Rabbi Howard Morrison

Our last day of the solidarity mission - We started our morning at Pantry Packers in Jerusalem packing food. This organization is under the auspices of Collel Chabad and provides food to the needy throughout the country. Our group was joined by a Bar Mitzvah group from Brooklyn, NY which simply felt the need to be in Israel at this time.

At Mount Hertzl cemetery, among the many graves we visited, we saw the grave of Michael Levin. He was a lone soldier who died in 2006.

We also visited the grave of Aner Shapira. A few days ago, we entered the safe room he was in protecting others of the Nova Festival before his life was taken.

We also saw the grave of Ilan Moshe Cohen who lost his life just a week ago. 

We visited the grave of Martin Davidovich. A Holocaust survivor, who died in an IDF training mission in 1948 in Czechoslovakia. Recognized as a lone soldier, his body was moved to Mount Hertzl in 2021. 

We concluded our visit with the recitations of Kel Maleh and Kaddish.

At the office of the World Zionist Organization, we met with V.P. Yitzhak Hess. He shared his views on the state of of affairs these days.

Afterward, we had our own private debriefing. Our group talked about the emotional power of giving and receiving hugs of support with Israelis. We marveled at our people's resilience on many levels. While some in Toronto found our mission to be "heartbreaking," we saw our mission as "heartwarming." The giving of letters to different strata of Israeli society elicited smiles and good feeling. Everyone was grateful to come and experience something which could only happen by doing what we did for nine days. We gave and received support in everything we did. All of us felt purpose, fulfillment, and meaning over these last nine days.

Our last program was a farewell dinner at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. Final reflections and lots of hugs were shared among Beth Emeth and Ramah staff. This was our third tour arranged by Ramah Israel Institute: Our 2015 Poland - Israel tour; Our 2019 Spain-Gibraltar-Portugal tour, and now our Israel solidarity mission.

One of Judaism's supreme Mitzvot is Hakarat Ha'Tov, recognizing the good in others. I am grateful to Beth Emeth, our travel participants, and to Ramah for an experience which transcends words.

Rabbi Howard Morrison