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'I TRAVEL

Spain
To Israel
Diary

Judy Marx recounts in her diary a
trip to Spain and Israel that 40
Detroit men and women will never
forget. And that's no salami.

JUDY MARX

cultures. From our past we begin to
understand our present.

Special to The Jewish News

S

pain to Jerusalem — from
. the Golden Age to the Golden
City?' Under the auspices of
the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, 40 men
and women undertook a mission of
discovery from October 3 through 13.

Thursday, October 3

Forty salamis cleared security at
Metropolitan Airport. Along with
30 additional pounds, they would be
skillfully sliced and served up by
David Hermelin for snacks on
Spanish rolls, pita bread, challah and
bagels. This group carried with it sup-
plies to go forward at any hour, but we
could not go forward without our
salami. Ten days turned into what
seemed like 12 days and two nights.

Friday, October 4

Sevilla. We walked through the
former Jewish quarter. Nothing but
our history lessons remains to recall
those who achieved unparalleled
greatness in both Jewish and Spanish

Shabbat, October 5

In the "Sinagoga" in Cordoba we
made our presence felt as we
prayed together, and John Marx read
Bereshit — the same Torah portion he
had read for his bar mitzvah 15 years
ago during his first Federation Mis-
sion to Israel. Spanish Jews did not
sacrifice their Jewishness in order to
make their mark during 700 years of
Spanish history, Professor Yom Tov
Asis, our Melitz scholar-in-residence,
told us. We went to Spain because this
year commemorates 500 years since
a glorious chapter in Jewish history
ended. We went to learn about our
past, to make ourselves known to
Maimonides' ghost and Judah
Halevi's children.

Sunday, October 6

Toledo and Madrid. Our Spanish
hosts — even our fellow Jews of
Madrid — told us how Jews live com-
fortably in Spain today. Yet a local
guide in Toledo ignored the painting
that we found in a Catholic church:

a portrayal of "The Jew draining the
blood from the heart of a Christian
child." That canvas became etched in
our minds more than those of El
Greco. The end for Spanish Jewry, ex-
plained Professor Asis, came not
despite, but because of the great
power that the Jews came to hold. The
historical model of what happened to
Spanish Jews can be applied to
Jewish history forever forward.

Monday, October 7

We were told of two travelers
making their way from Beersheva to
Eilat. Lost in the desert, they even-
tually came upon a directional sign,
blown down by the fierce winds. One
feared that they were now hopelessly
without any indication as to the cor-
rect route. His companion picked up
the marker, and pointed the arrow to
Beersheva back in the direction from
which they had come. The way to
Eilat was now clear. You must know
where you've come from in order to
know where you're going. We left
Spain for Israel that afternoon and
recited the "Shehechiyanu" upon ar-
riving in Eretz Yisrael.

Tuesday, October 8

Sharei Avraham — the gates to
our Ethiopian brothers and sisters

John Marx reading the
Torah portion on
Shabbat morning at the
Sinagoga Judios in
Cordoba.

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Russian olim arriving in
Israel.

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Trip participants spend
time with Otzma
students in Yavne.

are open at this and many other ab-
sorption centers throughout Israel.
They were eager to pose for our
cameras, anxious to talk with us,
although their six months of Hebrew
far surpassed most of our own
abilities. Kibbutz Gezer has under-
taken a Russian absorption program.
"Economically, we cannot afford to
take in the olim," explained former
Detroiter and kibbutz director David
Leichman, "but spiritually we cannot
afford not to." We learned that near-
ly all of the kibbutzim have made a
commitment to housing Russians and
Ethiopians. That night a troupe of
Israeli teen-agers, sabras and new-
comers, poured out their feelings in a
frank and uncompromising musical
presentation of what it is like to live
in a country where 12 percent of this
fall's students are new ohm and what
it is like to be a stranger in a strange
land. They say it doesn't matter

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

57

