Sukkat Shalom Reform Synagogue

ROS ELLIS NOVEMBER 2009

I have recently returned from Israel where I joined a JNF (Jewish National Fund) tour. I haven’t been to Israel since 1981 and I was very keen to see what has been going on there over the years and to visit some of the projects that I have supported through the JNF.

I thought I would share some of my experiences with you, although, to be honest, it was such a wonderful tour taking in so many places and meeting such interesting and committed people that I hardly know where to begin.

So here is a snapshot of the highlights.

Our Visit to Shul in Florida

When I was in 10th grade (age 15-16) the big event in Hebrew School (only the Orthodox call it Cheder in America) was the trip to New York City. In exchange for going along to various Jewish places of interest – two of the largest synagogues in the US, a mikvah and cheder in Brooklyn etc. – we got to go on a tour of the NBC Studios (home of television shows like ER, Friends and Seinfeld), a light show at the planetarium and a Broadway show.

Some of you may know that thanks to the help of the synagogue and some of its members I was able to spend the summer working as conservation volunteer in Madagascar.

Madagascar's long isolation from the neighboring continents has resulted in a unique mix of plants and animals; many found nowhere else in the world. Madagascar's varied fauna and flora are endangered by human activity, as a third of its native vegetation has disappeared since the 1970s, and only 18% remains intact.

Jews have lived in Cape Town since its creation and the population has grown from about 20 Jews in 1820 to more than 17,000 today , constituting more than 25 percent of the Jewish community in South Africa.

Whenever Ray and I go on holiday we always look for Jewish connections where we happen to be. A few weeks ago ago we went to Menton in the South Of France

Greetings from the Jordan Valley, the nearest thing to paradise that I have so far discovered!

As I write this dispatch from the Promised Land, yet another peace conference is about to start tomorrow in Maryland. Well, together with all my fellow Israelis (yes, I am now one of them), I pray for a successful outcome - that elusive thing called peace.