8 | JUNE 16 • 2022 

I

n a recent Torah portion 
in the Jewish News, Rabbi 
Joseph Krakoff, CEO of the 
Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy 
Network, told of moving to 
Michigan, being 
told he had to 
pick a college 
sports team to 
support, and 
wrongly choos-
ing both the 
University of 
Michigan and 
Michigan State as his teams. 
 Having had a daughter at 
University of Michigan (Go 
Blue!) and a son at Michigan 
State (Go Green!), I understand 
the dilemma. He tied it very 
nicely to the week’s parshah, 
where the tribes of Israel, each 
under their family banner, 
marched together. You knew 
what tribe you belonged to, but 
also knew you were part of a 

bigger whole, the children of 
Israel. We are all, essentially, on 
Team Israel.
Obviously, being a part of 
Hadassah means that you’re 
on Team Israel by definition. 
We are the Women’s Zionist 
Organization of America. But 
being on that team, like being 
part of a family, doesn’t mean 
ignoring or refusing to acknowl-
edge our warts and faults. Part 
of belonging to a team or family 

means caring enough to try to 
make the whole better — and 
that means recognizing flaws 
and cracks and doing what you 
can to help correct them.
June 1 was Jerusalem Day — 
Yom Yerushalayim — a joyous 
celebration to commemorate the 
reunification of Jerusalem. Our 
connection to Jerusalem can’t 
be overstated — we pray facing 
Jerusalem; we declare “next year 
in Jerusalem” at every seder; it 

was home to our two temples; 
and is our physical and spiritual 
capital. During the 1948 War 
of Independence, Jordan cap-
tured and held East Jerusalem. 
We were denied access to East 
Jerusalem, which included the 
Kotel and Hadassah Hospital 
Mt. Scopus. 
In the Six-Day War, June 
5-10, 1967, Israel retook East 
Jerusalem, and the city was 
reunited. After 19 years of being 
denied access to our holy sites, 
Jews could once again pray 
at the Kotel, and our capital 
city was whole. I’m sure we all 
remember the iconic photo 
from 1967 of four soldiers, the 
first to break through, gazing 
with wonder at the Kotel. It was 
and is truly a day for joyful cel-
ebration.
However, this year’s celebra-
tion in Jerusalem was marred by 
dark, rabid, ugly, hatred. Young 
members of two far-right reli-
gious factions used the march 
through Jerusalem as an excuse 
to harass, intimidate and threat-

essay
Yom Yerushalayim: Working 
Together ‘Hand in Hand’ for Peace

Mandy 
Garver

PURELY COMMENTARY

A

s a Jewish teen going 
on the Frankel Jewish 
Academy Montana 
trip, I was able to learn so much 
about the Cheyenne culture. I 
learned about 
the battles they 
fought for their 
land and mass 
genocides of 
their people, but 
the Cheyenne 
people are still 
holding on to 
each other as a powerful cul-
ture. 
When we arrived, we 

camped out in a football field 
of a Northern Cheyenne High 
School in Lame Deer for four 
nights. For our time in Lame 
Deer, our grade was able to go 
through many once-in-a-life-
time experiences, one of which 
was a sweat lodge. A sweat 
lodge is a type of hut heated up 
with extremely hot rocks and 
boiling water, which release 
steam. The Northern Cheyenne 
people use this as a ceremony 
but welcomed us into the sweat 
lodge as a learning experience. 
We were also able to see the 
Deer Medicine Rocks. These 

rocks are very sacred to the 
Northern Cheyenne, and it was 
an honor to be invited to a place 
like this. After walking 2 miles 
to the rocks, we were able to see 
how amazing this opportunity 
was. The Deer Medicine Rocks 
had a series of carvings on 
them that represented different 
things, for example, a lizard is 
said to be a young girl and a 
turtle to be a young boy. There 
were more carvings that in the 
Cheyenne culture are believed 
to be predictions of upcoming 
wars and, because of these wars, 
many ceremonies started hap-

pening like Sun Dances. 
As Jewish people, I noticed 
that we also do certain things 
to remember what we lost in 
wars and genocides of our 
people and that we also have 
places that are sacred to us, like 
Jerusalem. 
After staying in Lame 
Deer and learning about the 
Northern Cheyenne culture, 
we spent one night camping 
in Yellowstone, where we saw 
the most beautiful scenery. We 
were able to see tall mountains, 
warm-colored hot springs and 
geysers. One of my absolute 
favorite things that I saw in 
Yellowstone was the famous 

Emmanuela 
Arkashevsky

student’s corner
Bonding as a Class in Montana

