I have been fortunate to have been one of the first educators that implemented an eighth grade trip to Israel. In 1984, in the then Hebrew Academy of Atlantic County, our board of trustees realized the importance and the centrality of our state of Israel and they approved on my request to begin such a trip. It was not popular then, but I felt it was essential for all our students to embrace the land of Israel and to feel and understand the uniqueness of our country Israel.
When I was growing up, I studied under many teachers. Many of them were considered the gedolim of the generation. I remember when I attended Yishivat Kerem B’Yavne and my rosh yeshiva was the tzadik Rav Chaim Yaakov Goldvicht. I recall the teachers that I was privileged to have learned from when I attended Yeshiva University – Rav Aaron Soloveichik and Rav Dovid Lifshitz. And then there was a short period of time when I studied in the beit medrash of the saintly Rav Moshe Feinstein, the undisputed gadol hador of his time.
All of these important leaders are no longer with us. From my own personal assessment, I never truly appreciated them as much as I should have when they were alive. I took them for granted. It is only now when they are no longer alive that I value them more and I realize the great personal loss of not having them around to talk to or confide in.
I would guess that most of us feel the same way about our teachers. It reminds me of the d’var Torah juxtaposing the two portions of the Torah: Achrei Mot (after the death of Aaron’s sons) and Kedoshim (they became holy). It is only after the death of a person –when they are no longer around – that people become holy and appreciated. The same is true of a loved one. When they are alive we tend to take them for granted. It is only after their death that we truly understand the value of the person and the great loss that we endured. I would give anything just to speak to my mother, who passed away 30 years ago – just to say “I love you” one more time.
Today as I witness the rebirth of our land and I look at the children playing in the square in Yerushalayim and the older people walking around – parents holding their children’s hands – I realize that I am witnessing the realization of the prophecy of the prophet Zechariah and numerous other prophets who stated that there will be a time when the Jews will return to Israel and children will be playing in the streets and the land will return once again to a land flowing with milk and honey.
Each year as I toured the land of Israel with my eighth grade I wondered: How is it possible that some of our people cannot see what I see, the miracle of the existence of the state of Israel? How is it that they do not realize that in the entire history of our people, never has Torah flourished nor been studied by as many people as it is in the land of Israel today? It is as if Almighty G-d has transplanted all the greatness of all the Torah leaders killed during the Holocaust and past generations and placed them in Israel and made them even superior and greater.
How is it possible that Jews could deny this open miracle, a phenomenon that could only be equated with the great marvel of the splitting of the sea as the Jews left Egypt or the sun standing still for Joshua?
I fear that the only way those deniers would understand this great gift that has been given to us by Almighty G-d is when, G-d forbid, it would be taken from us.
People need to step back and appreciate the awe inspiring event of our times and the establishment of our own land, Medinat Yisrael. It is in Israel that Jewish history is being forged, not in America, not in England or Australia nor in any other place in the world.
It is this theme that we must implant into the minds of our children – the next generation – so that we could reach a time where all our people will be here, embracing our beautiful land.