Shalom Sinai community,

A couple of weeks ago I was blessed to have my father stop by for a few days on his way to Russia for business. As he can tell you, we had a great time. Among other things, we walked the streets of the old city, davened at the Kotel, and shopped in the old city’s Jewish quarter and Ben Yehuda St. area. The highlight of the trip was by far taking the guided tour in the Kotel Tunnel Tours, which follows the Western Wall underneath the Muslim quarter. It was an amazing experience!

For Shabbat my father, my cousin, and I traveled to Beit Shemesh to stay with my father’s stepbrother and wife. The food was great, the conversations on Judaism were deep and powerful, and over all the experience was incredible to be around so much family and celebrate Shabbat in true style. Feel free to ask my dad more about his visit when you see him around. I’m sure he’d love telling anyone and everyone about his trip.

A little less than a week after my dad left Israel, a group of friends and I decided to make our own exodus by traveling to Egypt and then promptly leaving right before Pesach was to begin. The trip was interesting to say the least, haha. Every Pesach Seder we sit around and read that WE should imagine OURSELVES as having been slaves in the land of Egypt. Have you ever been able to picture it without the help of The Prince of Egypt or Charleton Heston? I hadn’t much luck, so I hoped visiting the ruins of Egypt would give me some extra kavanah going into Pesach. Oh boy did it ever! In 3000+ years I don’t think much has changed, as the land is still not very inviting.

I spent 5 days in Egypt (the first and last were basically driving the 12 hours between Jerusalem and Cairo). My group, team Exodus pt. II, spent 3 days touring the country. We visited the step pyramid of Saqqara, the ancient city of Memphis, the Great Pyramids of Giza the second day and then took an overnight train 9 hours south to Luxor (ancient Thebes). In Luxor we visited both sides of the Nile. On the west bank we visited the Valley of the Kings, Ramesseum, Deir el-Bahri (mortuary temple of Hatshepsut), and the Colossi of Memnon. In the east bank we went to the Luxor Temple and the ancient Karnak Temple. Maybe it was just me, but everywhere I went I swear I could still feel the negative energy pouring forth from the ancient Egyptian ruins. While uncomfortable, it really gave me the ability for the first time to understand the terribleness that was the Hebrew enslavement and life of slaves in general in the ancient Egyptian empire.

My spiritual journey culminated back in Cairo at the Cairo Museum where I stood face to face with the mummified body of Ramses II. I stood and stared at him. He still had hair on his scalp and one of the biggest crock shank noses I’ve ever seen (my mother can attest to this). In staring at him it hit me. I saw a flash of the history of our people.  The story of the plagues, the exodus, and our freedom on the other side of the Red Sea (albeit a tad of The Prince of Egypt mixed with Charleton Heston).  I gave him a few explicit words and one rather inappropriate gesture and walked out of the mummy room content with myself.  I felt liberated. I felt free. The next day I spent 12 hours on my exodus from Mitzrayim to Eretz Yisrael. Ok so it wasn’t quite 40 years in the dessert, but than again Moses didn’t have a private bus, a road, or a map. Baruch Hashem I did!

The Torah commands us to remember the Exodus from Egypt, but it’s really not as easy to do as it seems. Exodus 13:8 states: “It is because of that which the LORD did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.” I will never again lack the visualization or the kavanah when reading from the Haggadah each year. I will always remember crossing the border and seeing friendly Jewish faces asking to see my passport followed by a bazillion questions. It didn’t matter, I was home and I was spiritually free!

Lastly, I spent my first Pesach in Israel at the home of one of my Rabbis and teachers from Pardes. The seder was very similar to mine at home, although a little bit more of it was in Hebrew (ok a fair amount more) and we went till about 2am. It was an amazing experience, but none was more amazing then thinking to myself “This year in Jerusalem!

Chag Sameach to everyone back in Katy/Houston!

L’hitraot,

Stephen