Feeling Connected

Experiencing Israel is essential to the Jewish Journey.

arrow outdoor markets overflowing
with the smell of freshly baked pita and
the sound of deals being made, the
view from a hilltop set amongst the green of an
ancient valley, aged faces where each wrinkle
has a story to tell of a far-off place and a home
left behind. These images of Israel and her
people flood my mind and define my Jewish
consciousness.
When I was 16, my plane landed at Ben-
Gurion Airport. Expecting very little, I had
come to Israel as part of a teen summer trip.
What I found profoundly changed my life.
In the midst of my own youthful search for
identity, for my place in the world, I discovered
Israel. I discovered a young nation who was
also defining her identity. Almost immediately,
I felt connected to the Jewish state.
Ultimately, my late teens and early 20s were
spent at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. I
studied Jewish history, literature, politics, but
more importantly, I studied Israel. I watched
her intently. I admired the passion with which
Israelis approach the world. I was attracted to
the energetic pace of life in the Middle East,
where things felt urgent and alive.
I loved living at the crossroads of the
different cultures that Jews had imported to
Israel from all over the world. My friends were
an exotic mixture of Yemenites, Russians, Iraqis
and New Yorkers.
In Israel, I came to understand the power of
legacy. I understood that I was a living link in
the chain of Jewish history. The generations of
Jewish people, their courage, their strivings, all

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came to define my identity
as a Jew and as a human
being.
Hiking in the Judean
Desert, at times the sense
of history was so powerful
that it seemed to come out
of the desert sand and seep
Rabbi Tamara
into my hiking boots.
Kolton
I look back on the time I
spent in Israel and understand the depth of
meaning that these experiences brought to my
life. I understand that part of the Jewish
journey contains at least one Israel experience,
at least one opportunity to think through one's
ancient roots and ties to the Jewish people.
Although I have chosen to live many miles
away, Israel is an integral part of who I am and
how I choose to live my life.
Each Passover when we sing, "Next Year in
Jerusalem," I sing loud and strong. For me,
these words symbolize our collective yearning
for a better tomorrow.
Jerusalem is more than a place. It is a state of
mind. Into this city we pour out our yearnings
for a better world, for a more just universe.
Into this place, we Jews enter to claim our
dignity, to reach back into history, to raise the
fallen.
Jerusalem holds a place for the dreamer. It is
true what the poet says, One does not travel
to Jerusalem, one returns." We return to a land
of beauty in which we discover a country, a
people and ourselves. P1

ENTERTA N ENT

Birmingham Temple Book Fair

28611 W. 12 Mile Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
(248) 477-1410
Fax: (248) 477-9014
E-Mail: bhamtmpl@speedlink.net
Contact Person: Alice McCoy

Every spring nationally prominent Jewish authors
lecture at the Birmingham Temple Book Fair.
Lecture topics are current and controversial and
books are for sale. Nominal admission fee.

Jewish Book Fair

Jewish Community Center-Kahn Bldg.
6600 W. Maple Road
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
(248) 661-7649
(248) 661-7648
Fax: (248) 661-7711
Contact Person: Elaine Schonberger

Jewish Community Center-JPM Bldg.
15110 W.10 Mile Road
Oak Park, Ml 48237
(248) 967-4030
Fax: (248) 967-0060
Contact Person: Andy Roisman

The country's oldest and largest book fair features
more than 10,000 titles, including fiction, non-
fictions, books by local authors, children's books,
cookbooks, biographies. Speakers, family
programs and entertainment.

MotorCity Casino

2901 Grand River Ave.
Detroit, MI 48201
(313) 237-7711
(877) 777-0711
Website: www.motorcity.com

Rabbi Tamara Kolton is a spiritual leader at the Birmingham Temple in
Farmington Hills.

All the amenities of Las Vegas-style gaming including
live entertainment seven nights a week, a completely
smoke-free gaming floor and free parking.

JN • SOURCEBOOK 2000 •

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