I suppose I should begin with a message of welcome to this blog. This is something I never really thought I would do, because blogging seems somewhat narcissistic. Why would anyone care about what I am doing and thinking on a daily basis? But I decided to write this blog for three reasons: 1- I believe it is essential for each of us as Jews to maintain a strong connection to the modern State of Israel and the best she represents, 2- This is an historic time for the Jewish state, and the timing of this visit allows me to hopefully share with you some of the views from there, and 3- Because this trip is so important to me personally, I thought it would just be nice to share it!

I’m writing this first message in the middle of the flight to Israel, with about 5 hours left of a 12 hour flight from Atlanta. If you have ever traveled to Israel, or been on an extended flight like this, you know this is a surreal moment in the flight. With all the shades drawn on the plane, it feels like the middle of the night. Indeed, my body thinks it is about 4:30 in the morning. Yet if I crack open the shade just a bit, bright daylight fills the plane, as we crossed the sunrise sometime around 3 AM. My body feels like I should be asleep (as almost everyone around me is,) but I cannot sleep. I never could sleep well on a plane, and to be honest, I am very excited about this trip.
Why am I so excited? This represents a bit of a homecoming for me. This is my first visit to Israel in 13 years. It is so hard for me to believe that it has really been that long, because my time there are a major part of the person I am today and the path I took to become a rabbi. I spent two years in Israel after college. The first year was on Project Otzma, a Federation-sponsored Peace Corps type program. After coming home from that, I returned a few months later to begin my rabbinic studies in Jerusalem. Needless to say, living in Israel for two years totally changed my life for the better. I am the man I am, and the rabbi I am, in part because of the experiences I had there. So you can imagine why this trip, even if it is short in comparison to my last visits, means so much to me. In some ways, it really is like returning home, and I cannot wait to see all that has changed and developed alongside all the ancient wonders and modern cities I remember.
You may ask why, if it meant so much to me, I have waited so long to go back to Israel. There are two reasons. First, life has simply “gotten in the way,” because this has been an incredible time in my life. This has been a time in which to literally build my life. In those intervening years, I became a rabbi, married my wife, began our wonderful family, and mourned the loss of my father and grandmother. Second, well, I promised Rachel. Rachel and I had only been dating a few months when I left for Rabbinic School. We could have easily parted ways being apart for a year, but we maintained our relationship. A significant part of that was because Rachel spent her month-long winter vacation with me in Jerusalem. Rachel had saved her whole life to tour Europe after college graduation, as many do, and she used that fund to come see me instead. So I owed her. I promised not to go back to Israel until I took her to Europe. Well, life kind of got in the way of that, too. I’m sorry to admit that I am breaking that promise, but only “sort of” breaking it. In her INFINITE kindness and understanding, Rachel said she was fine with me going on this important trip. That is partially because Rachel and I will celebrate our tenth anniversary this year, and she knows that she gets to pick the destination!

I recognize that I am rambling a bit in this entry- that is what happens when you are sleep-deprived. I promise that my next entries will not be as lengthy.
Just want to add two more quick things:
1- I love being on a plane where they make all the announcements in English and Hebrew. I just think it’s so cool!
2- You never know who you will meet on a plane heading to Israel. I knew that I would be seeing a colleague and her husband on the flight… we’ve made arrangements to share a cab to Jerusalem. But as I waited on the security line at the gate, I saw a familiar face, Hanoch has been a member of the Israeli delegation to Camp Coleman for the last 7 years, working closely with Amy, Cantor, Matan and me. He is returning home after a visit to the US for a wedding and visiting Coleman. If you know someone who has been to Coleman in the last 8 years, then they all know Hanoch. He asked me to send along greetings to everyone from TBI he knows, and looks forward to seeing you this summer again. I have attached a photo of us on the plane.

I’m going to see if I can at least take a little nap now. Next post will be from Jerusalem.
L’hitra’ot--- I’ll see you soon.