JENNA CIARAMELLA , Register Citizen Staff
LITCHFIELD - Six Chabad Lubavitch members who recently went on a spiritual trip to Israel were welcomed home Friday at a dinner in their honor. The members of the executive mission shared stories about bringing toys and thousands of dollars to victims of terrorism.
"Everything we’ve studied and learned about came to life," Chabad Member Nathan Zimmerman said.
Friends and members of the Chabad Lubavitch, a branch of Jewish Hasidism that began more than 250 years ago in Lubavitch, Russia, came to hear the stories and songs and enjoy Israeli food at the Liorah Greenberg Jewish Center, 77 Village Green Drive.
The group took an eight-day mission from Feb. 7 to the 18 to tour the their spiritual home land, Rabbi Yosef Eisenbach said. The mission was to represent a synergy of learning, fun activities, spiritual and meditative acts and political and historical actions, he said.
The group traveled through the Jordan Valley and river, visited the ruins of Bethshean Proceed to Tiberias, walked along the Western Wall, drove along the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, visited ancient synagogues, Kabala, Tel Aviv, Oscar Schindler’s grave, and swam in the Dead Sea, Eisenbach said.
Chabad members also visited a family of a father and two daughters who lost their mother to a terrorist shooting, Eisenbach said.
"There were emotional times, but we were all uplifted with prayer and each other," Chabad member Alain Levy said.
Thousands of people of all different cultures and Chabads around the world were dancing together and treating each other with peace and respect throughout the entire trip, Zimmerman said.
Levy said one of the memorable moments of the trip was after the group exited the Holocaust Museum.
"After all that pain, the path we were walking on widened and I could see 10,000 light bulbs that lit Jerusalem up," Levy said. "There was so much hope in that moment."
Contrary to common belief, Israel is a very safe and beautiful place, Chabad member Warren Cyr said. The group met many soldiers patrolling the land and were able to connect with them as well, Cyr said.
"The teenage Israeli soldiers remind me of sabras, the cactus fruit, that is prickly on the outside but sweet on the inside," Eisenbach said. "We all thought we were going to inspire and uplift their spirits, but the beauty is that we came back uplifted ourselves."
Jenna Ciaramella can be reached by e-mail at litchfield@registercitizen.com.
Friends and members of the Chabad Lubavitch, a branch of Jewish Hasidism that began more than 250 years ago in Lubavitch, Russia, came to hear the stories and songs and enjoy Israeli food at the Liorah Greenberg Jewish Center, 77 Village Green Drive.
The group took an eight-day mission from Feb. 7 to the 18 to tour the their spiritual home land, Rabbi Yosef Eisenbach said. The mission was to represent a synergy of learning, fun activities, spiritual and meditative acts and political and historical actions, he said.
The group traveled through the Jordan Valley and river, visited the ruins of Bethshean Proceed to Tiberias, walked along the Western Wall, drove along the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, visited ancient synagogues, Kabala, Tel Aviv, Oscar Schindler’s grave, and swam in the Dead Sea, Eisenbach said.
Chabad members also visited a family of a father and two daughters who lost their mother to a terrorist shooting, Eisenbach said.
"There were emotional times, but we were all uplifted with prayer and each other," Chabad member Alain Levy said.
Thousands of people of all different cultures and Chabads around the world were dancing together and treating each other with peace and respect throughout the entire trip, Zimmerman said.
Levy said one of the memorable moments of the trip was after the group exited the Holocaust Museum.
"After all that pain, the path we were walking on widened and I could see 10,000 light bulbs that lit Jerusalem up," Levy said. "There was so much hope in that moment."
Contrary to common belief, Israel is a very safe and beautiful place, Chabad member Warren Cyr said. The group met many soldiers patrolling the land and were able to connect with them as well, Cyr said.
"The teenage Israeli soldiers remind me of sabras, the cactus fruit, that is prickly on the outside but sweet on the inside," Eisenbach said. "We all thought we were going to inspire and uplift their spirits, but the beauty is that we came back uplifted ourselves."
Jenna Ciaramella can be reached by e-mail at litchfield@registercitizen.com.
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