For the last two years during the morning service on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, we have begun to call groups for aliyot. An aliyah is the honor of reciting the blessings before and after the Torah is read. The word means “going up,” because we go up to the bimah (raised platform) to read the Torah. It is also called an aliyah because it suggests that on a more spiritual level we ascend to the Torah and all that it has to show us.
“Aliyah” is also the word that is used when someone goes to Israel. Just as with the Torah blessings, there is a practical and a spiritual aspect to using “aliyah” in this context. Jerusalem, Israel’s ancient and current capital, is about half a mile above sea level, and to get there from the surrounding areas you have to go up. At the same time, Israel has occupied a special place in the Jewish heart, and we ascend to it in the same way we ascend to the heights of Torah. We go up to our destiny.
On Rosh Hashanah morning these past two years, we have called all those who have been to Israel for an aliyah. Both times, I have been impressed not only by how many of us have been there, but also by the looks on the faces of everyone who was able to answer that call.
As I said when I spoke about Israel at Yom Kippur, Israel has been our promised land for three thousand years. For the past two thousand of those, we have spoken of it daily in our prayers. On Yom Kippur and at our Passover seders, we have ended with the words Lashanah haba’ah birushalayim, next year in Jerusalem.
The experience of Israel produces memories that will stay with us: sunrise on Masada, the afternoon in bustling Tel Aviv or beautiful Haifa, the glow of Jerusalem stone by twilight. And there is something magical about being in Israel on Yom Ha’atma’ut, Israel Independence Day, as the country celebrates together.
But as special as visiting Israel is, we go even higher when we visit it with those with whom we share our community. This year, Temple Etz Chaim members and those who are part of our larger Temple community have an opportunity to go with me and fantastic tour guides to Israel. The trip is planned for April 16-26, over the school vacation week. It will be an op-portunity for empty nesters and for families with children to remember forever.
I know that people have many questions about this trip. So, to answer them, there will be a Temple-wide meeting to learn about our Israel trip. It will be held on Monday, December 1, at 7:30 p.m. at the Temple building.
I hope that you can join us, even and especially if you are not sure whether this trip is for you. It could be the start of your own chance to ascend to Israel. Let us make this the year that we can say, “This year in Jerusalem.”
– Rabbi Thomas M. Alpert