Holy Chevron

On an Egged bus to CHEVRON (Hebron) with my twins .

If Jew s have a pilgrimage to our origins,a journey to trace our roots ,this has to be it .
We begin to teach our children at a tender young age about the stories of our patriarchs and matriarchs ,and they recite it thrice daily in the Amidah Prayer ,"אלוקינו ואלוקי אבותינו ,Our G-d and the G-d of our fathers".

My hope and prayer for my children and I as we journey to the burial grounds of our holy ancestors ,is that it sparks an inner parallel journey toward the spiritual energy of those same ancestors ,that are buried as well in our own psyches,implanted deep within the collective consciousness and sacred imagination of every Jew.

This will help them make the connection,that the sacred spirit that coursed through the lofty souls of Abraham and Sarah ,flows through our souls as well.

אלקי אבותינו , the g-d of Abraham is indeed אלקינו, our g-d and the g-d of our children.

Tears stream down my eyes as the bus winds it s way up the narrow roadways and I imagine my ancestors,trekking through these same winding paths.

These majestic ,somewhat perilous, mountainous pathways are symbolic of the spiritual journeys we must also undertake as we venture into the unknown often craggy terrain of our own lives, guided by the same faith as Avraham when he embarked on his "Lech Lecha "journey,that continues through us as well today.

I m listening to a cantorial piece by Yitzchok Meir Helfgott accompanied by Itzhak Perlman ,from the new album aptly titled" Eternal Echoes ".

It popped up magically as if the Judean hills were mystically coordinating somehow with the shuffle feature on my iPad.

The lyrics are from the prayer that we recite at the end of the Amidah prayer.

"Yehi ratzon meelephanecha hashem elokainu velokai avotaynu sheyeebaneh
Bait hamikdosh beeymhayrah beeyamaynu vetayn chelkaynu betoratecha."

"May it be your will our G-d and G-d of our fathers that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days ."

As I watched my daughters pour their hearts out to G-d in the presence of the spirit of Avraham and Sara,Yitzchak and Rivkah ,and Yaakov and Leah,I
felt a piece of the temple restored in that holy moment .

I will fasten myself to this moment and bring it back home, and though I won't have to declare it at customs,its certainly more valuable to me than anything else I will have brought!

Winding down a most HEAVENLY day in a slightly more EARTHLY way,with dinner at
Burgers Bar,on Emek Refaim street in the German colony.

Layla Tov !