More Jerusalem & the CCAR Conference Begins

Tuesday was our last free day before the conference began in the evening. We decided to sleep in again, though not too late as to miss breakfast. We sat on the enclosed balcony, with a spectacular view overlooking the Old City. Serena and Dan joined us at our table, as we looked around and continued to recognize more and more familiar faces. After we had eaten to our hearts' (and tummies') content, we hopped in the car and drove to Ein Kerem, the neighborhood which is home to Hadassah Hospital. There we entered the synagogue to view the famous Chagall Windows, depicting the Twelve Tribes of Israel. For a small fee we listened to a recording which described each of the windows in great detail.

After a quick trip to the gift shop, we split into two groups. Shara and Dan made their way over to Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to the Holocaust. Serena joined Daphne and me for an afternoon at the Biblical Zoo. While Shara endured a highly emotional experience touring the museum, sculpture gardens, and various memorials at Yad Vashem, Daphne and I enjoyed being outdoors on a beautiful afternoon visiting the animals and spending some more time with our friend, Serena. Daphne enjoyed all the different species of monkeys and apes, as well as the felines. The elephants and the giraffes were also fairly impressive.

From the zoo we had to rush back to return the rental car, and then we walked a short block back to the hotel, where we met up with Shara, Dan and a number of other colleagues who were arriving by the dozens. We made our way upstairs in order to wash up and change for the conference's opening dinner.

We convened in the lobby of our hotel, meeting up with several more colleagues and their spouses. Then we walked next door to Merkaz Shimshon, the convention hall on the campus of the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion (behind/part of Beit Shmuel) for the opening reception of the CCAR conference. Over 300 Reform rabbis, and many spouses, and some children squeezed into a tight room for some light appetizers and drinks. It was here that I met up with Rabbi Stephen Einstein, "my rabbi" who I grew up with, along with many of my classmates, former mentors and friends. It was fun to schmooze, though they had some live music that was very loud, and the hall they had us in was very crowded.

Following a few welcome speeches from the convention chair people, we were directed upstairs to Blaustein Hall for dinner. Blaustein Hall's claim to fame is a spectacular stone's throw view of the Old City. We were invited to a table by some of our friends, including Dan, Serena, Rabbi Todd Chizner (Temple Judea of Manhasset) and his wife Lauren (SAJES) - all former classmates of mine, and a few other old friends. In between courses, there was a lot of shuffling from table to table in order to greet friends and make plans to catch up later. The evening was capped by a visit and greeting from the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat.

Wednesday morning began with a short trip to the neighborhood of Talpiyot. My cell phone seemingly died the night before, and I had to run out to the nearest service station to get it fixed. I was at the shop just after it opened at 8 am, and I was surprisingly back at the hotel in time to attend the CCAR business meeting which began at 9:15 am. For those of you who know Israel, you will understand when I say that this was pretty miraculous. One of the orders of business was to pass a resolution calling upon the government of Israel to recognize Rabbi Miri Gold, a Reform Rabbi (who happens to be a woman) here in Israel, and to cease discrimination against non-Orthodox Jews. In Israel, Orthodox rabbis receive government salaries and funding. Currently, non-Orthodox rabbis do not receive the same treatment. If you would like to lend your name in support of this cause, I strongly encourage you to follow the link and sign the petition in support of Jewish pluralism in Israel: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/arza-miri-gold/.

At the conclusion of the business meeting, which included the election of a new slate of officers, we split up into our "Tikkun Olam Excursion" groups. I signed up to be a part of the group dealing with the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, where we participated in a dialogue at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer (next to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher) with Lutheran Bishop Younan and Archbishop Aris Shirvanian of the Armenian Patriarchate, and then we bussed over to the Ministry of Religion where we met with a Muslim Judge (similar to family court.) Shara and Daphne joined me for this extremely interesting and informative afternoon where we learned quite a bit about how Christian and Muslim Arabs view their Jewish counterparts and their take on the path to peace. (Perhaps the most surprising part of the day was how well Daphne behaved!)

We returned to the hotel and went back up to our room for an hour to rest. Then we met up with Dan and a few other colleagues and walked to the center of town for dinner. Of all places, we wound up at a Japanese Sushi restaurant. After a long dinner, we went back to Ben Yehuda Street and shopped for another hour before returning to our hotel for a good night's rest. Tomorrow we will spend a full day in Tel Aviv with the conference...