Shabbat at Livnot The view from the Livnot Balcony Letters from Participants Collected November 2013 ust as Shabbat has bound the Jewish people together for centuries, so it has the potential to revitalize “J Jewish commitments among those for whom Jewish experience has lost its interest and edge…Our goal must be to make Shabbat a habit in the lives of this generation so that they experience the true ethos of the Jewish people: The ways in which the social, spiritual and sensual come together as one.” - Michael Steinhardt. An excerpt from an article which appeared in the Summer 2013 edition of Contact Magazine, the Journal of the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life Dear Reader, This week, we began a concerted campaign to collect 1000 letters from Livnot participants describing their Shabbat experience at Livnot. What you see before you is a compilation of the first outcomes of this campaign- over 300 letters collected in just four days, and a constant flow of letters ever since. These letters come from a wide variety of participants, who experienced different Livnot programs over a span of our 34 years of existence. This effort was triggered by the recent article written by Birthright Israel co-founder Michael Steinhardt entitled “Shabbat is our Birthright.” The article describes the Shabbat experience as the central component to connecting young, unaffiliated Jews to their Judaism. We at Livnot share this belief in the value of Shabbat, and as a response to this article chose to share how the unique Shabbat experience at Livnot has significantly impacted our participants’ lives and connection to Judaism. We urge you to open on a page. Any page. What you will find are hundreds of individual stories, each with its own different path taken in search of a Jewish identity. With assimilation rates higher than ever, a meaningful Jewish experience in Israel is vital to the Jewish nation. When a Jew comes to Israel, whether he knows it or not, he has a spark inside his/hers Jewish soul, that is yearning for a connection to thousands of years of Heritage, culture, and wisdom. We feel responsible for igniting that spark. No place can do that as in the Land of Israel, and Tzfat especially has a magic of its own. We hope a part of that magic is conveyed through the following words and descriptions. Livnot U’Lehibanot Tzfat November 9, 2013 www.livnot.org From: Michael Ambrosio To: [email protected] Subject: Re: 1000 Letters in 72 Hours Dear Michael, Prior to my trip to Israel this summer, I had never really been exposed to the Jewish world. My parents had always raised me more secularly Jewish, only celebrating major holidays. To me, the term Shabbat had never meant more than the Jewish equivalent of going to Church. My understanding of Shabbat and Judaism was clearly very minimal. While I learned quite a bit about Judaism and Israel on my Birthright trip, it was my experience at Livnot, in Tsfat, that truly opened my mind. I had initially come to Livnot to participate in their weeklong Northern Exposure program. But as the week went on, and as Shabbat approached, I knew I was not ready to leave the magic and life that existed in that place. I had first been exposed to Shabbat during my ten days with Birthright, and I really loved the atmosphere around it; particularly the way it brought my group together. In your article Shabbat is our Birthright, you describe Shabbat as: “A community taking a break and celebrating life together.” I could not agree more, as that is exactly what I found so refreshing about Shabbat. Yet while I loved the fact that for 25 hours, an entire country essentially shut down, I still felt that something was missing from my experience. It was almost as if I could not fully embody all that Shabbat was. I soon found this missing piece at my first Shabbat at Livnot. It’s hard to say when exactly this feeling “clicked” with me, as there were so many fond memories, yet I have a strong feeling that it was sometime between the first time we sang Yedid Nefesh and watching the sun quietly find it’s resting place, just beyond Mount Meron. To this day, I have yet to feel the way I did that first Friday night, standing at the balcony of Livnot, gazing across the mountains to the setting sun. Every time I remember Israel, I imagine myself being back on that balcony, staring across the mountains as the sun set the sky ablaze for its last few moments. As I mentioned earlier, I had never celebrated a Shabbat before coming to Israel. Yet I knew, coming back to the States, that I wanted to incorporate it into my everyday (or week) life. You say in your article that “…it is at Shabbat meals — whether as a host or a guest — that I feel most profoundly and intimately Jewish.” Having grown up never really considering myself very Jewish, I now am proud to say that I am. My experience in Israel has truly helped me find a sense of Judaism that I hope to continue to explore. One of the main reasons I have begun and continue going to Shabbat services here in Boston, is because it helps me to remember the strong feelings and emotions I felt during Livnot Shabbat. I continue to hold on to these feelings, with the hopes that I will one day have the chance to return to Tsfat, and relive those few moments on the Livnot balcony. Where time seemed to slow down around me, and as the sun set, I knew this was exactly where I was meant to be. Yours truly, Michael Ambrosio From: Jeremy Ogul Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2013 9:02 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: 1000 Letters in 72 Hours Dear Michael, By the end of my Taglit trip last June, I was thrilled with all of the sights I had seen and people I had met across Israel, but I was disappointed that my Taglit program (through IsraelExperts) didn't provide more of a forum to explore my spiritual connection with Judaism and deepen my understanding of its teachings. Not ready to leave Israel after just 10 days, I signed up for a week with Livnot in Tzfat. It was through Livnot that I had a real opportunity to engage with Judaism, to challenge Judaism, to question Judaism, to witness Judaism and to learn about Judaism with expert teachers. That all culminated with Shabbat. Livnot gave me the opportunity to experience Shabbat in a way I would never have understood it in the U.S. It is one of my fondest memories from the month I spent in Israel. I wish I had time to write more at the moment, but I will just summarize by saying I will be forever grateful for my experience at Livnot and hope many more will have the opportunity to experience it themselves. Regards, Jeremy Ogul 3875 Wilson Ave. #2 San Diego, CA 92104 USA When I reached Livnot at age 24 in 1991 I had only the foggiest notion of what Shabbat was. I had heard about people’s grandmothers who refused to answer the phone or drive on Saturday, but that was literally it. So it was a heady experience to go from that to singing Lecha Dodi during Kabbalat Shabbat in the holy city of Tzfat from the Livnot rooftops, chanting Kiddush and Birkat Hamazon at the dinner table, and feeing the tranquility and peace of a Shabbat afternoon. After returning to Boston and getting married, I am blessed with four beautiful kids. My oldest had the opportunity to travel to Israel with his Solomon Schechter Day School 8th grade class. Unlike me at his age, he understood very well what Shabbat was all about and was able to experience it in Israel with great appreciation. As an added bonus, Aharon Botzer toured him around the Livnot campus where I had had my own awakening more than 20 years earlier. Livnot is a uniquely valuable program for exposing young adults to the Shabbat experience. There really is nothing comparable. David Williams Brookline, MA T34 From: Mirm Kriegel Sent: Friday, November 08, 2013 6:22 AM To: Aharon Botzer Subject: Re: quick reminder about 1000 Letters There are few defining moments through which people measure things "pre-and post." (the world before 9/11, the world after; life before kids, life after.) Livnot was clearly one of those moments, one of those experiences so transformative that it's impossible not to see your life outside of that lens. Before going on Livnot (1994), Judaism was an ancillary part of my identity. I 'happened to be Jewish,' with perhaps even a tinge of self-loathing brewing (growing up in the WASPy South didn't help…). Livnot turned my whole conception of Judaism on its head, from antiquated and unrelatable to something accessible and wholly relevant. It helped me understand that values I've always held dear -- social and economic justice, compassion, etc. -- are, in fact, profoundly Jewish… This recognition has shaped virtually every fundamental decision i've made since that time… from choosing my life partner (who happens to be a proud, staunchly secular Jewish educator) to career moves both inside and outside the Jewish community. I owe all of this -- and more -- to Livnot. From: Yonah David Sent: Monday, November 04, 2013 10:21 AM To: Aharon Botzer Subject: Shabbat at Livnot Dear Michael, Until my three-month Livnot program, the closest I came to a Shabbat experience was, as a child, watching my grandmother light candles on Friday night at her home.