JUNE 20 • 2024 | 15
J
N

rabbinate cares for hundreds of Torah scrolls. 
Some are more than 700 years old, many 
from villages destroyed during the Holocaust 
or from other places across the diaspora 
where Jews once lived.
The work the IDF does at Shura is sacred. 
We met with one volunteer who is the leader 
of the IDF Chevra Kadisha (burial society). 
She’s part of a group of women who cared 
for the bodies of female victims. She spoke 
of how she washed their bodies lovingly, as if 
they were her children. She protected them, 
and their modesty, even after such violent 
deaths. 
In the warehouse holding the Torahs, the 
rabbi in charge, a 70-year-old Kohein who 
served on the front lines during the 1973 
Yom Kippur war, shared with pride the work 
they do to protect the scrolls, many of which 
get sent in the field with troops. Before we 
left, he bestowed on us the Priestly Blessing as 
we all cried once again. 
The whole experience on the base felt 
symbolic to me. I left thinking of Shura as not 
a place of death, but one of hope, resilience 
and faith. We ended our visit with words of 
Torah, the Tree of Life. Just as these words 
have survived for millennia, so, too, have the 
Jewish people.
Walking on the soil of Eretz Yisrael, 
breathing the air of our ancestors, lifted me 
up spiritually and deepened my faith. I con-
tinue to reflect on all that we experienced 
during our 10-day mission. In moments 
that are especially hard and make me sad 
and angry, I try to focus on the good: danc-
ing and singing with Jews from around the 
world at the Kotel as we ushered in Shabbat; 
eating falafel in Tzfat; buying Judaica in the 
Old City; and slathering on mud at the Dead 
Sea. Most of all, I think of the gratitude of 
the Israelis who time and again thanked us 
for just being there. 
From the bottom of my heart, thank you 
to Partners Detroit, the Dembs and Lesson 
families who sponsored our mission, and to 
all the incredible women who shared this 
life-changing journey with me. I pray for a 
lasting peace and for all of the hostages to 
come home so that our homeland can contin-
ue to flourish, and the eyes of the world rec-
ognize the value of Israel and all who inhabit 
our land. Am Yisrael Chai! 

Randi Berris and her family are members of 

Congregation B’nai Moshe in West Bloomfield. She lives 

in Bloomfield Hills with her husband and daughter. This 

was her second visit to Israel, the first was in 1987 for 

her brother’s bar mitzvah.

Mission participants at Caesarea

LEFT: Debra Walter 
(left) and Lauren 
Dembs Lesson at 
Michaeli Organic Farm.

RIGHT: A prayer at 
Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Susan Kessler (left), 
Sara Aliza Scheinberg 
and Soozan Mendel

Dassie Bausk and 
Andrea Reid

