I returned home last April 2006 on ‘Erev Pesach’ following a year of fascinating travels in the Far East.
Choosing to do this journey on my own, I set out in April 2005, a few days before Pesach, and spent the year exploring Nepal, Tibet, India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia…
And now it’s been nearly two years since I returned home.
It is time to pause and contemplate on what I learned in those travels and to see whether I have succeeded in incorporating it into what I have been doing this past year in Israel…
During the first 6 months of my return to Israel, I worked on a photo exhibit as well as a slideshow presentation that were comprised of the photographs that I had taken while traveling.
Through them, I was best able to portray my feelings during my travels.
Both the photo exhibit and the movie have been exhibited and shown to various audiences around Israel.
I moved to Sderot 18 months ago, where I established the Sderot Information Center for the Western Negev Ltd. The Center has one goal: to present the human face behind the headlines to the media and for the public at large to view the humanity of a people under siege.
Part of the choice to move to Sderot is closely connected with travels on the Far East.
By having the opportunity to travel on my own for one year, I had given myself enough time and space to realize that it is up to me alone, to choose in what to believe in.
I was privileged in seeing Israel, my home, my religion as well as myself from the outside- having the opportunity of being objective for once. Being able to choose any path to go on…
Experiencing different cultures, religions while all the time observing from the outside.
Understanding that everything stems from our minds. If we want to achieve a goal or make a dream come true, it is possible as long as you believe in your self…
The two most definite things I can say from my experience of traveling on my own are:
1. I don’t know a thing. I’m so small in comparison to this enormous world. Every country I visited, I kept feeling smaller and smaller.
2. I’ve learned to listen, to really listen without letting an opinion or thought rush through my mind. To listen to myself, by myself.
To listen, observe, and to try to put into words my feelings and thoughts. Sometimes taking photographs would do the job. Every photo is a unique experience and as the saying goes: one photo is worth 1,000 words.
Seeing and experiencing creation, proved at times to be too overwhelming… I tried to connect through the eye of the camera…
To capture the moment, the seconds. Experiencing every second of the moment as it is, looking backwards- that was G-d! As a human being I’m experiencing the inner G-d, from the divine soul! Following my own truth and my own philosophy…
It’s hard to make a choice…Easy to carry out.
Through my photos I have come to realize who I really am…
While traveling I noticed that I was drawn with my camera to the faces of children. Children who came from all nationalities. The smiles the innocence…
I was also drawn to the elderly. Every time I met an elderly person, I tried to sit and listen to what he has to say…
And then I came to realize that this is what Judaism is all about…
One who remembers his past and dreams of the future- ‘Family’
Continuity… For this main reason we survived for 2,000 years- Family!
I would meet people from around the world, and they would ask me about Israel. My ready answer was always: ‘where else in the world do you have neighbors who come from Iraq, Morocco, Yemen, Australia, America, Russia, Ethiopia, England…?”
Basically we have every possible nationality in Israel! All of the traditions, beliefs, and cultures combined into one tiny country that takes only 7 hours to pass from one end to the other.
I reflect on the differences between my religion and those I have observed in my travels. For instance, in order to reach the highest spiritual level, a Buddhist monk totally secludes himself from society, and then immerses himself in meditation and prayer. This is in stark contrast to Judaism, where the exact opposite is true: the highest spiritual level of prayer is accomplished when praying in a quorum, at least 10 members of your faith.
The potential in Israel and the people who live here is so great- and the greater it is, the bigger the fall…
It’s because of this potential (as well as the potential for disaster), I choose to go on living here – with all the faults and warts. It’s enough to choose one area to influence, and try and make it a better place and change will come…
There’s so much to do, not enough time…
That’s why I believe in the work I’m doing here in Sderot…
I’m not here to give solutions to the problems; I’m just a messenger- a messenger of creating awareness in Israeli society and in world Opinion in this Russian roulette reality, here in Sderot…
I would like to share my photos and a personal diary.
