Israel's 70Th

Vol. VI, No. 2 ______________________________ In this issue: Israel's 70th Cantor Rachel Rosenberg on aspirations and reality Yael Hoffman on growing up as an Israeli American A Basa mother/daughter interview on making aliyah Elliot Gershon on a 46-year US-Israeli collaboration Art and poetry by Shelley Kaplan and Robert Hutchison ... and more Volume VI Number 2 Contents Introduction 5 When Aspirations Meet Reality: Connecting to Israel, Past, Present, and Future 6 by Cantor Rachel Rosenberg The Listening Wall, a poem 10 by Shelley Kaplan with art by Robert Hutchison Growing Up as an Israeli American 12 by Yael Hoffman Making Aliyah: An Interview with Leah Basa 15 by her mother, Rhea Basa A Family's Bumpy Road 18 by Irene Glasner The National Institute for Psychobiology in Israel: A 46 Year 21 American-Israeli Collaboration to Support Research into Nervous and Mental Disorders by Ronen H. Segman and Elliot S. Gershon Impurities and Sacrifices, Israelites and Israel 25 by Rabbi David Minkus This American Shabbat 28 Jonathan Lear, Joanna Martin, Anna Siegler Rebel without a Clue: A Date with a Dusty Piece of History 37 by Jeff Ruby Congregation Rodfei Zedek www.rodfei.org 5200 S. Hyde Park Blvd., Chicago, Illinois 60615 3 4 Introduction to Volume VI Number 2 This year on April 19, Yom Irene Glasner, lived there for a time. Some, Ha'Atzmaut, we celebrate the 70th like Elliot Gershon have lived there and anniversary of the Declaration of the maintain professional relationships. Some, Establishment of the State of Israel. We're like Shelley Kaplan and Robert Hutchison, made conscious of the Land of Israel, both have visited. Some, like Leah Basa, have in our secular lives – by the daily news – made aliyah. Our different backgrounds are and in our religious lives. In synagogue as reflected in the contents of this issue. we near the shema we speak of being brought to our land from the four corners of As we celebrate with Israel, we may the earth; sometimes we sing those words be guided by our community to new to the tune of Hatikvah. On Shabbat we all understandings. One starting point is recite a prayer for our country and then suggested by RabbI Minkus: "Israel needs pray, "Bless the State of Israel, [that it may to begin with joy. We have the land of be] the beginning of our redemption." Israel, not a longing or a hopeful prayer but a place.... our concern is understandably Our relationships to Israel are protecting its borders, but we can never complex and evolving, as our Rebel Jeff neglect the necessity to protect its soul." Ruby recounts. While his story is his own, it has elements in common with each of ours. In this issue members of our Congregation describe all sorts of ties to Israel. Some, like Yael Hoffman, were born there. Some, like Editorial Board: Shirley Holbrook Andrey Kuznetsov Joan Neal Joseph Peterson Past and current editions of this publication are online at http://www.rodfei.org/To_Learn_and_To_Teach 5 When Aspirations Meet Reality: Connecting to Israel, Past, Present, and Future by Cantor Rachel Rosenberg others had made their way to the young When I was State of Israel. A cousin in Israel was not very young, my only a relative I had not yet met, but part of mom would often the emerging story of the Jewish state – a tell me stories. place I had dreamed of visiting as long as I Entertaining and could remember, a culture whose modern true enough to Hebrew language I was learning and whose maintain her music was sung to me as lullabies. I was credibility, her ori- hoping to make the dream a reality as soon ginal stories would as the opportunity and resources arose. also convey an important life les- Through my mother’s portrayal of the son, thrown in for young country whose birth she remem- extra impact. bered, I felt especially connected to my far- away cousin, whom I considered my Israeli One of my favorites was the story of counterpart. We were, after all, the same a cousin I had never met (true), a girl my age. We were both named after the same age living outside of Tel Aviv. This parti- common ancestor, our great-grandmother cular story conveyed more than one life whose name was Leah. My middle name lesson, including the importance of was Lea (without the final “h” to be connecting with family, the importance of “modern”) and my cousin was named connecting with family members living in “Liora.” I had no idea what Liora looked like, Israel in particular, and the importance of but in my mind’s eye, she had the same relating to Israel itself – as family. dark hair and dark eyes as I did and we could be mistaken for sisters. I imagined, These stories helped me grow to however, that unlike me she had an added understand that Israel’s land, history, glow from the Mediterranean sun, growing people, and culture were parts of our up in the pioneering spirit of building and extended global Jewish family. Our cultivating the Land, the country, and its connection to Israel was inseparable from emerging culture. our Jewish American lives and was to be valued, nurtured, and cherished. Fast-forward to the summer before I started college when I was fortunate to Ours was not a large family (at least embark on my first trip to Israel with a small not since after World War II), so any group called “The Chicago Community relatives living anywhere in the world were Project.” Besides making a fast-paced tour especially significant. My mom would tell of ancient and modern destinations across me about our family’s background and how the country, we would also visit social some of our relatives had emigrated from service agencies in Israel to compare how Eastern Europe to the United States, while our two countries responded to those in 6 need. By agreeing to volunteer back in reality of experiencing Israel for six weeks Chicago on a variety of Jewish social that summer started a love affair that has service initiatives, I was lucky to receive only grown stronger with time. I returned significant subsidies to defray the cost of two years later to spend nearly a year the trip. studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Most of my classes were in Equal to my eagerness to see Hebrew and I was fortunate to study with Jerusalem’s Old City, explore the ancient some of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the ruins of Masada, and hike in the hills of the time including Rabbi David Hartmann and Galilee, was my anticipation of seizing the Professor Nechama Leibowitz, both of opportunity finally to meet my cousin, Liora. blessed memory. Upon arriving in Israel, I contacted her family to see if we might get together on my During this pivotal year, I continued free weekend. This was no small feat in a to be amazed and thrilled at how much the world before cell phones, so I was excited various facets of Jewish life were infused to succeed at using the now defunct into day-to-day Israeli culture. I never grew “asimonim” – the small metal tokens that complacent seeing Hebrew on street signs were used at that time in Israeli payphones. and storefronts and hearing “Shabbat I managed to find the right bus to take me Shalom” from everyone you would meet on to their home in Bat Yam, a small Fridays in the open-air markets and on the community outside of Tel Aviv. streets, Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and secular. Jewish holidays were cele- When I entered the modest yet brated by the entire country, as much in charming home, I was warmly welcomed secular settings as in religious communities. with open arms, something cold to drink, On the festival of Sukkot, the colorful sukkot and too much food. I was excited to meet would be visible on balconies up and down my grandmother’s siblings for the first time, the buildings on the streets of Jerusalem. recognizing the familial similarities through On the darkest days of the year during their faces and Hungarian accents – the Chanukah, those same streets would Hebrew counterpart to my grandparents’ literally light up as homes, schools, and combination of Hungarian and Brooklyn businesses would all be displaying English. But where was my cousin, Liora? countless eight-branched chanukiyot from After what seemed like an eternity, she their windows and even on the street finally descended the stairs from the second outside their front doors. On Pesach, the floor wearing her army uniform. She potato rolls brought to the table in kosher- gestured in my direction with a dismissive for-Passover restaurants would be even wave (if that), and immediately left the more delicious than the leavened variety. house to join her friends for the remainder of the day before returning to army duty. All year round, I enjoyed the That was it, my only exposure to my availability of good kosher cuisine while idealized Israeli cousin (to this day), lasting marveling at how many restaurants in Tel all of twenty-two seconds. Aviv, in particular, went out of their way to be open on Shabbat and offer non-kosher Although the reality of gaining a new delicacies. I was inspired by the openness best friend in my “twin” cousin fell and diversity of Israeli society, as seen devastatingly short of my aspirations, the through the huge variety of people, 7 language, religion, music, and culture from the gleaming white building nearby, the around the world.

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