Alexandra Benjamin - Israel Tour Guide and Educator

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).

Mumblin' and Tumblin' Musings from a bottle of sriracha

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.