Last night my family and I left Longmeadow, heading to Southampton, NY to visit my parents for the weekend.  My children take great pleasure in spending time in the home in which I grew up and in my childhood "stomping grounds".  Walking around with my 6 year old he says things like - did you sleep in this bed when you were my age?  Or, did Grandma make this for breakfast for you, too?  For me, seeing my boys enjoy the same things I did when I was their age - going to the beach, riding bicycles, playing kick the can, climbing the tree in our neighbor's yard, and finding joy in the beautiful surroundings gives me tremendous pleasure and satisfaction as a parent.  I feel like I am sharing with them an important piece of who I am. When we have gone to Israel to visit my husband's family, my husband delights in sharing his childhood with me and our boys.

There is something about giving those you love a glimmer of your past that helps solidify a bond for the future.  Perhaps this type of visit sets the context for who you are and from where you have come.  Maybe it is creating a link to the past that makes the present so much more meaningful.  We have all happily played "Jewish geography" thrilled when we reach that moment of connectivity, even if it is our best friend's brother in law's sister who knows a long lost cousin.  Our connections help us find meaning in our place in life.

In this week's Torah portion, Ve'etchanan, we find G-d instructing Moses to have Joshua take the Israelites into the Promised Land and forbidding Moses to enter.  Moses begs and pleads with G-d to go, but G-d is quite firm and tells Moses he may not enter the Land.  G-d tells Moses he must go to a nearby mountain top to look and see the Land of Canaan from all directions and is firm that he cannot enter, but must look upon the land.  You can imagine when Moses has taken his people from slavery to freedom and spent 40 years in the desert he must feel terribly angry that he cannot complete his mission.  Certainly Moses must want to see the fruits of his labors in order to share this connection with his people.  Consequently, one would think that G-d wants to share the Promised Land with Moses as this is the reason for the incredible journey of the Israelites.  Shouldn't G-d want to share this bond and connection with Moses?

Of course one can't help but wonder why G-d could make such a seemingly spiteful decision.   Certainly wouldn't G-d want Moses to see all of the beauty in the Promised Land and share all of the wonderment that is there - in the same way that I love my children to see where I am from?  There must be a longing on both sides - Moses's and God's to share in the beauty of Israel.  What possibly could be the reason that G-d would deny such delight to both Moses and G-d?  How can we possibly find meaning in something seemingly so unfair?

I think that Moses not entering the Land leaves us, generations upon future generations, longing to see what Moses was denied.  Unfortunately this was at the expense of Moses's desires.  But perhaps we each feel an obligation and longing to see and visit Israel, in honor of this desire?  There seems to be this innate spark in us, regardless of how observant or religious we are, to visit Israel for ourselves.  We want to experience the sites, sounds, smells and history with our own senses.   I have met many people over the course of my career who have reserved their first trip overseas to be a visit to Israel.  There have also been many people I have met who have only gone overseas once and that has been on a trip to Israel. 

The organized Jewish world has spent millions and millions of dollars to bring people of all ages to Israel to share in our past and set a context from where we have come.  Could it be that G-d's denial of Moses fed the longing in us to see our homeland?

Going on Federation missions to Israel allows us personally to fulfill a desire to see Israel.  There are many different kinds of missions throughout the year, but I want to highlight a very special one coming up April 19-29, 2010.  Chaired by Jim and Barbara Sadowsky, this boutique style mission will offer participants the opportunity to see incredible Israeli technological innovations in science and medicine, experience the burgeoning wine industry as well as gain first hand information about the Israeli military might.  The mission begins on Israel's 62nd Independence Day celebration and offers us the context of not only looking at where we have come from historically, but also at the amazing advances Israel has made in a variety of arenas for our world. 

The mission will include 5 star hotels with a stay in a lovely spa boutique hotel in the north, fine dining, VIP visits and touring, meetings with dignitaries and so much more.  This unique boutique mission is limited to 30 people and it will fill up fast.  For more information, call me at 413-384-0375 or 413-737-4313 x139. I look forward to bringing you to Israel and sharing in the delight of a visit to our homeland together.

Sincerely,