Sorry it's been almost a week since the last post. Everyone is, thank God, well, but, with the exception of Keithen, not well-rested for good reasons.
It's been late days, wonderful encounters with old and new friends, fondly-remembered places, more discoveries about the influence of time upon the landscape of Jerusalem, and simple exhaustion at day's end, followed by early starts the very next day. Hartman Institute classes ended, but the readings and conversations did not conclude with the last class; after services, in restaurants, walking on the streets, the lessons continue.
It's been emotionally and physically taxing. For example, after a long, deeply moving day at Yad Vashem, the memorial to the Holocaust, we left shortly before the entire facility was emptied because of a forest fire (apparently deliberately set) that sent dense smoke across much of Jerusalem and coated everything with ash.
Another day in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City was also emotionally challenging: I remembered that area -- including the Churva Synagogue -- as a place of ruins and archaeological digs, and to see what has been done to renew, restore, and inspire a sense of the "Long Now" that is Jewish time left me drained in yet another, different way.
All of this begs more time for writing and I hope you will bear with me -- our schedule is shifting and we will be able to share more in the next day or two.
Yours,
Rabbi Larry
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