Israel Update: A Personal Lens

Thank you for your expressions of concern for my family in Israel and for my wife’s safe return. Adam, Eliya, the kids, and the relatives, are doing as well as anyone, responding to recurrent missile alerts, and dealing with the impact of reserve call ups and closed schools. Debbie made it back safe and sound, after two flight cancellations, and a Red Alert as she was checking in at Ben Gurion. I am grateful that she got home in time to join me in San Francisco for the annual Central Conference of American Rabbis convention, where Israel was also at the heart of our caring and conversations.

In a typical year for the CCAR, a dozen of the more than 200 Israeli Reform Rabbis will travel to the United States to attend our convention. In this atypical year, with travel to and from Israel so badly impaired, only three Israeli rabbis could attend, and each rabbi had a story to tell about how they got there. One drove from her home in Modiin, parked in Eilat, crossed the border to Egypt, took a bus to Sharm-el-Sheikh where she caught a flight to Europe, and then flew on to the United States and the convention in San Francisco, in what must have been a 48-hour journey. And when I saw another Israeli rabbinic colleague, I was reminded of a story he told when we last met.

His congregation outside of Haifa included a mix of Ukrainian and Russian members. A good number of the Ukrainians moved to Israel right after the Russian attacks, expecting Israel to be a safe place to set roots, which was the situation for them until October 7. They never imagined having to be confronted by another war again, and it is hard to imagine what that must be like.

As the Passover holiday approaches, prayers and hopes for freedom and peace come to the fore. I pray that this Passover brings peace and security for Israel and for all who seek peace.

With wishes for a sweet Pesach from our home to yours,

Rabbi Dennis Ross