Tell Magazine - March 2018 / Sivan 5778

BEDOUINS, THE DEAD SEA AND
JERUSALEM
When speaking with Andrew Cassey
at the end of our tour, he said the
highlights for him were meeting
with Bedouin teenagers and their
head mistress at a school for gifted
children. It is the first of its kind and
it is revolutionizing the way Bedouin
children are educated. Andrew said,
I have always been passionate about
helping the underprivileged and
it was really hopeful to see these
children having a chance in life.
And meeting a female, empowered
head mistress was also great.
(Andrew recently passed away and we
remember him with great fondness,
may his memory be a blessing.)
Emanuel Lieberfreund recounts a
talk we heard by a retired general
from the IDF, who is now one of
the board members of the school.
This retired army man now
dedicates his life to help educate
Bedouin children. That is
just so inspiring to me.
Another tikun olam project
we visited was at the Masorti
Synagogue in Neve Tsedek.
Elise Hawthorne reminisces:
It was so inspiring to hear Rabbi
Roberto Arbib tell us about his
connection to sufi leaders in various
parts of the Middle East and his work
of praying for peace with leaders of
the Christian, Muslim and Jewish
faiths. We need more of that!
And another, more frivolous highlight:
Swimming at our Ein Gedi hotel,
in a pool filled with Dead Sea
water was one of the funniest
experiences I’ve had since my
teenage years. I don’t think I’ve
laughed so much for a long time.
Deborah Koder remembers:
I loved being in Jerusalem. Singing
and praying at the Tsion egalitarian
minyan in Jerusalem was very special
to me. It changed my ideas about
prayer and my experience at shul
in Sydney is much deeper now.
Going to the kotel, and walking in the
tunnels in the Old City, I just burst into
tears. It felt like I connected to my spirit.
It was a spiritual awakening for me.
We would love to share the Kabbalah
tour of Israel with the community
again, in October of 2019, so if you
are interested please let us know.
And when you walk into new
synagogue building, please remember
all the Stars of David that underpin
the architecture of the sanctuary.
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