with the challenges of the conflict of Palestine and Israel. As we stood at the foot of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, praying on the Southern Steps. In the same place where it is known fact that Jesus walked, to enter the Temple Mount, we stood there in prayer, we were watched by Muslims in the Mosque, peering through windows. Were they curious, where they upset, were they hopeful? My emotions have not been as evocative as they have until now, and it is these frustrations that have been building that leave me near tears now. Perhaps it is a combination of the tiredness, I get emotional when I am sleepy.

As we tried to cross back over to the Israeli side, coming back from Bethlehem, it was very clear that the Israeli Forces did not want to make it easy for us. Frustrations rose as we were made to wait, and were not spoken to, and when were spoken to, were spoken at very harshly. Why, because we were with Palestinians and Israelis together? God only knows what it was that held us up. But it became very clear to me that they do not make it easy for anyone to cross into Bethlehem, and that alone is a slow psychological form of oppression.

Lord, I beg you to please help me, rest my heart. Help me to be present to this moment, keep us safe, and please Lord, on this Easter day of Resurrection, I ask you to bring new life, bring your paschal mystery to this land, much in need of your love. Bring love and understanding to the people of the Middle East, and all those around the world, who have suffered from brokenness and lack of love. Help us to love, Amen.

(It was at this point I stopped writing and departed for the evening, the following is a reflection of what happened in the second part of the day)

Earlier today, I was experiencing a deep sense of desolation, struggles and inner turmoil with my own heart, my openness, and myself. I realized that my heart had not been as open to the moments of this trip as it needed to be. As we walked to dinner tonight, the realizations came to fruition through conversations with some of the teachers in our group. As we arrived at our dinner I knew exactly what I needed to do. My heart called me to the Western Wall. For all of dinner I fought back tears of emotion, for what, I cannot tell you exactly, but I know there was a lot going on there. Perhaps it was for all of the emotion that had been dwelling within me, desiring to come out at every Holy Site we have visited along this pilgrimage. So after dinner, a few teachers, Rabbi Hal (our guide and my good friend), and myself went to the wall. Along the way we encountered a Jewish woman. We engaged her in a very enlightening discussion on her personal views of the possibility of peace. Several of the things that she spoke brought me to tears, but I held back the flow. As we walked on to the wall or Kotel, as the Jews call it, all the emotion that I have been feeling for God knows how long began to surface. The moment my hand and head touched that wall, there was no more holding back. The flood of tears came running down my face, as all of my prayers went running up to God. Ironically, this Psalm that I had prayed earlier in the day fits so well with this experience. With God there are no accidents.

Psalm 137

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept

When we remembered Zion

There on poplars we hung our harps,

For there our captors asked us for songs,

Our tormentors demanded songs of joy;

They said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How can we sing songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.

May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth

If I do not remember you,

If I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.

It was a very deep and mystical experience that I won’t be able to explain. But I do know this. There is a power in prayer, and as I sat praying at the Kotel, at the foot of the Dome of the Rock, I felt that my prayers joined with the prayers of the Jews and the Muslims who pray in that same proximal space. I felt that my prayers were to serve as a bridge, connecting and binding us together. This is my hope, that I may be an instrument of peace, and a builder of bridges for a world divided. Will you be willing to help me, because I won’t be able to do it alone?

Peace and blessings to you on this most Holy day of Easter!