And it's only the first day...

Thirty committed Jewish lay leaders and professionals from Rockland County sit in a beautiful room overlooking the Mediterranean in the ancient town of Jaffa from 8:30 in the morning until almost 6:00 pm. We represent twelve different Jewish organizations and we are here with the assistance of SIT (systematic inventive thinking) to learn, innovate, discuss, write, and think. But most of all, we are here to weave. 

We are here to weave our Jewish community together with enough strength and beauty to last m'dor l'dor, from generation to generation.

How exactly are we weaving? What will we hook onto the wood and anchors of our loom? How will we interlace the warp and weft of the threads? Our warp will be our call, our strivings, actions and teaching. Our weft will be our anchors, the safe people and places, our Jewish homes, our synagogues and schools and organizations.

The trick about weaving is that from where we stand below, it looks like chaos. There are knotted threads, frayed or cut, mistakes, uneven spots, mismatched colors. But on the front side, the top side, the side that is hidden from our view, perhaps even the side that God sees, there the weaving is perfect. The patterns are clear, the colors blended, the stitching precise. Our work thus requires just a little bit of faith.

We have come to Israel to learn how to weave because this land is the wellspring of Jewish inspiration for thousands of years. And we are inspired: Dadi Perlmutter introduces us to ideas of innovation and collaboration learned from 29 years in the leadership of Intel Corporation. We hear from the Israel company SpaceIL that is building the Israel lunar rover. http://www.spaceil.com/en/  We are amazed by Arnon Zamir, Founding Director of TOM, Tikkun Olam Make-a-thon. http://tomglobal.org/.  Inspired by the innovation all around us, we look back across the ocean toward home and think about ways to make the life of our Rockland Jewish community strong and vibrant.

And the work has only just begun...