It’s NOT From Israel—It’s From Here!
By Guy Felixbrodt
About a year ago I attended a Shabbat service before going down to one of the Shabbat dinners I was in charge of. I immediately noticed an unusual group attending that night; almost none of them were sitting down, but rather standing in the back checking everything out.
Of course, as I suspected, they were from Israel and were high-ranking officers from the Israeli Army. As it happens very often in such a small nation, I even knew a couple of them since we served together in the Israeli Navy, and one was even my direct commander! We started talking and he was very impressed with the service and its beautiful music. How different it was from the usual concept of religion and tefillah in Israel. He was curious to know about the origin of the music. When I said it was from here, he insisted that it had to be from Israel. When I reiterated that our rabbis, hazzan, and musicians created the music, and that our musical tefillah did, in fact, inspire communities in Israel, he assumed that the Israeli communities were the source.
In the end he did get it, but I can see why an Israeli would find it so hard to believe that praying can be a joyous experience. In Israel, so many secular Jews have been alienated from Judaism as a result of the Orthodox religious monopoly, which pervades politics, education and the Army. I am grateful to have been healed by my experience at BJ and I try to spread the word about this joyous renewal of Jewish life, especially back in my homeland.
Guy Felixbrodt, a native Israeli and former Israeli Naval Officer, is currently working as BJ’s Program Director.
The “Focus on Israel” column is edited by Robin Fleischner, a Vice President of BJ’s Board of Trustees and Co-Chair of BJ’s Israel Steering Committee.
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