Our Synagogue's Desert Outpost

This past August, I spent 20 days in Israel; the most inspiring day was my last. On Sunday, August 31^st, I traveled with my family to an army base, deep in the Negev dessert, somewhere between Yerucham and Dimona. It was hot – very hot – that day. My jacket and tie lasted around 30 seconds. I was there representing the Fifth Avenue Synagogue Women’s Club at the dedication of a mobile synagogue and Torah scroll that our Women’s Club sponsored. The program began about 100 yards away from where the synagogue was situated. Around 80 soldiers – half with kipot, half without – danced and sang as the Torah, under a chupah, was carried across the base. The scene was remarkable – the dancing was so spirited, that we kicked up a cloud of dust around us. Soldiers, when given the chance to hold the Torah, wrapped there arms around it, embracing the Torah as if they were being reunited with a long lost brother. Binyamin was quickly hoisted on a soldier’s shoulders.

June 1, 2008

Rabbi Kermaier with our guest speaker, Ethiopian Jewish film producer Sirak Sabahat, who spoke movingly on the topic, "Dreaming of Jerusalem" at our Annual Membership Meeting and Yom Yerushalayim celebration.