Friday, June 1, 2007

Journeys

The general feeling in "the circle" this week, is exhaustion. When I woke up on Sunday morning, I was shattered, dreaming of Shabbat before I had even reached the office. In less than four hours, I'll be there, and I am ready to embrace 25 hours in the spiritual realm.

Perhaps Shavuot threw the body clock off, a mini Shabbat, just before the real thing, and now we're in the home stretch to Ellul and repentance. It was also a week of celebration, and partying. Two close friends married each other on Sunday night. On the other side of the emotional spectrum, there were "leaving parties" for other friends.

Dancing at a wedding makes me happy, the joy set the tone for a great week, but there is something wrong the words "leaving" and "party" in the same sentence. There should never be a celebration when someone is leaving Israel - and unfortunately, I know three people packing up and going back to the US in the coming weeks.

This weeks parsha will continue to relay the travels of the Jewish people through the desert. The levi'im start to serve in the miskan as G-d protective clouds sheild the nation from the risks of the wilderness. At the end of the sedra, we see this protection isn't enough, we wanted the meat to eat - so G-d sent it.

G-d kept us alive, back in the days of the t'nach [bible] when our leadership was strong, and later in history when things weren't so great. For generations people prayed for the return to Zion, the ability to live in Jerusalem, lhiyot chofshi b'artzenu, and just like G-d did in the wilderness, he answered our prayers and gave us the state of Israel.

Everyone's journey is different, no one can tell you what is best, or how you need to reach it. I can't say "don't go" - but I can say "don't forget".

I want to wish my friends that are leaving a successful journey in America. I hope the hiatus from Israel is short, and you accomplish your goals quickly, but at the same time, I want to remind you not to get too comfortable there. Don't get swept up in the lifestyle in the US, and keep the ultimate goal in mind.

You will be missed here, by your friends, and by the land. Be blessed with happiness, success, and may all your dreams come true, but don't lose site of the destination. Destination Israel.

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