Alexandra Benjamin - Israel Tour Guide and Educator

14/10/2015

Jerusalem graffiti. The top says 'it's all okay', the bottom says 'Jerusalem Stone'.

13/10/2015

5 changes I have made to my behaviour in recent days
1. I no longer text or play candy crush as I walk. I want to stay alert and aware of my surroundings.
2. When I wait at a bus stop I stand behind the shelter, not under it.
3. When I walk down the sidewalk I try and walk on the side of the oncoming traffic - the better to see cars coming towards me.
4. When I leave my home in the morning I make sure I haven't left anything embarrassing out - just in case I don't come back and someone else has to enter my apartment.
5. I don't wear high-heels. Just in case I need to run.

5 changes I refuse to make to my behaviour.
1. I won't stop going out. I will go to work, go to the gym, go to the shuk, go to restaurants. This is my life and my city and I won't have it stolen from me.
2. I won't look at every Arab like s/he is a terrorist. I won't allow myself to get sucked into racist fear-mongering.
3. I won't lose perspective. I will remember that terrorism is about inciting terror out of proportion to the danger. This is still the city where I can (and do) walk safely though my neighbourhood alone in the middle of the night.
4. I won't panic. Even when I hear several sirens in a row, or when I see security forces blocking off the street. (not every 'suspicious object' is a bomb.)
5. I won't stop being grateful for the amazing miracle that is Israel and for the incredible things that make our society one I am so proud of.

30/06/2015

On July 18 the Church of the Multiplication in Tabgha on the Kinneret was burned down - apparently by Jewish extremists. Please consider donating to this initiative to repair the church led by prominent Israeli Rabbis and the Speaker of the Knesset. Make the statement "Not in My Name" and take back the State of Israel from the extremists.
https://www.mimoona.co.il/Projects/2748&ChangeLang=English

Rebuilding Friendship Center for Interfaith Encounter, burned down at Tabgha Church. We declare: Judaism rejects hatred and destruction.

03/04/2015

I hope you are all well and looking forward to Pesach in the various places you find yourself. Seder is now a few hours away and I wanted to send you a few thoughts to take into seder with you.

Each year we say dayanu - it would have been enough, but this seems like a very disingenuous statement. Would it really have been enough to have been taken to Mt. Sinai, but not have received the Torah? Or to have been freed to the desert but not have our needs met there? What would have been the point?

In my own life I have often encountered moments when I beg or pray 'please let this one thing work out', 'let me get this job, or pass this exam, or catch this bus or whatever. That is all I ask. But it never is all, and it never is really enough. We always want more. That is human nature.

Dayanu is really about cultivating an attitude for gratitude. Naming and acknowledging every stage of our redemption and being grateful for it. Psychological studies show that people who keep gratitude journals or regular express their gratitude are happier. Being grateful for our blessing, quite literally, becomes its own reward. It is often easier to focus on the things we lack. but sometimes we forget to focus on our blessings. So in the spirit of the seder here are a few things for which I am thankful.
If I had only grown up with a love of Israel from my parents home but not have had the zechut (merit) to actually move here....dayeinu
If I had the zechut to live in Israel but not built a life here filled with wonderful friends and community..dayeinu
If I had built a life here filled with wonderful friends and community but not found a career that brings meaning and purpose to my life ..Dayeinu.
If I had found a career that brings meaning and purpose to my life but not merited to teach and learn from so many wonderful students...Dayeinu.
The root of Yehudi is thanks - to be a Jew is to be thankful. And so I invite you, in your own sederim to add to the Dayeinu. What additional blessings are you grateful for?

Chag Pesach Sameach, wherever you are celebrating Seder and L'shana Haba B'Yerushalyim.

Alexandra

16/03/2015

Lots of questions about this election and what the various parties stand for. This is the best summary in English I have seen. Breaks down by party and by issue.
http://kololeh.com/parties-platforms/

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10/03/2015

Teaching on Ramah's TRY program has been one of the most professionally rewarding experiences I have ever had. The program is phenomenal and seeing its effect on the participants is a true privilege. If you know a high-schooler who might benefit from a semester in Israel tell them about these information evenings.

25/12/2014

Check out some of the most amazing archaeological finds of 2014.

What did Noah's ark look like? When did man tame fire? Was David's Citadel really found and who fixed that wrestling match 2,000 years ago? All this and so much more in these choice picks from the Haaretz archaeology section in 2014.

20/12/2014

Here is a project some of you might like. Project 929. It is a worldwide community of people reading the whole of the Tenach together - a chapter at a time. (There are 929 chapters). It begins Sunday 21 December and will finish in the summer of 2018 when Israel celebrates its 70th anniversary. Similar to daf yomi the idea is to read a chapter a day Sunday-Thursday and then take the weekend off to review and reflect. The website hosts and online community with people sharing their reflections, additional insights from artists and teachers etc. The site and Facebook group is all in Hebrew but even if your language skills aren't strong enough you can always follow along with your own translation. http://www.929.org.il https://www.facebook.com/929project/timeline

12/11/2014

A poem one of my students wrote for me.

VI.
For Alexandra
She has accented Hebrew,
speckled with the sweet syllables
of British cream. Eyes densely packed
with brown flecks of cinnamon and seasons,
she is warm and unmoving like the Marzipan
Bakeries that dust the city of gold with their sweets.
She’s steady in her sandals, stubborn as Jerusalem stone,
knows this vibrating country and its people as well
as the walls of Jerusalem know their quarters,
drawn time and time again. She moved
here during sparked times. She lived
here during quiet noise. She
has breathed this place.

Read more of the amazing Sararosa's poetry and reflections here http://jewfro-enthusiast.tumblr.com/ (especially you Betsalel - there is one for you there too).

Musings from a bottle of sriracha

04/11/2014

Today is the 19th anniversary of the murder of Yitzhack Rabin. November 4, 1995. I was in Israel then and I remember so much about that night and about the days following it. This was undoubtedly one of the most profound events in my life and my Zionism and remains an incredibly hard thing for me to talk about.

On a personal level it was a time I felt like a part of national events - a part of Israel. It would lead me to my choice to live here. It was also a turning point in shaping my political outlook, though it took many years for this to filter through.

But on a national level my reflections are harsher and recent events in Israel haven't made them any easier. I can't believe it has been 19 years and I am forced to ask - have we learned from this experience? Have we changed? Are we better? I don't have answers to these questions - or at least not good ones, not the ones I want.

After the horrific murder of the three yeshiva boys this summer, my city echoed with cries of 'Revenge' and actual lynchings. I have heard many people say 'Well that wasn't me, just some crazy fringe people' or 'not in my name'. However, I think that is too easy. An answer like this absolves us of responsibility. Just like those who dismissed the actions of Rabin's murderer as the act of madman. This allows us to dismiss the sickness in society rather than trying to heal it. We are all responsible for this. We must all take responsibility for trying to improve our society.

Israel is imperfect. Zionism is an ongoing project. But this crazy national experiment - to create a Jewish democratic State in our ancient homeland is too important for us to give up on, too important to leave to the extremists.

Those are just some of my reflections on this difficult day - and an invitation to debate.

27/09/2014

At Tel Dan

22/09/2014

I love Shimon Peres. He mocks himself and makes some serious points at the same time. Enjoy watching him take a trick out of the Queen's book. My favourite part was the joke about the textile factory. (with subtitles)

12/09/2014

A kickstarter project that you may be interested in funding. (I did) The goal is the production of a book about the Hebrew language.
"Language is a key to identity and culture, and Hebrew is key to Jewish identity and Jewish culture. The difficulty of actually learning the language though leaves most Jews out in the cold. This innovative venture will help you appreciate Hebrew and gain useful knowledge from Hebrew words and concepts, even without fluency or mastery of grammar."
I can't wait for this book to come out.

Yes you can! Click here to help create Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes

10/09/2014

Teaching on TRY this year was one of the most challenging and rewarding professional experiences I have ever had. The program is amazing and transformative. Ramah is now recruiting for TRY Spring 2015. If you or anyone you know may be interested you should attend one of the upcoming information evenings in Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Toronto. You will also get the chance to meet some of my incredible students.

04/09/2014

This was the Israel trip I was on as a teenager that set me on the path to what I do and who I am today. Hard to believe it was 23 years ago. Can you find me in the photo?

18/08/2014

Israeli member of Knesset Dov Lipman joins the ALS ice bucket challenge.

18/08/2014

Enjoy friends. If you like This American Life you will love this.

In our very first episode, the Israel Story team delves into the realm of fakes, forgeries, and mimicry. Three stories, from different periods and places, of people pretending to to be something they are not. (You can find Sipur Israeli, the original, Hebrew version of Israel Story, here.) [List...

09/08/2014

Goodbye Kvutzat Agnon, Ramah Seminar 2014. I will miss you.

05/08/2014

Noa Tishby I am an Israeli, I am an American, and I am an artist. As such, the following topic is especially irritating to me. As the war in Gaza breaks yet again, we have seen an influx of artists and celebrities chipping in with their personal two cents. It can come in the shape of Javier Bardem…

05/08/2014

Today is Tisha B'Av when we mourn the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the loss of Jewish sovereignty nearly 2000 years ago. It is kind of a 'catch-all' mourning day in the Jewish calendar. This year with the current events the day seems more painful and more relevant than usual.

Last night in shul reading Megilat Eicha I noticed something interesting. While megilat Eicha describes (in horrifying detail) the desolation of the siege, hunger, starvation, and war, the first chapter has a different tone. It speaks less of destruction and more of loneliness. In fact that is almost the first word of the entire book. 'Eicha yeshva BODED ha'ir'. 'How lonely does the city sit.' Bereavement, loss, pain, fear are all terrible things. But loneliness is equal to them.

In the crisis of the past month in Israel we have experienced all of this. We have lost our young men, we have lived in fear of the rockets, in fear of the tunnels and in fear of the news. As a nation we have wept. The pain has been awful. But the loss of our friends has been an equally hard blow. When the airlines cancelled their flights in and out of Tel Aviv (now thankfully mostly restored) we felt isolated. When we watch news reports from abroad that accuse us of horrors and seem to blame us for simply trying to defend ourselves we feel alone.

All of which is to say..You, our friends abroad, members of the Jewish people, who write to check in, post supportive messages on our facebook walls, share articles, express solidarity, speak up for Israel, call and text your friends, You are doing more than you can know. It may seem small to you, but its impact is huge. You alleviate our loneliness. And as I was reminded reading Eicha last night, loneliness is as bitter as any other suffering.

השיבנו ה' אליך ונשובה חדש ימינו כקדם

23/07/2014

It is impossible to put into words my feelings this morning as I stood in Har Herzl at the funeral of lone soldier Max Steinberg z'l. For those of you far away let me simply describe what I saw, heard and experienced.

I couldn't decide whether to attend for a long time. I questioned my motives. What made me want to attend - to honour a chayal boded and comfort his parents with the knowledge that he wasn't alone, to respond to the poisonous article published in Slate blaming Birthright for his death, because I connected to his story, voyeurism, so I would have a story to share with groups? Was it legitimate? How could I be sure that I motives were pure? In the end I think the thing that drew me the most was a need to physically connect to this thing we are all going through. In one way I am utterly subsumed in this conflict but in other ways I am oddly detached from it. I have no children or friends in Gaza, I haven't experienced rocket fire. I haven't even lost work due to the conflict...so far. Like so many others I needed an outlet to express my grief, and fear and confusion and I needed to share it with others. So I joined the reported 30,000 at Har Herzl.

The train was packed. Almost everyone heading to the same place. Outside the windows scores of people walking in the same direction. I got off the train and joined the throngs. As we entered the cemetery we were greeted by people from home front command handing out flyers with instructions for what to do in the event of an azaka during the funeral. The flyer would be put to good use as a fan to bring relief to the burning summer heat.

All around thousands of people of every description. Men and women, young and old. There were ultra orthodox, young girls in shorts and vest tops, men with kippot and without. Women with kippot, people in uniform, Jews of all races and backgrounds. Many of my friends were there (according to Facebook) but I saw no one I knew. The crowds were too large.

In the hot sun for close to two hours I saw 4 or 5 people faint but medics were on hand. There were water tankers set up around the cemetery for people who needed them.

The eulogies were in a mixture of Hebrew and English. There were many but the one that touched me the most was by Max's friend Matan who told how he would say in English to Max 'I love you Bro' and Max would respond in Hebrew אני אוהב אותך אחי. He ended by saying into the grave 'I love you, אני אוהב אותך' for both of them.

The funeral was a tough experience but a strengthening one. A friend and former student asked me the other day if the Torah says that Jewish lives are more valuable than non-Jewish life'. I told her that there are places when it does, and places when it says the opposite. But if you ask me I would say - I don't believe Jewish lives are more valuable than non-Jewish lives. However they are more valuable to me. That is just how family works.

Here is hoping and praying for no more funerals on either side. May Max's memory - and the memory of the other 32 fallen Israel soldiers of the past week be a blessing.

21/07/2014

From someone far more eloquent than I.

Op-ed: We are joined in common horror at the evidence of Hamas's war-to-the-death strategy, and we know we must prevail

21/07/2014

It is my first day off for a while and therefore the first chance I have had to write about events in Israel. I know many of you are following events closely and I thank you for your concern and support. Keep it coming. Please know it really matters. After seeing reports of the anti-Israel demos in Paris, London and other places we start to feel ever more isolated. (30,000 people came out in London against Israel on Saturday. Just 1,500 came out in support the following day.) Knowing we are not alone is really important.

For those of you living abroad I wanted to try and explain a little of what is happening in Israel. Right now everyone here is walking around in fear. Not so much fear of missiles, or even of terrorist infiltrations (today they found a tunnel dug from Gaza that came up into a Kibbutz dining room.) The fear we have is a fear of the news.

The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is to check the news. It is also the last thing I do before I go to sleep. This morning I could hardly bring myself to check, the dread was so strong. Will there be more dead? Will I know anyone?

Yesterday evening it was announced that an additional 13 soldiers had been killed in operations in Gaza. For people abroad this was breaking news. For us in Israel it was what we had been waiting for all day. There are little clues that you begin to pick up on, after people have been killed but before that news has been cleared for release. The radio plays sad songs without explanation. There are hints and gaps in news stories. 50 injured but no mention of deaths? And there are rumours. We are a very small country after all. So by the time the news was released we all knew it was coming. That is what it is like to be in Israel at war. I thank you all for your prayers and messages of support.

17/07/2014

If you are the praying type please take a moment to include tzahal in your prayers tonight. And perhaps also a prayer for peace too. My thoughts tonight (and for the following days, I expect) will be with the families who have loved ones in uniform on the ground. It is an unimaginable situation to be in. May this all be over very soon.

10/07/2014

http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-summer-camps-safe-place-to-grapple-with-israels-unrest/

Teens' murders and fallout discussed in careful age-appropriate manner at North American Jewish camps

09/07/2014

Delighted to report that my Ramah seminar kids are really cool and calm about the situation. Even though we have had to make changes in the program the energy level is really high and the atmosphere here is great. Thanks again for all your messages of support.

09/07/2014

I really appreciate all the emails, Facebook posts and messages of concern I have received from friends all over the world. Everyone's support means so much. I apologise that I can't respond to each message personally as I am busy guiding Ramah seminar in the North of Israel. Please be assured I am safe and all is well as I follow events with the same obsessive concern as everyone else. May we all know peaceful days again soon.

06/07/2014

With Ramah Seminar - Kvutzot Agnon at the memorial to the helicopter disaster of 1997.