Trees That Echo

Temple Israel mission-goers plant saplings on Judean foothills.

Robert Sklar
Contributing Editor

Modiin /Israel Journal

W Nether the tree you plant
ultimately survives the Israeli
desert isn't what matters. The
act of tree planting, something Jews have
done since statehood 64 years ago, creates
an indelible bond between you and the
ancestral homeland of the Jewish people.
That's what really matters.
"Yes, it's a symbolic act. But in many
cases, it's another step toward beautifying
and enriching the ecology of the land;'
says Iris Golan, a guide at Neot Kedumim
Biblical Nature Reserve, on the Judean
foothills halfway between Tel Aviv and
Jerusalem.
It was here — in this reserve dotted
by signs quoting biblical verses ("... and
all the trees of the field shall clap their
hands," Isaiah 55:12) and alive with trees,
plants, flowers and bushes so lovingly
planted over the past 50 years — that the
Temple Israel of West Bloomfield Adult
Mission 2012 stopped to plant saplings on
April 22. The 114 mission-goers planted
carob, oak and terebinth saplings in mem-
ory or in honor of special people in their
lives. The setting was the reserve's Harvey
Hertz Ceremonial Tree Planting Center,
operated by the Jewish National Fund.
The 620-acre, nonprofit reserve near
the Ben Shemen Forest is landscaped to
resemble the land during biblical times,
before the effects of deforestation. It bursts
with natural and agricultural landscapes
as they were more than 2,000 years ago,
thus their biblical names.
In season, you can pick the fruits of the
Seven Species of Eretz Yisrael, the biblical
Land of Israel. You also can make olive oil,
taste the produce of the vine, herd sheep
and goats, draw water from an ancient cis-
tern and walk historic terraces.
Habitats boast such varied species as
cedars from the Lebanese mountains and
date palms from the Sinai desert. Plaques
at the Pool of Solomon link the date palms,
myrtle bushes, reeds and willow poplars
thriving there with biblical passages.
Standing amid the lush reserve, against
a backdrop of barren hills, emphasizes
just how harshly centuries of war and tree
chopping have scarred the countryside of
the modern state.

A Heartfelt Time
For Marla and David Rosman and Sherry
Cantor, all of West Bloomfield, the hillside
tree planting held extra meaning. They

"I pictured the desert
to be so different than
what it is. I pictured
sandy land with cactuses.
Wrong. It is composed of
gorgeous, mountainous
rock enclosed by more
rock."

- Excerpt from Courtney Cantor's diary,
Federation's Teen Mission to Israel, summer 1997

planted trees in memory of their children
who died in accidents as older teenagers,
the same ages as many Israeli soldiers who
have given their lives in defense of their
country. Both Ryan Rosman, the youngest
of three children, and Courtney Cantor, the
younger of two daughters, were fortunate
enough to visit the Jewish state through
Federation's Teen Mission to Israel.
Ryan Rosman died Nov. 5, 2009, in
an accident in Detroit. The 19-year-old
sophomore was a pre-business major at
Michigan State University. In his memory,
the Rosmans buried alongside their
sapling a stone given to them by David's
parents, Janet and Jerry. The smooth stone
read "Angel" on one side and "Ryan We
Love You Always" and the names "Mommy,
Daddy, Jaime, Erica, Nani & Papa" on the
other side. Ryan was their angel, a kind,
caring young adult who often would go
out of his way to help others.
"This is our time to plant a tree for our-
selves — to remember Ryan:' said Marla,
brushing back tears. "This is a good place
to do it. It's a personal moment that means
a lot."
"It's very sad, but it's a good feeling to
be doing this:' said David.
He explained they were going to place
the stone perhaps at the Western Wall in
Jerusalem, but decided to include it with
the newly planted sapling on a stunningly
beautiful hill at Neot Kedumim.
"The stone was packed away in my
suitcase under the bus, but when the bus
driver heard we wanted to retrieve it, he
started looking for our suitcase without
hesitation:' David said. "He has a 19-year-
old son just entering the army and could
relate to our time of need."
Ryan would have turned 20 two days
later, April 24 — Yom HaZikaron, Israeli
Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism

Ryan Rosman

Courtney
Cantor

David and Marla Rosman with Rabbi Loss, by the sapling
planted in Ryan Rosman's memory

Remembrance Day. At that holiday eve-
ning's observance by mission-goers at the
David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem, Marla
spoke about life being "an ongoing battle
to make it through each day"
"What helps the most',' she said, "is keep-
ing Ryan's name and what he stood for alive."
The Rosmans do that through the Ryan
Scott Rosman Leadership Fund they
created at MSU Hillel to support scholar-
ships, internships and Shabbat dinners for
Jewish students on campus.

Shovelful Of Memories
Sherry Cantor planted a tree in memory of
her husband, George, a popular journalist
who died in 2010, and daughter Courtney,
who died on Oct. 16, 1998, in an accident
in Ann Arbor. The 18-year-old freshman
had been at the University of Michigan
less than two months.
For Sherry, planting the sapling repre-
sented "a part of me and a part of both of
them being together. It was really emo-
tional, very moving:' she said.
At the Yom HaZikaron observance,
Sherry noted how she and George started
the Courtney Lisa Cantor Israel Travel Fund
at Temple Israel to sustain her memory. "It
has been absolutely wonderful reading the
notes of appreciation from so many young
adults and youth who have traveled to Israel
thanks to the fund:' Sherry said.
"The values I learned from Courtney
keep me lifted no matter how tough the
circumstances — her outgoing, posi-
tive personality, her energy, her love for
friends, her love of life."

Nature's Influence
Trees at Neot Kedumim are irrigated for
a year; then they typically quench their
thirst on nature unless there's a drought.
The reserve, a model of restoration ecol-

Sherry Cantor, where she planted a tree
in memory of her husband, George, and
daughter Courtney

ogy, not surprisingly earned the State of
Israel's highest honor, the Israel Prize.
The ARZA World-hosted Temple Israel
Adult Mission 2012 was staffed by Rabbis
Harold Loss and Paul Yedwab and their
wives, Susan and Wendy, and by Cantor
Michael Smolash and his wife, Jen Green, a
naturopathic doctor.
"As a people who were deprived of the
right to farm and own land throughout
much of history:' Green said, "it's especial-
ly poignant for Jews to have the right and
the privilege to now work the land, own
land and give much-needed oxygen to the
land through trees."
Rabbi Yedwab encouraged mission-
goers "to plant a tree and pay it forward so
others can enjoy shade 50 years from now
just as we enjoy shade under this carob
tree today."
As our Israeli guides — Michal Granot,
Zvi Levran and Jeremy Aron — motioned
us back to the three buses to continue our
14-day sojourn, Marla Rosman paused
when asked if she was ready to leave Neot
Kedumim. She then said with conviction,
"No, I long to be here — to stay and watch
our little tree grow from the soil of our
ancestors." E

Related connnentary: page 30

May 10 • 2012

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