I arrived in Israel yesterday and write to you from Jerusalem! I took the Nesher Shuttle from Ben Gurion airport along with some Haredi ultra Orthodox folks, tried to engage in a meaningful conversation about citizenship in Israel, the Palestinians and thoughts about Obama. It didn' go well.

The Palestinians, in their eyes, are less than human, their Haredi sons will not serve in the Israeli army because it's not Kosher enough and there are women. And, Obama is an Arab. Yes, they recognized the problems in the society and are counting on the Mashiach to resolve them. Oy.

In bustling Jerusalem with its terrible traffic I waited for my son, Dani, at the Pomerantz Bookstore near Ben Yehuda Street. By far it's the best Judaic bookstore I've ever been in. Michael, the owner, also acknowledged the distrust and the divisions in the society. He sees his bookstore as a way of bringing communities, particularly between the secular and the religious and Christian and Jews. Recently, he has hosted gatherings in order to broaden his bridge work and plans to expand his bookstore to accommodate more people for that purpose. It sounded a little bit like what Andy Shallah is doing at Bus Boys and Poets. It is needed in Jerusalem.

This past Sunday 350 folks came out to AU to learn about democracy in Israel as it relates to the Arab-Palestinian population that comprises 20% of the country. The Washington Jewish Task Force on Israeli Arabs Issues is an important model for the rest of the Jewish community. No longer can we, as American Jews, ignore and permit ourselves to be uninformed about the concerns of Israeli Arabs and other minority groups in Israel. I mentioned this conference to folks here and some folks didn't understand why we would be having this discussion in the States. I asked if there have been similar conferences in Israel. The answer, "no." I believe it is absolutely necessary of find a way to have these discussions here (in Israel). Folks seems to be building more and more fences and walls around themselves, a self-imposed oppression and enslavement. A "hardening of the hearts." (Exodus) The arteries of life and hope are becoming more constricted. But, trying to console myself, light comes from darkness, as we have also experienced. We must continue to support those individuals and institutions that hold the light.

Come for Shabbes.

B'Shalom,

Reb David