This Summer in Jerusalem

The closest I got to Israel as a youth was erecting a U.S. military tent in the Utica, Mississippi, backwoods of Henry S. Jacobs Camp. At least we called it the Kibbutz program. Now, our high schoolers have the opportunity to visit the real deal. The issue is whether we will lend them a helping hand.

This Sunday evening at 6:00 will be our annual fundraising dinner for our temple’s OKATY Israel Pilgrimage Program. Our local community has fostered a unique relationship among federation, temple and families. Each shoulders one-third of the burden for our youth to participate in the Garin Greene Israel Pilgrimage program (or for synagogue youth to attend a comparable program). We should be thankful for what exists in our backyard. Most cities throughout our nation require families to pay much more money.

Can I let you in on a secret? If our youth have a positive experience on an Israel program or at a Jewish local or sleep-away camp, the chances of their becoming Jewishly-affiliated adults increases by a significant factor. When we subsidize sending our youth to camp or to Israel, we are simply making an investment. It may be a demanding investment in the near-term, but chances are, it will pay off significantly in the long-term.

I invite you to attend the OKATY Israel Pilgrimage dinner this Sunday. We can eat Mediterranean food, sing Israeli music (in part led by Cantor Adelle Nicholson), and hear from our youth who have attended past Garin-Greene pilgrimages. If you cannot attend the dinner, please write a check made out to Temple B’nai Israel, with “Israel Pilgrimage” in the memo line and mail it to Temple B’nai Israel/ OKATY Israel Pilgrimage Dinner/ 4901 N. Pennsylvania Ave. / Oklahoma City, OK 73112.

Every dollar we invest will get our youth one step closer to Israel.

Such a program did not exist when I was a youth. We can only imagine how many more of my generation would be Jewishly connected if only it had.

See you Sunday!

L’shalom,

Rabbi Barry