Interesting Start!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

It’s been nothing if not an interesting beginning to our journey! (Ha! Ha!) (Interesting, code word for “unexpected”).

We started this morning with some funny name changes on our plane tickets. Rabbi Dinner’s new moniker for the trip is Rabbi Dibber, and Betty Fried will go by Netty. Of course the Department of Homeland Security was not too fond of the fact that our passport names did not match the new names that Ayelet, our travel agency, had

Our Interesting Arrival in Prague

assigned to us. So, after much ado we have all reverted to our original passport names.

The name game was just to keep us diverted from the plane game. After we boarded and taxied down the runway for our New York flight the pilot stopped the plane and announced the plane was experiencing some difficulties. Sitting on the middle of the runway he informed us that airplanes today were very similar to computers, and he was just going to turn the plane completely off for a few minutes (like you do to fix your computer when it misbehaves) and then we would be on our way. Interestingly (code word for “unexpected to the pilot but not to the rest of us”) that did not work. We taxied back to the gate, thankfully were able to deplane, and two hours after our original departure time we actually took off. Just enough time to make our next flight, though the timing would be tight.

Interestingly, (code word for “are we really destined to make this journey?”) Ayelet, the travel agency, neglected to book the promised bus to transport us from LGA to JFK. Fortunately, our fearless leader Reb Raachel snagged two limousines and we were on our way. During our scenic ride, we received an interesting (code word for perhaps we should get a new Travel Agency, before we get to Europe) phone call from one of our fellow travelers who was to meet us at JFK. The scheduled itinerary that we all had received was erroneous. Our international flight would be leaving one hour earlier than Ayelet had told us.

With God’s grace, we arrived at JFK at 3:25pm, checked in, x-rayed all our bags, went through international security, and got on the plane at 4:00 pm, just as they were shutting the doors for our 4:10pm departure.

Even with all the “interesting” developments we have a jovial and excited group. Friday night’s service at Temple Beth Or, with the blessing for travelers and the Torah reading from our Hermanuv Mestec Torah, set the tone for the sacred journey that lies ahead of us. We have gotten wonderful coverage on WRAL all weekend. You can check it out at: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2647408/

Yonat Shimron, from the News & Observer, has also begun work on a story about the trip that will be completed after our return.

These pictures are of the group who were blessed at our Shabbat worship service. We had hoped to add a few from the airport as well, but the “interesting” developments pre-empted that regularly scheduled program. There is one of our safely arriving, before our opening breakfast at the Prague Savoy hotel.

God willing, with a few less “interesting developments” the next blog will be after a good night’s rest and a wonderful day of travel in Prague!

Your Interesting TBO Travelers,

Rabbi Jurovics Uncovers the Story of the Hermanuv Mestec Torah

As many of you know, the tallest of our Torah scrolls lives with us on loan from the Westminster Synagogue in London. After the end of WW II, Westminster established a trust to repair and find homes for Torah scrolls the Nazis had stashed in a warehouse in Prague, scrolls whose Jewish communities had vanished into the merciless fires ofthe Shoah. Our scroll comes from a village in the Czech Republic, Hermanuv-Mestec, a small town about 70 miles from Prague, and I thought the town itself had been destroyed during WW II.

That’s the story I would tell visitors to our Sanctuary, until one day not too long ago, when a young woman, visiting with her classmates from Southeastern Baptist Seminary, spoke up: “No,” she said, “the town was not destroyed. I come from there!” Eliska Donatova, now a Protestant pastor training other pastors in Eastern Europe, provided me with pictures of the town and of the synagogue, a link to the town’s website, and a summary of the history of Jewish life in Hermanuv-Mestec, Jewish life dating back at least to the 15th century. Jews and gentiles had dwelled harmoniously in the town, until the Nazi onslaught ended the lives of all but two of its Jewish residents.

After the war, the town committed itself to preserving its Jewish heritage, caring for the Jewish cemetery and community center, maintaining the ornately decorated synagogue, its pale blue ceiling painted with the golden stars of the firmament. March 30 through April 8, 2008, Rabbi Dinner and I will lead a congregational trip to Prague, Hermanuv-Mestec, and Budapest. We invite you to join us in exploring the rich Jewish heritage of two of Eastern Europe’s most ancient cities, to read from our Holocaust scroll in the synagogue that was its home for close to a century, and to thank the townspeople of Hermanuv-Mestec for their decades of g’milut chasadim, deeds of loving kindness.

Blessings for our Journey

Dear Friends,

Just three more days until our trip launches. At Shabbat services at Temple Beth Or tomorrow night, March 28, 2008, we will read from the Herminov Mestic Torah, bless our traveling group, and receive farewell wishes from the congregation.

As a taste of the past for our Torah's original home I have posted a few pictures below of what the synagogue looked like before its restoration over the last decade. As the trip gets under way, we will have more pictures of the restoration, and when we arrive pictures of our journey bringing the Torah for a service in its first synagogue.

L'Shalom,

Rabbi Lucy H.F. Dinner

Shalom Chaverim,

As we prepare for our journey I hope that you will take some time to reflect on what this trip means to you and to our Temple Beth Or community. You might consider the following:
What message do you want to leave with the leaders of Herminov Mestic?
What is your vision for the service at the synagogue of our Torah?
Do you have relatives who came from Eastern Europe? If yes what would you like to experience through returning to their country of origin.
What do you want to communicate about Judaism at Temple Beth Or to the progressive Jews who we will meet in Eastern Europe?
How will the trip deepen your connection to your own Judaism?

In addition to these inward questions, don't forget those last minute check lists. It is often rainy this time of year, so bring an umbrella and shoes comfortable for walking in the rain. Layers are important for the spring weather variations.

Finally, please come to services Friday night so that we can receive a blessing for our journey and take a group picture with the Torah before we go! Services begin at 6:30 pm.

Reb Raachel and I are looking forward to our journey together.

L'Nisiah Tova u'Mtukah,
Wishing Sweet Travels,
Rabbi Lucy H.F. Dinner

Welcome Blogging Trekkers

Hi all,
Reb Raachel asked me to help set up a blog for our Temple Beth Or Eastern Europe Return the Torah Scroll trip, so I asked Laura, my wonderful housemate PhD in Computer Science--who created this for us.
So--the only way to post (ANYONE can read) is to sign in with an email account established for this blog alone and a password. They have been sent to you as trip members via an email from Reb Raachel.
Happy blogging!
Sarah Stein