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Impressions Of The UJC Leadership Mission
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2.8.2006
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By Moraia Tafla GLK chair
The David Continental in Tel Aviv was buzzing with activity the night of the 25th of July. The Conference room downstairs was filled with guests, old friends and acquaintances, hugging and smiling, catching up. Representatives from the northern P2K regions were invited to meet and share their stories. The Nahariya group received a loud applause when introduced. These northern partnership regions have endured so much, and have been indeed helped greatly by the UJC.
Being one of the six representatives of our Central Galilee P2K region on that night, I felt privileged to perceive once more the definite statement that was made there in Tel Aviv that night. This solidarity mission was made up of people from all over the US, and no matter what status or background, the statement made was: we are here as concerned people, and we are here for the people of Israel in these dire times. We believe that we are one, we are committed, we are with you. And you are with us.
I personally take the " I believe " statement as the key element . Only a believer can make the decision to board a plane to a war zone. The belief that THIS is the time to do something that really matters, The belief that being in Israel and learning firsthand and physically how we are coping in our lives under fire is the way to learn. Listening in order to be shlichim and spreading the word back home of what is really going on in Israel in these difficult times. For us Israelis it was a wonderful opportunity to hear the side of our partners, how the war is perceived in the US, either by the press or by the Jewish congregations.
The guest speakers each emphasized a different aspect of the war. Avi Naor talked about the children, Julie Tamir about the shared fate of Arab and Jewish citizens under fire, Ron Huldai spoke about the importance of continuing cultural events to give a break to our citizens. All these issues are most pressing, even though we haven't even touched the economical consequences of the war. The loss of income, the damages done to houses and infrastructures. No doubt we are to feel the outcome of this war for a few years to come.
I would like to thank all mission participants for caring and daring and sharing. For believing and listening and learning. It was a very touching experience to see so many of you having organized yourselves and taken time off from your lives to be here with us. I smile when I think that we are connected in more ways than we can imagine, that the Jewish community is after all a small one where each of us knows at least one other mutual friend. After this evening, we have linked our community even closer…
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