Shaarey Zedek Synagogue Winnipeg

From Wednesday, January 11th to Tuesday, January 24th, 2006 a group of Shaarey Zedek congregants began a special spiritual journey to Israel with Rabbi Alan Green. Read about and see pictures of their adventures.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Submitted by Eric Ellis

In the final hours of trip to Israel on the 12th, some of the group amused themselves having a lipstick confab, and insisted on a record of their effort while we were waiting for our luggage. (Laurie Shapiro, Paulette Weiss, Florence Burshtien, Beverly Nord, and Ruth Lehmann.)

This picture of our visit to a Yemeniste synagogue in Rosh Ha'Ayin which has a torah scribe who creates scrolls in the Yemenite style. This is a picture of their community representative who translated for the scribe.

Friday, January 13, 2006

Submitted by Eric Ellis
We went to Rosh Ha'Ayin today, a Yemenite community in Central Israel. We went to a Yeminite schul where we got to see a Torah scribe at work. Then we went to a community centre where the group had Yeminite dancing lessons (< photo). Pictures were taken and hopefully they will be posted on the website. After that we stopped at a local Yeminite jeweler where much jewelry was purchased, and then the souk where a smaller amount of stuff was bought along with falafel for lunch. We had a wonderful young graduate student in Mid-East studies accompany us, and while she is not a guide, she impressed the group with her knowledge. Then we headed back to Jerusalem to prepare for Shabbat.

Photo info: Here is the group having a Yeminite Jewish dance lesson at the Rosh Ha'Ayin Community Centre. The Yeminite Jews were the first Jewish ethnic group evacuated to Israel, in their case in 1949.

Sunday, January 15, 2006
Submitted by Rebbetzin Chaya Green

Jerusalem is alternately rainy and sunny, changes by the minute.

Friday night we davened at the shul here at the fuchsberg center. afterwards was shabbos dinner (they feed us very well here!), then some went to bed and some went for a walk first. nobody slept too well that first night - we all seemed to pop awake at 3 am and stay awake for a couple hours!

We have a wonderful young teacher for our Archaeology of Jerusalem class - he is also our tour guide. He is getting a Masters at Bar Ilan university. boy is he good! today we learned about the 1st temple period in class, and then we went to the city of david (< photo) - my first time.

Last night we took the group down to ben yehuda - it was really lively - they are taking birthright groups to ben yehuda again, that's how normalized life has become here. we went to cafe rimon for food after everybody shopped to their heart's content.

Photo info:

Leaving the Kotel this evening

after a tour of the Kotel and the tunnels.

Monday, January 16, 2006

Submitted by Rebbetzin Chaya Green

Eric's Bar Mitzvah was today (< photo) and was so special. It was an incredible day today.

We had a class in "Introduction to Talmud" and the teacher was Rabbi Dr. Pesach Schindler who teaches Talmud at Hebrew U. he was amazing - we are all looking forward to his next class. Then we had a class on Midrashim of the Psalms which people also enjoyed very much.

It was sunny in Jerusalem today. Our touring in the afternoon was of the Second Temple period and the Western Wall Tunnels. It was a long afternoon (about 4 hours) of touring, but very informative and enjoyable.

Shalom for now!
Chaya

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Submitted by Eric Ellis
Most of the group just got back from a trip through the foothills south and west of Jerusalem down near Gush Etzion where we observed the site of the legendary battle between David & Goliath. It is a beautiful day here with none of the rain that was previously predicted (at least none during the day). Three of our travelers took the day off to go shopping. Tomorrow after our morning seminars we will be doing a walking tour of the Old City with time built in for shopping. Have a good day. - Eric

photo info: Here is another group picture: the group listening to a lecture by our archaeology expert, and 28 year old olim from Boston, who came on his own at age 18, and is nearing the completion of his advanced archaeology degree at Bar Ilan.

This is the second photo of the presentation of the tikun olam project from the Shaarey Zedek congregation to the Child Life Department of the Hadassah Hospital-Mt. Scopus children's ward.

Photo info: This is the first of a series of photos of the presentation of the tikun olam project from the Shaarey Zedek congregation to the Child Life Department of the Hadassah Hospital-Mt. Scopus children's ward. Our synagogue president, Rick Lee, is making the presentation to Rabbi Romm's daughter, who volunteers on the ward. She was overwhelmed by our generosity.

Photo info: This is the group listening to Mecheal Osband (our tour guide) describe the Israeli perspective on the shoah after our tour of the new Yad Va'Shem Thursday morning. The top of the new museum, most of which is underground, appears behind (the triangle skylights.) Many tears were shed as the group was tremendously moved.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Submitted by Eric Ellis

Thursday has dawned a beautiful day and it is supposed to get up to 11 here today. We will be doing a tour of Yad Va'shem later this morning. The group is doing well. We did a tour of the Christian and Jewish Quarters yesterday with an hour built in for shopping in the Cardo. I then guided about a third of the group through the Arab shuk at Jaffa Gate so they could do additional shopping. - Eric

picture info: Here is a picture of the group outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on our tour of the Old City in Jerusalem on Thursday January 19th.

On this walking tour of the Old City we were joined by Barb Findlay, who had come from Nairobi, Kenya during her sabbatical from Winnipeg, my daughter, Megan Ellis, who came from Jakarta, and Allie Lehmann, who came from Toronto. After the tour of the Church, the group walked through parts of the Arab Quarter, and the stragglers heard some ugly words from Arab shopkeepers displeased that we did not stop to shop.

● Please note that the Shaarey Zedek group in Israel was no where near the suicide bombing that occurred today (Jan 19) in Tel Aviv. Everyone is safe and having a great time.

Friday, January 20, 2006

Submitted by Eric Ellis

This is from Friday the 20th when the group went to Masada and the Dead Sea. Ruth Lehmann and Barb Findlay (now at an ulpan in Netanya) actually climbed masada while the others took the cable car. Here a large part of the group is seated listening to our guide and lecturer, Mecheal Osband, tell the group about Masada. (This picture was taken by Ruth Lehmann; I was back in Jerusalem in bed sick with a cold).

That night the majority of the group walked to Shira Hadashah, the modern Orthodox schul on Emek Refaim in the German Colony for a wonderful Kaballat Shabbat service to kick off our second shabbaton, this one with Rabbi Dr. Natan Ophir. A sudden storm came up (the only one to really affect the group during our trip), and soaked everyone on their 20 minute walk back. It rained all night.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Submitted by Eric Ellis

On Sunday, January 22nd, the group left Jerusalem on a 3 day bus trip to explore the geographical and cultural diversity of Israel. After a stop to see the gardens of the World Ba' Hai Headquarters on Mt. Carmel overlooking Haifa, we traveled a half mile or so to a village suburb of Haifa populated by a sect of Shiite Muslims called Achamdite. They are a small group who have separated (and been expelled) from mainstream Muslim religion because of their pacifist stance and theology. Our visit there had been arranged months in advance, and it was the mosque's choice to select a guide for us from their community. The mosque was not aware of where we were from.

Surprised were we when a young recent graduate of the University of Winnipeg's program in Conflict Resolution, Amir Oudeh, presented himself as our guide, and surprised was he to discover that we were from Winnipeg. The surprises continued when Rabbi Green discovered that he is the younger brother of Nabil Oudeh, previously from Winnipeg and now from Ottawa, a prominent conflict resolution specialist with whom Rabbi Green has done a good deal of interdenominational /interfaith work (before the other mainstream Muslim groups refused to work with him on the council). More surprises came when we further discovered that when Amir came to Winnipeg, he learned English from Hilda Schwartz, who was to come on the trip before her employer refused her permission. Here he is with Ruth Lehmann and Florence Burshtien, close friend of Hilda's.

He returned from Winnipeg in the Spring and is working in a hotel while the Israeli government reviews his credentials.

We went on to a lunch in a Druze village where we were introduced to Druze culture, and their special version of Middle Eastern cuisine which everyone agreed was the best meal we had in the trip. We ended up that day in Tiberias where we had dinner, boogied on a moonlight cuise with a gruop of haredi girls from the US doing a yeshiva year, and a Jewish family from Panama, and ended up that night on a kibbutz on the east shore of the Kinneret which operates a tourist village. This became our centre for the next two days.

On Monday we toured the upper Galilee, inspecting the archaeological remains remains of a centre of the development of Midrash, taking a winery tour, and then traveling to the top of the Golan where we looked into Syria, and had a lecture on one of the tank battles of the `73 war. That night when we stopped in Tiberias for dinner, Rabbi Green took a tour of the cemeteries where he communed with the spirits of an astounding number of Tzaddikim including the Rambam who are buried there.

Monday, January 23, 2006

Submitted by Eric Ellis

Picture info: Here is a picture of our lecturer on archaeology during our first week's morning seminars, Mecheal Osband, and our afternoon tour leader during a break on Masada. Mary Ann Osinski is in the background.

Mecheal is responsible for one of the most quotable statements during our tour. Reminding us that he had shown us Hell, the name of the valley between the Old City at the Jaffa Gate and Yemin Moshe, and the location of Armageddon, an area in the Carmel ridge south of Haifa, and had found both of them quite scenic, he offered his definition of hell as being in the Na'ot shoe factory factory store on the Na'ot kibbutz in the Galil for two hours with four bus loads of Jews. Our group distinguished themselves by still having the energy to shop in Hell for two hours late in the afternoon of Monday, January 23rd after touring all day and coming out with an average of two pairs of Na'ot shoes.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Submitted by Eric Ellis

Tuesday, we were up early, packed and on the road by 9:00AM. This proved to be our last experience of bed and showers until we arrived home today.

Our first stop was Sfat where Mecheal toured us through three very old Sephardic style synagogues standing since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain.

Picture info: In this picture, Mecheal, is telling us about the Joseph Caro Synagogue while Lynne and Henry Trachetenberg, Laurie Shapiro, Rick Lee, and yours truly listen.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Submitted by Eric Ellis

This is a picture of the Lehmann sisters, and Marilyn Raber, who grew up together on Oak St, and who shared many holidays together, standing outside the Joseph Caro synagogue in Sfat. Allie Lehmann, now living in Toronto, joined us for part of the trip.

After touring the synagogues in Sfat, the group shopped until they dropped, stopped at the crusader citadel at the top of the town to do a farewell meditation guided by Rabbi Green, and then dashed for Tel Aviv where we had a guided tour/lecture of the Josef Bao Museum, and had a final dinner . My daughter, Megan, joined us there before leaving for Laos, and Rabbi Romm came from Jerusalem to see us off. We left Rochelle Rubinstein and Henry & Lynne Trachtenberg behind as they could not stand to part with Israel.

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