Temple Micah members on a recent mission to Israel were visiting Tzippori, an ancient Jewish city that dates back well over 2,000 years. Tzippori was the capital of the Galilee, thrived under Roman rule and became a major center of Jewish learning. Much of the Mishnah, the core document of the Talmud, was written in Tzippori.

I was standing in the excavation of the ancient synagogue looking at the beautiful mosaic floor, with its depictions of creatures from Greek mythology: a centaur, strange birds and other symbols from the zodiac. I considered the Jews who built the synagogue and the attention and care they certainly gave to its decor. I thought of the Jews who stood and prayed on that floor more than 2,000 years ago, the Judaism they were expressing and the Judaism they embodied. I felt a strong, even overwhelming connection to them. Hellenistic culture was not alien to them. It seeped through their Judaism in every way, just as American culture seeps through mine. I considered the American flag that stands in our sanctuary. What stronger symbol is there for the great foundational principles of American culture: democracy, freedom, progress?

A visit to Israel unlocks the questions, challenges and opportunities posed by Jewish life in every age. The floor mosaic in Tzippori was simply one moment of many that compelled me to consider the complexity of Jewish identity throughout the centuries and the secrets of Jewish history that lie buried in Israel's soil. Every trip to Israel becomes a personal adventure of self discovery.

Our Micah group traveled the country from north to south and east to west--from Haifa to the Negev, Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, the Dead Sea to Nazareth. We visited, we talked, we learned, we listened. The country goes day and night and so did we. We sat in the official Cabinet meeting room as guests of the prime minister's office and learned of the many, complex political challenges--domestic as well as foreign--facing the country.

We were guests in the home of a West Bank settler, who passionately described her dual commitments to Judaism and Zionism and the pain she would feel if a peace accord forced her out of her home and her community of 27 years. Israel's issues, which seem so clear from thousands of miles away, are much more complicated when you see them up close. The distances are so short; the commitments so enormous. Every son and daughter (apart from the ultra-Orthodox) serves in the army.

We visited a remote Israeli army installation on the Gaza border. We looked across the border into Gaza City and heard Palestinians firing rockets into Jewish towns in Israel.

We stood there and said a prayer for the young Israeli soldiers guarding the borders and people of the Land.

Life in Israel is frenetic at every moment, full of excitement, vitality, energy and hope. Our people have built a miracle on the shores of the Mediterranean. We need to support that miracle and to do so in ways that reflect who we are and what our values bind us to. Specifically, I would like to see our Temple Micah community commit itself even more to supporting Reform Judaism in Israel. Our sister community, Or Hadash in Haifa, is proof that Reform Judaism can take root in Israel among native Israelis. Shabbat there is a happening. I was given the opportunity to speak from the bima at services. It was, for me, a special honor. Or Hadash needs our help in every way--but especially financially. I believe that history will judge North American Reform Jewry in part on the basis of how we give of ourselves in the effort to build a liberal Jewish movement in Israel.

Micah Mitzvah Mission III is home. Watch this space for news on plans for IV.