Musings on returning from Ramat Gan, Israel
RABBI ROBERT L. KRAVITZ
It's always exciting to travel to Eretz Yisrael. These past few days allowed the Phoenix Sister Cities Commission delegation of 11 folks (many of whom had never been to Israel before) the opportunity to begin forming precious relationships with the people of Ramat Gan, Israel. Important were the meeting with city officials, greeting leaders of the hi-tech sector, visiting at the Bourse (Ramat Gan's downtown business center), Ramat Gan's (and Israel's) diamond center, speaking to staff at Israel's largest sport facility for the disabled, spending time with high school and elementary school teachers and students, enjoying theater (a Broadway revue performed in Hebrew), and touring the sites of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Ramat Gan and Jerusalem.
Of importance to me (I've been to Israel at least a dozen times) were some scattered musings that I put down on paper while still "ba-aretz" (in the land).
- Banners all over stating: "Akirat Yishuvim, Nitzachon l'terror" "Uprooting Settlements is a Victory to Terrorism" and "Lo Yigrosh" " Don't throw out (the Jews from the disputed areas)."
- The Shuk (Jerusalem's ancient marketplace) should have been bustling with shoppers bargaining over prices, but rang hollow with individual footsteps echoing off too many shuttered shops.
- Route #6 from Jerusalem to Ramat Gan, a brand new highway, is just like Highway 51 at rush hour, with even the occasional police car.
- The City Gate Tower, the tallest building (68 stories) in the Middle East, rises out of the Ramat Gan sky, a mere 20 minutes after leaving Jerusalem.
- At Yad Vashem (Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem), I was taken this time by two pieces of art. The Lion (State of Israel's symbol) at the entrance with a tear in his eye for those murdered in the Holocaust and the Teddy Bear with the broken arm (in the new children's area in the lower level of the museum). I wrote: "The Lion cries and the Teddy Bear is broken." Maybe not profound, but an incredibly meaningful metaphor to me.
Israel looks to peace, lives for peace and tries to survive until peace comes. Making Ramat Gan our "sister" will help to bring the reality of peace to Israel, and will bring the realities of Israel's future to Phoenix. "B'ruchim ha-baim l'Ramat Gan." "Welcome Phoenix, to Ramat Gan," our sister in Israel.
Rabbi Robert L. Kravitz, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, has served as co-chairman (with former Scottsdale Mayor Sam Kathryn Campana) of the Ramat Gan Sister Cities Founder's Committee for the past two years.
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