By Rabbi Jonathan Biatch
I often think back to my first visit to Israel, in 1970. We lived on a Jewish agricultural settlement, and we toured the entire land. As a Jewish teenager in Israel for ten weeks, simply being there for my initial visit mesmerized me.
The people; the food; the banana harvesting; even the Hebrew classes and the anti-cholera injection we had to undergo because of a disease outbreak: All these things – believe it or not – made me proud to be a Jew in the Jewish homeland.
Then, and since that time, all my visits to Israel have included a visit to the Kotel HaMa’aravi, the Western Wall, the remnant of the Herodian retaining wall that enclosed – and still supports the ruins of – the original Temple Mount. This symbol of the ancient Temple served as a reminder to me of the strength and unity of our people.
Yet when I attended my rabbinic organization’s annual conference in Jerusalem last month, and I went to the Wall again, I recognized that a transformation of that holy place had occurred. My liberal Rabbinic eyes now saw different realities. And it is these realities – and changes – that I wish to address.
