Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 October 2003 — Page 13

I never felt very Jewish. Even though I was born to two Jewish parents, I still never felt very Jewish. My immediate family used to get together for the Evelyn Wood version of a Passover seder, and both of my parents would refuse to work on Yom Kippur. We would even wish each other a Happy New Year on Rosh Hashanah and light the menorah on Hanukkah. That was the extent of my Jewishness growing up in a predominantly Christian neighborhood in the Bronx. Every day I found myself in a fight, mostly because I was different. Different because I was playing the piano rather than playing stickball, and different because I was Jewish. Not a day went by that 1 didn't wonder why I couldn't be like "them." All I wanted to do was fit in and assimilate with my neighbors. I found myself envying the children with Christmas trees. I saw a few of my Jewish friends having a bar mitzvah, and all I wished for was the big party with lots of envelopes. 1 really felt cheated taking piano lessons rather than bar mitzvah lessons. In retrospect, I was envious for all the wrong reasons. Many may have blamed my parents for my ignorance of Judaism and apathy towards Israel. My parents are long gone, and I'm now 48 years old. There will be no more excuses. Everything has changed since my recent Jewish National Fund-sponsored trip to Israel. For the first time in my life I feel the connection - I now feel Jewish! My wife had been "hocking me" since we got married four years ago to take her to Israel. Putting the recent and unsettling events that have taken place there aside, I really had little interest in visiting a desert and a people that I felt I had little in common with. You can imagine my surprise when my wife came home one day from teaching Sunday school and told me that she had the ~>portunity of a lifetime to go to Israel. She went on to tell rm. hat the JNF offered Broward teachers who had never been to Israel an all-inclusive educational trip. All they were responsible for was their airfare. I guess I got caught up in all her excitement when I asked the big question, "Could I go also?" Even though I was warned that it wouldn't be a typical "tourist" type of tour, my curiosity got the better of me, and she was thrilled to have me accompany her. We agreed to fly to Israel a few days earlier so we could relax in Eilat for a couple of days before we met up with the rest of the group in Tel Aviv. Although we enjoyed ourselves there, in no way did it compare to what the JNF had in store for us. I must admit, I did not feel any connection to Israel until our fourth day, which was actually our first day with the JNF group. Once we were united, we were all whisked off by bus to our first stop at Ben Shemen Forest to plant trees. It was there that I felt my first real connection to Israel. I was beginning to feel Jewish! After a few days of touring around and having it drummed into our heads what the JNF does as far as land and ecology, forest stations, education, tourism and recreation, research and development, water conservation, and security, it became quite clear there would be no Israel without the JNF. I could go on and on and write about each and every one of the previous topics, but I could sum it all up by saying the JNF's new slogan should be: "We are the JNF...and we're not just trees!"

Our group enjoyed 10 solidly booked days of touristy activities and educational seminars. We reached new heights as we schlepped up Masada, and we reached new lows as we plotzed in the Dead Sea. We traversed the country experiencing almost everything that we were able to squeeze into our hectic and tight schedule. When the day was done, we would sit in a circle and discuss what we had experienced and how it made us feel. Some things we experienced were expected, and some things were not. It was the unexpected that awoke my thoughts and feelings towards Judaism and Israel. A few days into our JNF-sponsored trip, one of the Broward teachers in our group took us to visit a friend of his in Bet El, which is a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. We really shouldn't have gone there, but he assured me that it was safe and a "must see." The family we visited was originally from the Midwest and welcomed us with open arms. We sat around and talked about everything from Israeli politics in the media to the history of Judaism. It became apparent to everyone that I didn't know very much about any of these topics. My wife explained that although I was born Jewish, I didn't have a Jewish upbringing. She went on to say that 1 didn't even have a bar mitzvah! Everyone must have felt my embarrassment as I looked at the floor. It was then that the man of the house casually mentioned that I could have a bar mitzvah at The Wall. He said it wouldn't be that difficult for me to do. Everyone in the room then looked over to me as if to say, "What do you think?" Since I'm the spontaneous type, I told them I was all for it. It seemed to me that everyone there was more excited about it than I was. When I saw my wife's eyes well up, I knew that this was going to be something special. All it took was a few phone calls by the Broward teacher who drove us there, and the whole thing was arranged. I couldn't believe it. After 35 years I was finally going to be a bar mitzvah - and at The Wall no less! That night, as we met the rest of the group in the hotel lobby before dinner, our group leader very innocently asked me some leading questions about my decision to become a bar mitzvah. I knew someone had let the cat out of the bag as she presented me with a tallit and kippah from the group. Then, spontaneously and unrehearsed, they all sang and danced around me. To say I was moved would be an understatement, as my eyes welled up and for the first time in my life I was speechless. Strangers in the hotel lobby joined in with the singing and dancing around me. Once again I was feeling "the connection." I spent the next couple of days studying the phonetics of the prayers recited when given an Aliyah. When Saturday morning finally came, I saw most of our group was attending, and I felt like a nervous 13-year-old. 1 peaked over the partition that separated the men's side and the women's side to see my wife smiling, almost like a proud parent. At that moment I looked up at The Wall and saw two pigeons looking down upon me. Upon the completion of the service, everyone threw candy at me, and the two pigeons flew away. I imagined that they were my deceased parents and that Continued on page 15