FEBRUARY 2 • 2023 | 25

LEFT: The Bishop family at the market. RIGHT: Teens from all the families on Bus Yerushalayim enjoy a good time together.
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different moments — some 
in religious spaces, others in 
natural settings. Some shared 
that the moment had happened; 
others kept their experience to 
themselves. The point was that 
You let us experience You in a 
way that matched our spirit. We 
didn’t have to force anything. 
There wasn’t a time when we 
felt bad that we should’ve felt 
something and didn’t. You 
didn’t dictate our connection 
with You — You let us find it 
ourselves, or let it find us.
You let us question what we 
knew and believe about Judaism 
and how we live as Jews and it 
was all good. Like how at the 
end of creation God looked at 
around and saw that all that 
God had made was: tov me’od; It 
was very good; You — Israel, our 
homeland, created something 
new in each of us — a love for 
the land, the people, the stories 
and the legends — and each of 
us looked around with open 
eyes and said that it was tov 
me’
od, it was very good.
But lest we only focus on the 
wonderous and the good, we 
feel, dear Israel, that we must 

acknowledge the danger You are 
in. Not just the physical danger 
posed by outside threats, but 
the dangers arising internally. 
Extremism is creeping into 
national politics and discourse. 
Somehow, the definition of 
“who is a Jew” inside Your bor-
ders has become more narrowly 
defined than our antisemitic 
enemies defined it. 
Almost 75 years since Your 
birth, and You are in existential 
danger.
The threats are coming from 
within Your borders. We are 
supposed to be an or la’goyim — 
“a light unto the nations.
” That 
is a serious mandate. We are 
supposed to be the living incar-
nation of our values: honesty, 
integrity, loving peace and pur-
suing peace. Creating a nation 
where all feel safe and equal 
living on sacred ground.
We ask that Your inhabi-
tants remember that the hope 
of everyone sitting peacefully 
under their vine and fig tree, 
and not being made afraid, will 
apply to all. 
Before I say goodbye to You, 
Israel, let me thank You for a 

few more things. Thank You 
for showing us Your many per-
sonalities by raining down on 
Masada and the Dead Sea and 
flooding the desert with life-giv-
ing water. We never thought 
we would hear thunder and see 
lightening on Masada, but we 
did! Then, a rainbow appeared 
over the sand, the water and the 
hills. Only You could have pro-
duced such phenomenon.
Thank You for the reliable 
insanity that is the market in 
Jerusalem on Friday afternoon. 
We ate our way from one end to 
the other- tasting all of the deli-
cious produce, breads, sweets 
and spices that we grow in 
Your soil. It was worth pushing 
through the thousands of peo-
ple who were all there getting 
ready to welcome Shabbat.
Thank You for celebrating 
with us as our children had 
their bnai mitzvah. We swear 
we heard the walls of the Old 
City singing with them as they 
chanted their Torah portions. 
The sun shined extra bright that 
day wherever we went.
Thank You, Israel, for mak-
ing us feel like we were one 

family returning to a place that 
was somehow foreign and yet 
entirely familiar. Thank You for 
letting us feel Your magic and 
Your warmth. You never disap-
point. You only amaze.
From our hearts, souls, stom-
achs, minds, feet, eyes, ears and 
mouths, we thank You. Those 
of us who were on the trip and 
those of us who have been 
before or who hope to go in the 
future are grateful that no mat-
ter where we are in the world, 
we know that you are waiting 
for us to return. 
And please God, return we 
will. L
’Hirtraot, goodbye for 
now.

 
Much love, 
 
The Temple Israel and Shir 
Shalom families from the 
December family mission 
2022. 

Rabbi Jennifer Kaluzny is a member 

of the clergy at Temple Israel in West 

Bloomfield. Rabbis Harold Loss and 

Josh Bennett and Cantor Michael 

Smolash from Temple Israel as well 

as Rabbi Michael Moskowitz from 

Temple Shir Shalom were on the 

mission as well.

