Bet Shalomians at Experience Israel Mega Mission
Bet Shalomians at Experience Israel Minnesota Mega Mission 2023
Rita and Ron Kelner: When we were asked to be two of the co- chairs for Experience Israel 2023 we were quick to accept as our community and Israel have always been important to us.
The Minneapolis Jewish Federation organized taking 237 people to Israel, mainly from the Minneapolis area. The trip was subsidized by the Melvin S. Cohen Trust. Seventy participants were under the age of 45, ranging from 21-92 years old; 52 had never been to Israel before; and 22 were Bet Shalomians including Rabbi Locketz. The Honorary Chair of our trip was Senator Rudy Boschwitz, and his wife Ellen joined us, both Bet Shalomians!
Our goals for this trip were to build community and to highlight why Israel and its support by the Minneapolis Jewish Federation are so important to our Jewish community. After meeting the Israeli people and hearing their stories, those who attended have a deeper understanding of and a personal “kesher” with Israel.
We connected not only with the larger community but intimately with other Bet Shalomians, some of whom were just acquaintances. Since we experienced so much together, we will always have a special bond because of Israel. When we see each other at Bet Shalom events or across the sanctuary, we are forever linked by this Mission. We hope to nurture the friendships we made with members of the Minneapolis Jewish community and our “new” Bet Shalom friends!
Judy Witebsky says that she had no relationship with Jodi Upin at Bet Shalom before the trip, but they really connected on the Mega Mission through shared experiences at events they went to together. There were three days when participants attended electives. Judy and Jodi both took a culture-themed elective at an art studio. An artist who tells stories through art led the program, helping attendees make a color-coded representative collage based on paragraphs from Theodore Herzl's Altneuland, a Utopian novel depicting Herzl’s vision for a new Jewish state. The intense collaboration on how to make ideas clear via the art drew them together. Jodi and Judy were amazed that the group of 8 created it in only 45 minutes. Jodi loved that it transformed linear thinkers into creatives. Judy's enthusiasm and excitement were infectious!
Gayle Rapoport saw the initial participant list and knew very few of them despite being very involved in the Minneapolis Jewish Federation, Talmud Torah, B'nai Emet, Mt. Sinai Auxiliary and more over the years. Clearly there was a need to build community across congregations. She felt that everyone gelled despite their different ages. Gayle made an interesting connection. Nina Sokol (daughter of Jan Seidman and Marc Sokol), who made aliyah in 2021, told her story at an oneg Shabbat for Bet Shalom members run by Rabbi Locketz. Afterwards, Gayle got to chat with Nina as they ended up sharing a hard-to-find taxi to return to their accommodations.
Mindy Rackner Salper: “I had several family members on the trip with me, but I rarely saw other Bet Shalom people. The point of the trip was to build community outside of congregational affiliations, and it worked.”
Rita Kelner: On Yom HaShoah a powerful event was held for all on the Experience Israel Mega Mission in Ben Shemen Forest southeast of Tel Aviv. At the service, Rita shared a video she had recorded about her father, Solomon Lederman, a Holocaust survivor, and how he reunited his family in Israel with his Minneapolis family. It was too difficult to tell the story in person (Rita Kelner's Video). Jodi Upin was sitting right behind her at the screening, and at the end of the video, Jodi gave Rita a hug through her own tears. They don't know each other well, but it was a moment of connection that Rita will never forget; they clung to each other. Others came up to her that night; even some long time friends hadn't heard that story. Matt Walzer approached Rita the next day and told her that now he understood why her family and her sons in particular were involved in the Jewish community.
The group ate boxed dinners together at picnic tables in the forest. Twenty-four of the 237 attendees had Holocaust connections and were distributed throughout the crowd to tell their stories at dinner. This built community in small groups. The young woman at Rita’s table told her story about her grandfather, Wolf Hampel. Rita realized that ironically, Wolf had been a friend of her father when she was a child!
Gayle, Rita and Judy serve on the Minneapolis Jewish Federation’s Women’s Endowment Fund Committee. They were thrilled to be able to see a couple of the Israeli programs that their fund regularly supports. Beneath the Chagall Windows in the chapel at Hadassah Hospital, Gayle heard from the director of Beit Ruth, a long-term therapeutic residence and school that serves vulnerable and at-risk girls. They met one of those girls who eventually became a nurse at Hadassah Hospital. Judy, Mindy and Rita visited Kite Pride, another recipient of their funds. This organization creates a safe working space for survivors of human trafficking. The workers repurpose old kites, sails, and parachutes into goods to be sold like bags and backpacks. When they compared their experiences, the three felt immense pride in our community and the good work supported by the Minneapolis Jewish Federation’s Women’s Endowment Fund.
During the week, the 237 on the Mega Mission had a huge dinner with a similar sized group from Minneapolis’s sister city, Rehovot. At the dinner, Jen Bucklew from Federation introduced Judy to some women from Rehovot that Judy's daughter Heather Richins (a Bet Shalom member) had met on the Momentum Israel trip led by Rabbi Avrin and Jen Bucklew last November for women under 45 with kids under 18. The feeling of connection between the cities was palpable.
At the dinner and on the bus to electives they met Gayle Kaplan for the first time; all are long-time Bet Shalom members who didn’t know each other previously. Gayle came up to Rita and hugged her at the Kabbalat Panim at services at Bet Shalom on May 12th where Experience Israel participants shared their impressions of the trip!
Judy Witebsky: In the desert at Kfar Hanokdim, Judy had expected accommodations at a hotel, but they were more rustic, albeit with AC and toilets/showers in the rooms. Tired, she decided not to go to an event she had signed up for. Kara Rosenwald, the Experience Israel Mission Coordinator, suggested Judy go meet a Bedouin woman; Rita and Ron Kelner and Mindy Salper tagged along. Of course the woman is Muslim, and she got divorced because her husband said she was a “Rebellious Woman.” Now she helps other Bedouin women gain more power in their oppressive Bedouin communities where they are subservient to their husbands. She helps them learn to drive, attend school, get jobs or start businesses. Judy contacted Federation CEO Jim Cohen about bringing her to Minneapolis as next year’s Federation “Woman of Intention.” Then Judy invited her to stay in her home. Such an invitation is the highest honor for Bedouins, and tears rolled down her face. As Mindy wiped away her tears, the other Bet Shalom women felt her profound feelings of gratitude to them. Ron Kelner was very moved by this response.
Jodi Upin: “I’ve been to Israel a couple of dozen times. It was fascinating to see the organic and genuine perspectives of people who were first timers or hadn't been back for a long time. I hope the trip and the relationships we developed will encourage more Bet Shalom members to participate in Israel related programs in Minneapolis.”
Jodi summed up the experience nicely from the Bimah on May 12th:
“It is hard to believe the Experience Israel 2023 trip was over a few weeks ago. I feel like I just finished unpacking, figuratively.
We were close to 240 people on the trip from (mostly) Minneapolis and Israel.
We ranged in age from 21 to 92, with 70 under the age of 45.
We were first time travelers to THE LAND and frequent fliers.
We were community members, community professionals, educators, lay leaders, and clergy (9 rabbis and cantors).
We were from a wide spectrum of Judaism... secular to Modern Orthodox.
We came together for 8 days. We learned, we ate, we climbed, we ate, we saw the sites of today and thousands of years ago, we ate, we sang, we ate, we danced in the desert, we ate, we cried, we ate.
We built community in a land that is like no other.
Thank you all who dreamed, created, organized and joined this experience.”