by RabbiOlivier | Nov 21, 2016 | Adult Learning, Interfatith, Israel, Torah Reflections
There was a time in my life when I was powerfully attracted by the possibility of living on a kibbutz. When I was 16, I spent a summer in Israel working on a kibbutz in the northern part of the country called Beit HaShitah. I fell in love with the place and the way of...
by RabbiOlivier | Nov 20, 2016 | Adult Learning, Greater Community, Interfatith, Israel, Torah Reflections
How do we heal our world? How do we move past what divides us to create, together, a tomorrow that will be richer because of the pain of yesterday? How do we stand strong for what we believe in without demonizing those others who stand strong for what they believe in?...
by RabbiOlivier | Nov 18, 2016 | Adult Learning, Interfatith, Israel, Torah Reflections
Is it possible? After spending time in Tel Aviv this morning both at the Independence Hall where David Ben Gurion declared the State of Israel’s existence, and walking through the artists’ market of Nachalat Binyamin and the Carmel Suk; we drove north to the Galilee...
by RabbiOlivier | Nov 17, 2016 | Adult Learning, General, Greater Community, Interfatith, Israel, Torah Reflections
Tel Aviv, Israel; November 17, 2016 What a miracle! I am re-reading these first few words—the date and the place where I am writing from—and I am moved by a sense of awe. Don’t get me wrong, my zealous Zionist years are far behind me. As an Israeli citizen, I have...
by RabbiOlivier | Dec 23, 2012 | Community, Events, General, Israel, Shabbat
Our last Friday in Israel might have been the cherry on top of our traveling cake. That morning, a few of us made our way to the Hebrew University atop Mount Scopus where I studied for a few years in the early 90’s. Our little group went to the Hecht Synagogue on...
by RabbiOlivier | Dec 20, 2012 | Community, Events, General, Israel
Do you know why Jana called her tour company “Kesem”? That’s because Kesem means “magic” in Hebrew, and she wanted to set the Kavanah—the intention—for the trips to Israel to be magical. This has been my third trip to Israel with Jana, and each one has been more...
