Day One:

It was a truly beautiful day filled with awe-inspiring moments, facts, tours, descriptions, long walks, new sights and smells and… a day that required stamina and patience.  See, there was a massive labor strike in Israel over the proposed layoffs of 1700 workers at Teva Pharmesutials, the largest generic drug company in the world and every segment of the population in Israel was affected by the strike, including the airport where the passport workers struck from 8am-noon.  This mayhem and other odd travel adventures resulted in plenty of exhausted, weary travelers and changes to our Day 1 itinerary.  While waiting close to 2 hours in the airport for the second half of our group to arrive, Gabi, my 16-year-old mentioned that one of her favorite sayings is Se’mu Lev: Pay heed.  Pay Heed–Pay attention, don’t miss anything and everything is important! Pay heed–we might not have planed the day the way it turned out… but don’t ‘zone’ out, don’t miss it, even if you don’t like it.  Se’mu Lev: Be where you are. Be present.

There is a beautiful Piyut, liturgical Poem Odeh LEl which perfectly expresses the idea of Semu Lev: Pay attention to your own soul. She is beautiful and calls to you. And as my friend Rabbi John Bush reminds me, Se’mu Lev–“put your heart into it” Pay close enough attention that you can hear the call and prayers of your heart and the whispering of your soul.

One of the stops we made today,  Independence Hall deeply touched my soul. On this 6th night of Hanukah, the retelling of how David Ben Gurion declared Israel a state was reminiscent of the Maccabean struggle.   Our museum docent was incredible and the story of the founding of this Country in the midst of war, hatred, alienation, and destruction is quite simply… a miracle.  At the end of the tour we sang Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem and there were tears shed by many of us.  Although words today like “homeland” have great political conotations, I also recognize that Israel was born out of great necessity and remains a haven for Jews fleeing hatred and persecution. When paying heed to this story I can feel the miracle of the birth of the State of Israel in my kishkes–from deep within.

Also,  knowing that for one-day thousands and thousands of Israelis went on strike and shut down the country today in solidarity with 1700 people also reaches me and reminds me that sometimes, family does support family.  Yes, not always, in fact not even most of the time here, but every so often, they get it right.

Se’mu Lev~ today was indeed a day to pay heed.

Greetings from Tel Aviv.