Excerpts from Rabbi William Berk's travel journalSunday, Oct. 29, 10:12 a.m.So why am I going? I am going because without Israel, world Jewry is weak and insignificant. I am going because I appreciate the opportunity to meet with Israeli leaders to hear from them what is going on. ... I want to be able to tell my community what we are facing. ... I am going because I love Eretz Yisrael, and her people, and I can't bear to be separated at a time of such trauma. Monday night We arrived at the Hotel at 7:10 pm. ... The bus ride into Jerusalem has made me so sad. I cannot believe my eyes. Jerusalem is no longer a bustling city. It looks like a quiet mountain village. Where are the people? She is empty. There is no traffic. The hotels are empty. Tuesday noon We meet with an IDF psychologist. He describes the incredible efforts to help the young soldiers cope with their impossible assignment. I am so impressed by the efforts to teach the young soldiers restraint and then to help them cope with the painfulness of what they face, including the painfulness of the restraint. Wednesday morning I forgot to write about yesterday's morning tour of the hot spots of Jerusalem. We tour Gilo. It is incredible. We see tanks, machine guns, soldiers in this Jerusalem neighborhood. Jerusalem is the front!! I mean, this is one neighborhood from Baka, another old stomping ground of mine! Why hasn't CNN done stories about the fear and the suffering of the children in this neighborhood? Late Wednesday night That night I hear my first military helicopter. The war is getting close. ... We find out that terrible fighting has broken out in Gilo. Meira describes what it was like being that afternoon in the community center of Gilo: "For two-and-a-half hours we kept having to lie on the floor..." As I think about what is taking place, it seems to me that we are witnessing the Lebanonization of the Intifada. There is a strategy to bleed Israel slowly, but to keep her bleeding till she begs for relief. |
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