Resurrection Time

It is now post-Easter Sunday, and even though we continue to liturgically honor Eastertide for the next seven Sundays until Pentecost, our culture considers it "over". As I consider Easter, the meaning of resurrection and the deep and abiding need that we have for it, I am amazed that we are in such a hurry to celebrate and then forget it.

I am pondering death a lot lately - not the large and impending death that we all will know, and perhaps to some degree fear (at least the prospect of oblivion, of our lives being over and not having mattered, that sort of fear) - but the little deaths that we experience every day. Stephen Sondheim wrote a song for the play A Little Night Music that goes: "Every day a little death, in the parlor, in the bed, in the curtains, in the silver..." etc. and so on. Little deaths: of hope, of self-esteem, of dreams come true. And the more we invest in them, the less we are able to live in the good news of Jesus Christ, in the resurrection, in a life that is supported by a God of second chances.

I need the resurrection, new life, new beginnings - not just Jesus', but the knowledge that every day there's the opposite of a "little death", there's a little LIFE, there's hope, there's a reason to keep on keeping on. So this is where I'm going to focus in these days and weeks ahead. As I continue to enlarge my world-view, reading and writing about what's going on in my neighborhood and around the globe, I am also going to enlarge my resurrection view, my ability to see and perceive the new life and new possibilities around me.

Post-Easter Musings

I've now been back from the Holy Land for exactly two weeks - today is day fourteen, and I continue to wrestle with what is right and what is righteous.

I have also just finished reading Asne Seierstad's A Hundred & One Days about the days before, during and immediately after the "liberation" of Iraq, and I feel torn in a hundred and one different directions about the situation in the Middle and Near East. There are cultural differences, it is true, but do not all people deserve to live in dignity?

I also wrestle with the nature vs. nurture issue here. It seems to me that when one grows up in a society in which children play "Israelis vs. Palestinians", what can they do but grow up to hate and hurt one another?

Also clearly we as Americans are seen in very specific but varying ways: as saviors, as devils, as an undeniable part of the peace process, as an undeniable hindrance to the same. We are imbedded in the situation, yet seemingly unable to effect positive change.

Now is a time in the Christian tradition when we celebrate resurrection - Jesus' and the resurrections we experience in our own lives, large and small. Yet it is difficult to believe in resurrection in the midst of anger, hatred, hopelessness and despair, much less be a part of the positive process towards peace and reconciliation.

This is my post-Easter prayer. That God shows me the ways in which I am to experience and express resurrection power - in my congregation, my community, my country, my world. That sounds huge. I guess it is. I long, however, to make a meaningful difference; perhaps that is all anyone wishes to do.

The Last Supper

I guess I do write this title a bit "tongue in cheek", especially as at this moment, we are in Holy Week only a few days from the date we celebrate Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples. Certainly, there was not the import to this one that there is to that one, but it was nonetheless a poignant evening. We took a moment to share our thoughts with one another about moving moments during the week; this was a treasured time for me. Here you see photos of Pat leading the reflection time and our wonderful leaders, AJC Program Coordinator Jael, and Tour Guide Aharon.

The meal, like all our meals, was wonderful - we ate at a Moroccan restaurant called Darna. The tiles and decorations had come from Morocco and it was a beautifully appointed place. Of course, the final photo is of one of our waiters "performing for us" the amazing feat of pouring out end of supper tea from a height.

Free Time (part 2)

We have just a bit of time left before we go to our closing dinner together and some of us decided to head back to the Old City for a teensy bit more shopping. It truly was a teensy bit more - we only made it into one store. The owner was a salesman extraordinaire and basically got all the money each of us had, in exchange for wonderful necklaces, scarves and earrings.

As we headed home, I literally had one shekel to my name. Kimberly, Brenda, Steve and Greg were pretty much in the same shape as I, so we followed our original plan and walked home. This wasn't as easy as you might think, because Jerusalem streets wind about the hills and valleys in very confusing ways. We asked eight people - yes, really 8 - before we were able to find someone to give us directions "home". It wasn't difficult, but it was a little bit of a walk. Anyway, it was wonderful, as this whole experience has been.

Our Final Program

Our last meeting was held at the Israel government office of Foreign Affairs. Here we are standing outside shivering while we await approval of official entry. We had to turn in our passports in order to be given Visitors' passes and were not allowed to take our cameras into the meeting. Once inside, however, the meeting was truly amazing.

We met with Daniel Taub, Head of the Legislative Department of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Our last speaker, Mr. Taub was as well-informed, articulate and responsive as anyone we've met on this tour. He spoke of wishing to be (and imagining that indeed they would be) in a very different place at this point than the one at which the country is. The spiral that has occurred since the breakdown of talks with Arafat in 2000, through the unexpected violence following the unilateral disengagement from Gaza in the summer 2006 after the Hamas takeover in that region, up to the Israeli incursion into the Gaza strip this past week, is disappointing, but not stopping the attempt at negotiations.

Taub made several statements, among them that while there is no partner on the Palestinian side that can ensure an agreement is positively implemented, that will not stop their attempt to work toward peace; that the current Israeli policy is one of distinction - that is, they are trying to identify and work with those in the Palestinian government that are moderate; that their approach is to continue the process begun with Roadmap to Peace; and to conduct negotiations now rather than wait until a government is in place that can implement decisions. He also argued that the conflict is not territory-based, as is shown in what happened when Israel unilaterally left Gaza and gave the territory back, but is instead a moderate/extremist conflict.
It would logically be in Israel's best interests for the Palestinians to have a positive national identity. But all attempts by Israel (and indeed the world community - Palestine has received more international aid per capita than any other nation in the world) have been thwarted by extremists.

This does not leave a lot of hope for either side, but I guess if I can find some, it is in the individuals we have met and in Daniel Taub himself and others like him, working against all odds for all to have a decent way of life in his country.

Immigration and Absorption

That afternoon, we visited an Ulpan - one of 33 centers nationwide whose purpose is to help young immigrants to Israel integrate into society. For the nominal fee of 1400 shekels (~$400 U.S.), they are housed and fed for 5 months, during which they study Hebrew five hours a day, five days a week. They also build relationships with other young immigrants from all over the world. We met five of the students currently at Ulpon Etzion - Max from Westchester County in NY, Fernanda from Brazil, Aurelie from Paris, France, Izel from Istanbul, Turkey and Talia from the Ukraine. These young people without exception felt that Israel is their home in a way that they didn't connect with their country of birth, and were looking forward to their new lives in Israel.

I thought the concept of the Ulpan - helping those who come from other native countries and cultures to immigrate and enter into their society of choice was fascinating. Imagine what a boon it would be if were able to figure a way out to do something similar in the U.S.? Then the people arriving would bring not only their own language and culture, but would become invested in the "American Culture and Way" in their first months here. How much more valuable they would be in the workforce to start out with a minimum of two languages and relationships built across cultural lines... Obviously, this is a much more manageable proposition with a nation the size of Rhode Island, but it's still a great idea.

Sabeel

Our next stop was Sabeel, an organization whose stated mission, according to its official website, is "to develop a spirituality based on love, justice, peace, nonviolence, liberation and reconciliation for the different national and faith communities." We met with the founder, a Palestinian-Anglican priest, Naim Ateek, who spoke about his longing for justice in Palestine. The PC(USA) supports Sabeel and many of our members were looking forward to this meeting, which we had specially requested. I confess, however, that I was very disappointed with Rev. Ateek's presentation, which used the right words, but was so angry in tone and unwilling to hear any viewpoint other than his own. We've met so many people during this trip who are looking for a win/win situation, but Rev. Ateek did not strike me as one of them. He seemed only able to hear about "justice" in relation to his side of the story and unable to see or hear anyone else's point of view. He is the only person that I've met in my time here (including those not on the official docket) that is still imagining a "one-state solution" - an answer whose time, I believe, is past. I kept remembering one of our presenters during the past week remarking that the Israelis and the Palestinians are both peoples who are suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. While I do not have credentials to make a diagnosis, this certainly seems to me to be the case with Rev. Ateek's perspective.

Our Last Morning

It's been a whirlwind trip that just didn't stop - we've gotten a lot to eat and not as much sleep as I'd like, but there just wasn't anything I would have wanted to miss. Our last morning was just as full as every one previous. First we went to the Augusta Victoria Hospital located in East Jerusalem, where we met Drs. Tawfiq Nasser and Jacob Assaf. Dr. Nasser is a Palestinian-Christian and Dr. Assaf an Israeli-Jew (whose actual hospital affiliation is with Hadassah in West Jerusalem). These two men were without a doubt the most inspiring of all that we've met. Dr. Nasser is the CEO of Augusta Victoria and in addition to running the hospital itself, he is committed (along with Dr. Assaf) to bringing quality health care to the Palestinians in the occupied territories. In addition to bringing mammograms and other important screenings to the Palestinian people (actually, bringing the Palestinian people to AV to be screened - including making bus arrangements that allow them dignity in the midst of the difficult border issues), they are training Palestinian doctors and sending them back into the territories to work with the people, thus providing them with both skills and opportunities for leadership. Their whole goal is to develop a win/win strategy, something that they do not see happening with the American political leadership. They agreed that what they are doing with and through the AV Hospital is not only providing great health benefits to the people, but perhaps the personal connections forged are even more important. It was a wonderful meeting, particularly after spending more than a week seeing and hearing about all the difficult aspects of the situation - and living in and through the developments along and within the Gaza Strip.

The Wailing Wall

When we had finished the tour beneath the wall, we came back out and had the opportunity to pray at the wall. The wall is separated into a Women's Side and a Men's Side, so I went to the Women's. First I wrote on a piece of paper all the people that Iwanted to pray for: Anna Gross and Les & Galda Gallagher and Edna Dein and Ruth Ulrich who are homebound and I send a sermon CD to every week and of course, my daughter, Grace and the Presbyterian Church of Sweet Hollow and Rose Spatarella and Bill Wansor who've both just come out of the hospital and Sara Verma who's going off to college and more. Then I went down and laid my head and hands upon the stones and prayed and prayed and prayed for everyone on the list and more and most of all for peace, peace, peace, peace, peace.

When you walk away from the wall, you walk backwards, so as not to turn your back on God and it was the most incredible thing to be walking backwards slowly at first, but then faster and to trust that everyone who is coming in to pray will look out for you and you won't run into anything, but will be safe and cared for. If only every person in the Middle East could take as much care with each other as they do in their holy places, there would be no problems here.

Underneath the Western Wall

After shopping, we all met at the Western Wall to go beneath the city where there is a current archeological dig going on. It was one of the best parts of the trip - and the closest that I felt to a "holy" place in all our travels. We were so blessed to have our amazing Aharon guiding us through the site as he shared stories of how Herod had the stones finished and which stone was the closest that we can get to where the Holy of Holies was (Marc is touching the stone in the picture shown here).

Free Time in the Old City

Finally, it was Sunday and we were to have an hour or two free in the Old City to shop. Because of the bombing that is going on between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Christian and Muslim quarters of the City were closed for shopping - like a protest. And the city was FULL of soldiers, I mean FULL. They all were about 20 years old and had machine guns hanging over their backs. I saw at least 8 platoons (I think that's what you call a group of 12-15 soldiers) in and around the city as we went in to go shopping. The Jewish quarter was still open and that's where everybody else went to shop, but not I. I wanted to buy Christian stuff (a new home communion set and a stole from Jerusalem) and I wanted to buy it from Christians and so I went by myself to the Christian quarter to see if I could find any shops open. It was deserted. I mean TOTALLY. The streets which are really like covered cobblestoned alleys, were completely shut up, like wide lockers and no one was in them except I turned one corner and saw two soldiers keeping watch. Eventually I got into the center of the Christian quarter and there was one street vendor - a young boy really - who was open and I bought a little sesame candy-type brick from him. And then I found one shop where the owner was doing repairs inside and I went in and had a long talk with him about the situation and the two-state solution and why he doesn't emigrate and all sorts of stuff. His name was George Maizer and he was really nice, if a bit frustrated and angry about how he is treated as an Arab and on behalf of his predominantly Muslim friends. Here are shots of soldiers and the empty, empty streets and George and me in his shop.

Worship in Jerusalem correction

I've tried to edit the post, but I'm not being let into the edit program, so I take a moment to correct myself here - the Interim Pastor at the Church of Scotland in Jerusalem is Rev. Colin Anderson, not Collin Andrews. Sorry, Colin! All the best for your ministry there!

The Haredi Community

After lunch, our next stop was Meir Panim (which means "to light up the face"), an organization conceived and run by Rabbi David Zilbershlag, an Ultra Orthodox Jew who, after the death of his beloved son, decided to make a positive difference in the lives of those in his community. Meir Panim runs many relief centers in Israel, including soup kitchens which are run more like restaurants, where people are waited on by servers, so that they maintain dignity even in straitened circumstances, furniture "stores" where people can purchase couches and chairs and beds and the like for nominal fees thus be engaged in ownership of these items, and after-school education centers for children. "Doodie" was very unusual in his willingness to meet and interact with those not in his faith tradition, especially women. The woman to his right in the first photo is Sara Augenbraun, the USA Projects Director and translator for our meeting. Clearly, he is different from most of his colleagues in the relationship that he has with her and the trust he gives her that she will translate his comments correctly. It was inspiring to meet both of them - it gave hope that our differences do not have to divide us. The other shot is of the whole group with Doodie and Sara in front of the "restaurant" where we met.

Worship in Jerusalem

The rest of our group went to the Anglican Cathedral for worship, but my deep Presbyterian roots longed for home, so I went to St. Andrews Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). My Presbyterian brothers on the trip felt the same, for they joined me. It felt wonderful to sing hymns that I know and follow a liturgy so close to what we do at Sweet Hollow. Here is a shot of the Interim Pastor there - he had just arrived in Jerusalem three weeks before - Rev. Collin Andrews, Rev. Christian Kim of Long Island, myself, a minister who was leading a group from Canada (I did not catch his name) and Rev. Steve Yamaguchi of Orange County, California.

The Role of Religion in the Jewish State

We met Sunday morning with Prof. Menachem Lorberbaum, senior lecturer at the Shalom Hartman Institute, an organization that self-describes as "a pluralistic research and leadership institute at the forefront of Jewish thought and education". Prof. Lorberbaum was raised Orthodox, but stated that praxis moved him into liberal theology. His purported topic was "The Role of Religion in the Jewish State: Can it be a Jewish State and a Democracy?", but his presentation raised more questions for me than it answered. He is certainly wrestling with the social and political ills that have occurred during the last 60 years and made many controversial comments such as: "what is experienced by Jews as a return home is experienced by the Palestinians as rape" and "Israel is a victim of its own success, including the economy, the army and the Six Day War as the undoing of everything". He also believed that religion must not be high-jacked by the extremist groups, as "religious people have the greatest capacity for introspection" and therefore "have more in common with each other than with secular society" especially regarding "the question of Divinity and how it operates in our lives". Clearly, a violent response in the name of religion corrupts this understanding. His hope is that religion can be a Balm rather than make Bombs, but the question is obviously still out.

Lenten Morning Musings

We're beginning our fourth day back from Israel and I woke this morning with my head filled with thoughts, prayers, musings about that war-torn country. My first thought was of the students in the yeshiva in Jerusalem that were killed and that will suffer the trauma as a result of the killings - we visited several Israeli schools while there, and I wondered if it could have been one that we had seen.

I read the article in the Times and of course, it wasn't. Of course, it was one of the Ultra-Orthodox schools, a school that promotes a religiously zealot Zionism in favor of the settlements - altogether a different sort of institution than the ones that we were able to enter. Do you get it? Do you see? The blatantly militant Islamist enters the religiously extreme Zionist school and opens fire. The pain of the situation for both Israel and the Palestinian territories is their own extreme factions. The majority of the people in both lands would be content/able/relieved, if not happy, to live in peace, but the extremists on both sides are condemning their brothers and sisters to war.

I find myself sitting at my laptop with tears on my cheeks this morning for those who are suffering on all sides in that little piece of God's land. We Christians are traveling the Lenten journey right now - we are in the season that recognizes wilderness, that remembers times where God feels absent even if S/He is not, but my heart cried out - why does wilderness have to be so painful? Moses was lost in the wilderness for 40 years. This year Israel will celebrate its 60th year as a nation. When will it end? Can it reach the Promised Land?

Dr. Nazmi Amin Al-Ju'beh

After traveling to Bethlehem and Masada in the same day, we finished with dinner at the hotel. But far from our educational experiences being over, we were graced with Dr. Nazmi Amin Al-Ju'beh as our guest speaker. While archeology and architecture are Dr. Al-Ju'beh's love and profession, and he claimed not to be directly involved in politics, he was one of the three Palestinians to negotiate the Geneva Accords and was directly briefed by Arafat following the Camp David talks in 2000. It was very interesting to hear his perspective and especially to note how closely it aligned with much of what we were hearing from the Jewish-Israelis that we've been meeting. There was also strong sense, though, that the U.S. needs to be a part of brokering a FAIR peace between these two nations and that if it doesn't happen soon, it may be too late.

Masada

Here we are at Masada, the site where King Herod built a palace fortress. The first shot is the view from Masada, you can see how it would be really tough to attack. The second is the mosaic tiles in the bathhouse. It's hard to believe in the middle of the dessert at the turn of the first millenia that the technology was there for water galore, but it's true - it's one of the reasons that the Zealots fled to Masada in 66 C.E. to escape the Romans. The final shot is me amidst the ruins. It was an incredible complex - the cisterns alone held enough to provide water for 1,000 citizens for ten years!

Church of the Nativity / Shepherds' Field

In Bethelehem, we were so very blessed to be led by Prof. Qustandi Shomali of Bethlehem University. He is a Christian Palestinian whose family has lived in the area since the time of Jesus, born and raised in Shepherds' Field, where you see him lecturing us. The other picture is of Kevin entering the Church of the Nativity (built in 326 C.E.; it's one of the oldest churches still standing in the area) through the Door of Humility. In a larger shot, you would be able to see that the original door was much larger with a curved arch, but when the Muslims came into power during the Crusades, they lowered it to prevent horses from entering during battles.

In Palestinian Territory

The Territories are divided into zones A, B, and C. In A zones, all control, civil and military is in the Palestinian hands. Here you see an example of that with the Bethlehem Police officer (I tried to turn the photo, but it won't work - I thought this was important enough to put in even sideways - sort of a metaphor for the whole situation there anyway). In zones B, there is a combination of civil Palestinian rule, but Israeli military control. I zones C, it is all Israeli controlled. Bethlehem is one of the all Palestinian areas.

Back to Day 6 - Bethlehem

We traveled to Bethlehem on Saturday, which meant losing our beloved Aharon and Jamal and going into occupied territory. We drove to the Wall and had to enter via the checkpoint first, followed by a walk through the fence that you see here. The wall is probably at least 12 feet high here and there is the metal grid that separates those going in from those going out. When we went in, it was about 9:00 a.m., so there was pretty much no one entering or exiting. The wall was covered with graffiti such as you see here - a painful reminder of what difficult lives those in the West Bank lead.

Leaving Israel

We're sitting in Ben Gurion airport waiting to board our flight home. We just finished a wonderful meal at a Moroccan restaurant - note the gorgeous table laid for us in front of Chuck and Pat - where we shared stories and reflections on our experiences this last week. It's hard to believe it's only been eight days (including the opening night dinner and orientation) on the ground. After logging this post, I will go back to day 6 where I left off and share our experiences moving forward from there - from Bethlehem to Massada, interviews with a rabbi from the Ultra Orthodox Haredi community and a pair of doctors Jewish and Christian working to make health care a reality in the Palestinian community, and more. But for now, I just want to take a moment and say what a treasure this trip has been and officially publicly thank the AJC for gifting me and thirteen other Protestant pastors the opportunity to see Israel in so many different ways over as many days. It has been transformative - and I will be processing the information, the variety of opinions, and the experience for some time to come. But now it is time to get on the plane and sleep for as many hours out of the twelve in the air that I can. Good night, dear readers!

End of Day 5

We spent the last of day 5 celebrating Shabbat at Rabbi David Levin-Kruss and his wife, Ayala Levin-Kruss's home, along with their lovely three young sons and several students from the Pardes Institute. It was a wonderful meal with a Moroccan flair, but more important was the time that we spent together. We learned a song that one student's father had taught her to sing as they prepared for the Sabbath - it had an Appalachian feel to it, which was both lovely and haunting. Another student shared a small homily on the daily Torah passage, while still others led the prayers and broke the bread. At the end of the evening, Rabbi Levin-Kruss graciously allowed me to bring home a copy of the book that the prayers and readings are from - it's like a Haggadah, but is called something different - the name is not on the book itself, or I would take it from there. At any rate, it is a lovely ritual, the sharing of the Sabbath meal and one that I'm glad we had the opportunity to participate in together.

Church of the ?

I don't actually remember which church this one was - I'll ask Aharon tomorrow - but this Arabic inscription is what saved it from being destroyed by Saladin in the late 12th century, when he conquered these lands and destroyed all the churches.

The Pools of Bethesda

One of our first stops in the Old City was the Pools of Bethesda, where Jesus healed the man who had never been able to make it into the water. Clearly there's not a lot of water left. Here is a shot of Aharon ably re-telling the story and another of a group of Muslim boys whose backyards abutted the site and climbed down into and past the guardrails to play below.

Entering the Muslim Quarter

We entered the Old City of Jerusalem through the Lions' Gate which leads into the Muslim Quarter. Interestingly enough, the Via Dolorosa begins here. Very shortly after you enter, you see the "birthplace of Mary", which my colleagues enjoined me to pose in front of, since they all knew the struggles I've been having with the authenticity of the holy sites.

The View from the Mount of Olives

To begin our tour of Jerusalem, Aharon took us up to the Mount of Olives, where we could see the city from across the Kidron Valley. Here you see a small sample of the hill from which Jesus made his triumphal entry on what celebrate now as Palm Sunday (which is mostly covered over with buildings, parking lots and graveyards now) and the view of Jerusalem over which he wept.

At Yad Vashem

We left Yaacov and headed to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. I've been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. and I've been to Dachau. I was really not looking forward to this experience. Here you see pictured the front of the museum and me as I've come out the other side. It's always an excrutiatingly painful thing to see what we human beings can do to one another. The insight or the realization that was particularly palpable to me on this trip was the sheer numbers of people whose lives were lost or brutalized through the horror of the Shoah. May we never forget and may we always work to stop injustice such as this no matter what the cost to ourselves.

On to Day 5

This morning we met with Dr. Yaacov Lozowick, former director of the Yad Vashem Archives, at the hotel. Dr. Lozowick was extremely articulate, knowledgeable and engaging - we have definitely not lacked for high-caliber intelligent well-spoken program leaders. Dr. Lozowick (who asked us to call him Yaacov, so I will from now on in this blog)

spoke a lot about the institutional memory of the Jewish people, how it is developed and what it means. He posited that memory is a central component of Judaism and that their ritual process teaches them from a young age to bear a collective memory. He also shared that he believes that Israelis take four insights from the Holocaust as a result: 1) when people say that they hate and want to kill you, they mean it. 2) Not only do they mean it, it is possible for them to do it. 3) As a result of what has happened to them, they are very aware of the inhumanity that humankind can perpetrate upon itself and are fiendishly scrupulous about examining and debating their own behavior in the world arena. 4) Being a victim cannot and does not give people the right to engage in immoral behavior. Suffering gives you the obligation to stop suffering, not to impose it upon others. Debatable points? Perhaps some. Certainly thoughtful ones.

Backing up to Day 4

We ended yesterday by having dinner with Rabbi David Rosen, the International Director of Interreligious Affairs for the AJC at Beit Moses, their Middle East office. It's hard to imagine when I have met a more articulate diplomatic individual. He works with numerous interfaith and interreligious organizations in a variety of ways, sitting on boards, acting as one of the advisors to the Chief Rabbinate of Jerusalem (I think I have that right - If I don't, sorry David!), as a member of IJCIC, etc. One of his points that resonated with me was that we must make sure that religious entities participate in the peace process, are visible actors within it, if we don't want the religious extremists to highjack the role from us and win the day as acting on behalf of religion. Here he is at dinner with Kevin to his immediate right and Kimberly beyond Kevin.

Day 5

I woke up this morning so tired. I got enough sleep, but my body is on overload. The pace is just grueling. As wonderful an experience as this is, at this moment I just want to be home with my daughter and my community of faith. I feel especially for those on this tour that are older than I and that have physical issues (e.g. knee or hip problems) that make it tough.

Today we go to Bethlehem. I wouldn’t want to miss it for all the world, but I surely would like a day of rest!

Ma'ale Gilboa Yeshiva

We spent the afternoon at a Yeshiva where young men are trained for 1 year in Torah and religious studies, then spend 1 and a half years in the army, then return to the Yeshiva for another year before finishing their final year and a half in the military. The aim is so that the soldiers they become might be as invested in a moral code as they are in enforcing military might. The kids were thoughtful and engaged, the rabbis were wonderful models of humility and learning; it is a program that has been in existence for over 30 years, although I believe I remember about 15-20 at this site. If nothing else, to be engaged in study of Bible while working in the military would keep a human face on the job to be done. An admirable effort.