The North is Healing

The early morning mists began to burn off revealing the Haifa harbor below. Like Portland, Haifa is built on hills with winding roads. The sky cleared into another warm and beautiful day. Haifa is a city that sparkles.

Haifa is unique not only in its natural beauty but in the ways that the Arab Muslim, Christian and Jewish populations intermix. There is a peacefulness here among the diverse populations that one rarely sees in Israel.

It is hard to remember that only a few months ago, Haifa was under fire.

We met in the morning at city hall with Zvi Dahari, Deputy Mayor of Haifa. He welcomed us graciously and told us about the challenges of last summer. With a moving Powerpoint presentation, we saw pictures of the aftermath of the ketusha rocket attacks. The destruction from the rockets was bad enough, with some making craters through three floors of apartment buildings, wreaking devastation along the way. But what was not always reported in the press was that the warheads were packed with ball bearings and other shrapnel to make sure they would kill as many civilians as possible. Indeed, missiles would often be sent along the same trajectory hoping to kill some of the first rescuers. The deputy mayor spoke of many miraculous instances of the unaimed missiles destroying areas right next to hospitals and other institutions which would have killed untold many. And the death toll was so low because of the many shelters and safe rooms in people’s homes. The entire city lived under constant fear as the warning sirens gave people no more ten seconds to get to a shelter. Arab, Christian or Jew, parent and children, were all wondering when the next rocket would fall.

Our group was very moved by what the city had endured and the courage to live under fire. We were told that reconstruction began immediately after each attack, even when the missiles were falling. Every effort was made to keep life as normal as possible. We wanted to know how to help the city rebuild and heal, and there were many discussions of projects that CBI could get involved with. Those conversations will continue. Everyone is concerned that there may be another war soon and that the northern cities may again be under fire. Today’s newspaper headlines seemed to echo those fears.

From City Hall we traveled to Leo Baeck Education Institute (www.leobaeck.org.il). There we were met by my childhood friend Rebecca Kristovsky whom I last saw 17 years ago (hi Becca!). During the Lebanon War I read daily e-mails from Becca who detailed life under the constant threat of rocket attack. It made the situation very alive for all those who read her missives.

We began our tour of Leo Baeck, the Reform Movement’s premiere community education institution in Israel, in the parking garage. There Rebecca told us that during the summer war, Leo Baeck opened its garage as a safe day care center for children in the community. Some 400 children took refuge in the improvised summer camp, where a parking garage was converted with games, inflatable bouncing toys, movies and art projects, into a children’s safe house.

We learned about the mission of the school, which is to provide an excellent secular and Jewish education and to provide a wide variety of services to the community. Before Leo Baeck it was unheard of to provide a serious Jewish education outside of the Orthodox schools. We toured the high school and the preschool (lots of cute children in Purim costumes), and learned about plans for an elementary schools. We even learned about a Portland connection to the school, with a tree of life sculpture dedicated to one of Portland’s own. I have been a supported of Leo Baeck for many years and was very impressed to see the new building and all the programs they are doing.

We gathered in the auditorium for a brief ceremony with music and readings. There we heard from Dan Fesler, headmaster of the school who talked about the difficult times the country is going through, with scandals on every level of government and the dangerous situation in Lebanon. But, he noted that there are always difficult situation, and there is always a need to educate new young leaders in values that will guide them in the future. Then we heard from some of the young people themselves. A group of very impressive 10th, 11th and 12th graders – shared with us their experiences at school, and for many of them their experiences as “ambassadors” in the United States. We were all moved by their eloquence and energy.

From Leo Baeck we drove north to Nahariya. Our first stop was the Western Galilee Hospital, the largest hospital in northwestern Israel. Situated only six miles from the Lebanese boarder, it was the primary site for taking care of the wounded during the katusha rocket strikes. We toured the bunkers which became the underground hospital during the war. The hospital itself was struck by what was termed a “baby katusha,” which meant it had a small charge and no shrapnel. We saw the extensive damage that even this small rocket caused.

From there we stopped at the Reform synagogue in Nahariya, Congregation Emet v’Shalom – “Truth and Peace.” They were fortunate enough to have a new building which they are renting thanks in part to the Israel Emergency Funds raised by the Federation. We met with members of the congregation, including a 13 year old boy – a recent émigré from Argentina, whose aunt was the first civilian killed in the summer war. We heard other harrowing stories from that time. Over 400 rockets fell into Nahariya and members of the Reform synagogue were among those personally affected. The congregation help organize, along with the World Union for Progressive Judaism, a caravan of buses to take those who wanted south and out of danger. Others chose to stay in their homes out of defiance. Some have lost faith in the army to protect them. Everyone believes that the war is only in a state of pause and that sometime soon the war will resume and rockets will fall again.

Seeing the courage and determination of those who live under fire, we are encouraged. But we know that Israel continues to need our support. The young man who lost his aunt told us it never occurred to him to return to Argentina. “This is our home now,” he said. The rabbi of the congregation said that it was better to live free but in danger, than to be safe but live with the Anti-Semitic oppression he knew in South America.

After we returned to Haifa, I had to bid farewell to the group as I returned to America. It was sad for me to separate from everyone. We have been through so much together in only a few days. I loved being able to share the Israel I knew, and discover so much that has changed, with this wonderful group. There will be time to reflect and time to plan how we can tell the story of what we have seen. For now, I wish everyone a wonderful Shabbat in Eretz Yisrael. L’hitraot.

(N.B. the blog will continue with other contributors over the next few days.)