Local residents journey through history

By Laurie Zimmer Special to The Acorn

ISRAELI SOLDIERS APPRECIATE LETTERS-Rabbi Moshe Bryski, director of Chabad of the Conejo, distributes letters to members of the Israeli Army. The mail was from young people who are members of Chabad. A group of local residents recently visited Israel, its major cities and other sites.

Not long after our plane carrying Rabbi Moshe Bryski and our 45-member tour group (whose ages ranged from 9 to 72 and of varying levels of Jewish observance) touched down in Israel, the rabbi asked us to think about a particular question throughout our trip. "If you had to pick one time period in all of Jewish history which was most crucial to the survival of the Jewish people and Judaism, which piece of Jewish history would it be?"

As this eclectic group, most of whom hail from Agoura Hills where Bryski is the director of Chabad of the Conejo, began pondering the importance of such Jewish events as Moses leading their ancestors out from Egypt, the Maccabees’ victory over the Greco invaders in the chronicles of Chanukah, World War II and the founding of the state of Israel, our tour of the Holy Land began.

During the 11-day adventure, we walked through the underground tunnels of Jerusalem and climbed to the rooftops of the holy city. We toured extensively throughout Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, the Golan Heights, the holy cities of Hebron, Safed and Tiberias, and down to the Negev Desert and to the waters of Elat.

The trip wasn’t designed for travelers who enjoy lounging poolside; rather it consisted mostly of 14-hour days, every minute packed with lessons in history, Judaism, adventure and fun. It included kayaking and river rafting down the Jordan River, jeep riding in the Golan, a dinner boat cruise on the Sea of Galilee, a camel ride and archeological dig in the Negev, and parasailing and jet-skiing in the southern city of Elat. We prayed morning prayers with Israeli president Moshe Katsav and throughout the tour met with notable rabbis and religious leaders.

A highlight of the trip for many was when we hand-delivered to Israeli soldiers cards and letters written by hundreds of children from the Conejo and throughout the San Fernando Valley. Agoura Hills resident Jay Lewitt commented that he noticed that long after the soldiers read the letters, "not one was left behind or dropped on the ground." Lewitt added, "I’ll never forget how much they appreciated these letters from our American kids."

A couple who joined the tour, Vika and Vladimir Tamarkin from Pennsylvania, renewed their wedding vows on a rooftop in Safed. This time they had a traditional chuppah (canopy), as Judaism was outlawed when they originally wed 18 years ago in the former Soviet Union. Their 12-year-old daughter, Rivka, celebrated her bat mitzvah as well, with several religious readings on top of Massada, in Hebron where the matriarchs are buried, and in Jerusalem.

As the tour came to an end on a sunny Thursday morning in Jerusalem, standing in front of probably the most famous of all the holy places, the Western Wall of the Holy Temple, Rabbi Bryski reiterated his original question: "What to you is the most pivotal time period in all of Judaism?"

Answers were streaming forth from this cohesive crowd whose enthusiasm never waned, when Bryski stopped them and said, "I’m afraid your answers are incorrect. The most important time in all of Judaism is now, here, with you. For all of Jewish history has led up to this moment. You are living history in a time of great significance and of witnessing miracles. You are crucial to Judaism, you are important, your actions are important. God is as much with us today as he was at the beginning of time. Never think that this time is any less important or miraculous than any other time in our history."

And with these parting words, this group of children, teenagers, young adults, middle-aged adults and senior citizens, who in just 11 days coalesced into one family, boarded their bus to take them to the airport and return to Agoura Hills.

Laurie Zimmer, an Agoura Hills resident and an officer in the Navy during the war in Iraq, participated in the Heritage Tour of Israel.