A few weeks before Rosh Hashanah, the rabbi in me reverts to seasonal language and themes — love, covenant, partnership, introspection, atonement, sin. The Jew in me adds Jewish communal visions, hopes and disappointments to the list. As a member of the human family, I reach for inclusion. God cares for us all; shouldn’t we emulate that example?
I’ve toiled in the Holy Land since coming here at the age of fifteen. It became my beloved; I’ve raised a family here, my mother is here, my children and grandson are all flourishing here. I fell in love with its people, my people, and was lucky enough to meet the Other, and fell in love with them as well.
[Content continues with discussions of checkpoints, Palestinian rights, Hassan Hijazi’s story, and reflections on peace and justice in Israel/Palestine, ending with a prayer for understanding and reconciliation]