I have just returned from Micah Mitzvah Mission IV. Thirty-one of us traveled the country north to south, Haifa to the Golan Heights, Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Every visit to Israel leaves me with powerful impressions:

1. Score One for Dennis Ross. In December, when Dennis Ross, the former Middle East negotiator, spoke at Micah, one of the things he reiterated with great clarity was that no negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians could be successful without a supportive public that believed the talks could result in something positive. Public buy-in was critical, he said, adding that it didn't exist on either side. This is precisely what we found. Cynicism about a peaceful future is palpable. No one believes that peace is in the offing in the remotely near future. Israelis are talking in terms of generations.

2. Or Hadash, our sister congregation in Haifa. Talk about family. Talk about warmth. Talk about bonding, shared values, community. Someone in our group put it best: "Put Or Hadash folks into Washington, D.C., and they become Temple Micah. Put us into Haifa and we become Or Hadash." If that is correct, we have been paid an enormous compliment--and I think there is a good deal of truth here. "We are they and they are us" in so may respects--worship style, sense of community, commitment to the wider world, fun loving. Reform Judaism is possible in Israel. Or Hadash is proof. If we in this country cannot rise to the test to support our movement in Israel, we are missing an historic opportunity. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, recently made this statement about North American Reform Judaism in his speech at the URJ biennial convention: "If we fail to create a significant presence in Israel, this failure casts doubt on our authenticity as a religious movement. In other words, if we do not become a force in Israel in the next generation, we will have consigned ourselves to the margins of Jewish history."

3. Israel is the place where the Jewish world meets and comes alive. If you were asking "why?" to Rabbi Yoffie's statement, this is the reason. Jews from all over the world have been reunited in the modern state of Israel. Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Ethiopian, ultra-Orthodox, ultra-secular, modern Orthodox, socialist, capitalist, Hebraist, nationalist, universalist, hawk and dove--all are there, all talking at the same time, all participating in the creation of the miracle that is Israel. If we are not a serious part of the conversation, we are marginal to the Jewish historical experience of our time. Israel is the most vibrant Jewish world one can imagine.

4. Small things can make an impression when visiting Israel as well. I am always struck by and jealous of the strength and importance of family in Israel. Israeli culture reinforces family bonding in a way that American culture does not. Family dinners are taken for granted in Israel. Extended family Shabbat dinners, even in the most secular of families, even in families with teenagers, are a matter of course. Who here does not long for a culture in which family bonding is reinforced by the larger environment?

My mentor, Rabbi Larry Hoffman, is our scholar in residence Feb. 22-24. Nothing means more to me than for the sanctuary to be overflowing for each of his three talks: Friday evening, Shabbat morning, Sunday morning. If you want to learn from the Jewish scholar that has molded my rabbinate, my interpretation of Judaism, my vision for synagogue life, my dreams for Temple Micah, come hear Rabbi Hoffman. Elsewhere in these pages you can read more about his topics and themes. I so want him to see the best of Temple Micah and that is impossible if you are not with us for this very special weekend.