Many a mother reaches a point where she needs to fill her spiritual cup. After a battle with breast cancer in 2020, pandemic challenges, our son’s recent bar mitzvah, and a milestone birthday coming up, I had been feeling the need for renewal. When an 8-day trip to Israel presented itself at a time more feasible for me to step away from teaching and performing, I took it as a sign and applied. I’m so grateful to Momentum, Jewish Federation of Florida’s Gulf Coast, and the other organizations that helped make the trip possible for the many participants.

 

I wasn’t able to participate in the Birthright program when I was of age, but 18 years ago, I traveled to Israel with my mother, Lois Gosa of Jacksonville, Florida. After backpacking in Europe with my mom and a few friends, just she and I flew from Rome to Tel Aviv, on her birthday. She was born in 1948, so she feels a unique bond to our jewish homeland. We made lots of great memories on that completely unstructured trip, winging it, no tour buses, just the two of us. 

 

This 2nd trip, with Momentum, was much different, so well organized, and specifically for mothers who have children age 18 and younger. Our eyes filled with the sights of our Jewish homeland, we walked both modern and ancient streets, observed our traditions, learned from our speakers, danced with our sisters, ate delicious food, and walked miles and miles. It was a recipe for spiritual growth. Not to mention strong calves and a nice tan!

 

The 250 women on this Momentum trip were from the U.S., Canada, Israel, and India. I was with the 9 women of the Florida’s Gulf Coast group, led by Barbara Mazer, a bandmate of mine in the Jammin Jews. Among the Israeli moms on the trip were 4 special ladies from the Hadera-Eiron region. I am grateful for their stories, lineage, and friendship. It’s a uniquely Israeli experience to anticipate that you and all your peers will join the military at age 18, and to realize that when your own children are still just teenagers, they will enlist too. It’s a heavy thought, and I have such admiration for these families. 

 

These are just a few highlights from the trip: 

 

July 2 & 3 we flew and then acclimated in Tel Aviv. We dined at the delicious restaurant Abie’s, founded by late peace activist Abie Nathan.

 

Day 1 was not a typical 4th of July. I swam in the Mediterranean Sea. Our program was about the power of learning and growth, and afterwards was our first dance party.

 

Day 2 the theme was courage.  We visited the Ethiopian Israeli Heritage Center. The founder told the story of how she was born in the middle of the desert on day two of her family’s trek leaving Ethiopia on foot to come to Israel. Later, at Dizengoff Center we took part in Guru Zuzu. We danced around and got silly at the mall, and along the sidewalks and parks of Tel Aviv. In a trust exercise we formed two lines, and one by one we walked down the middle with eyes closed, a gentle pat on our shoulder from all the women as we passed through, building unity and a common sense of friendship.

 

Day 3 the theme was peace and wholeness in the home. We toured beautiful Tzfat, where sights included the Kabbalah center and the Ari Sephardic Synagogue. That evening we departed for Jerusalem.

 

Day 4 the theme was faithfulness and trust. At the Western Wall I placed my little slip of paper into a crack, with my forehead and hand against the wall, and the tears flowed. We celebrated Shabbat at the Aish HaTorah center. Barbara and I sang a cappella in harmony together, un-mic’ed, for our huge gathering, singing Hinei Ma Tov. Indeed, how good and pleasant it was to dwell together.

 

Day 5 was Shabbat and the theme was chesed, tzedakah, and parenting. An important metaphor: since you only have one source filling the cup of marriage and the bowl of parenting, place the cup inside the bowl and then fill the cup until it is overflowing into the bowl. We joined a local family for Shabbat lunch, and later celebrated havdalah in the Old City. That night, several of us returned to the Kotel for an underground tunnel tour. 

 

Day 6 the theme was unity and mutual responsibility. We went up to Masada by  cable car, then traveled to the Dead Sea where we did the traditional slathering of mud and floating in the blue, salty water. Next in Eretz Bereshit were several desert activities such as camel riding, pita making, yoga, and for several individuals the opportunity to choose a Hebrew name. We discussed embracing unity without uniformity as a recipe for peace. Afterwards again we were dancing, at the edge of the vast and sweeping desert.

 

Day 7 the theme was human dignity. In Jerusalem we visited Yad VaShem, Har Herzl, and Ammunition Hill. We saw the graves of Theodor Herzl and Golda Meir. At the grave of Hannah Szenes, Barbara and I sang in harmony, “Eli, Eli”, one of Szenes’s poems set to music. Coming back to the title of this article: at our final evening event one of the coordinators, Noa, approached me and said, “Every time I look at you, you have a little smile on your face. We have this term, panim meirot, like a shining face, a face illuminated, and you have that.” That was the biggest transformation of this trip. With so many layers stripped away, I was lighter, funnier, more open. I’ve joked with my friends that I went from having an RBF (google it if you don’t know) to having a Resting Bliss Face.

 

Day 8 the theme was gratitude. We visited a nonprofit, Susan’s House, which gives at-risk teenagers artistic employment.

 

Now I am back, grateful to be reunited with my family and hoping to sprinkle the lessons of my trip like a gentle mist, and not overwhelm anyone with a fire hose of ideas. I hope to maintain a connection to that part of myself I rediscovered, the face illuminated, my panim meirot.