and with my future

For many years, Israelis who return home have filled their shipping containers with electrical appliances, furniture and clothes.

Students, however, like my parents in the early 1960s, return with a wealth of knowledge acquired in institutions of higher learning, and, at best, the clothes on their backs.

Today, El Al allows every “returning Israeli” to bring three suitcases back on the airplane. When I leave my position as Israel shaliach and fly home on July 31, I will divide my suitcases into one that I will carry on board, just in case the other luggage does not arrive, and two others that will carry the important things I need for life, equally balanced.

In my carry-on I’ll take:

• A vivid panoramic photo of all of you, which will provide an outline of everything I have learned during my family’s four blessed years in Milwaukee. If everything else gets lost, I’ll have this photo burned into my mind to re-create the whole “disk.” And I promise, each one of you had an unforgettable impact on me and on the legacy that I will carry into Israeli society.

• I’ll also have my so-called “blankie,” just as my three-year-old son, Assaf, still has his. This isn’t the blanket I’ve had to use during one of the sub-zero nights in Milwaukee when I was walking our dog. Rather, mine is a quilt of the passions you all have for global Jewish life, for social justice, for making the society you live in a better one for all.
The concept of one Jewish world with Israel at its heart is one to value, adopt and practice wherever Jews live. Where else could I go but Milwaukee to realize that we all have such a committed Jewish mishpacha?
What a unique group of people you are, with generosity of values, time and resources. If there wasn’t a community like you, my dear friends, G-d would have had to invent you.

• In addition, I’ll probably pack my kippah and set of Shabbat candles. These items represent the richness of Jewish life you maintain in your environment; not only the mitzvot we all know about, but also the deep and abiding Jewish values you perform and teach your children: Klal Yisrael, tzedakah, tikkun olam, helping the needy and much more.

These social justice practices are certainly not empty expressions that I heard here once and try to remember as I write. They are part of your daily language and routines.

• I’ll also pack my gym clothes, as I have learned to value and enjoy exercising at the “J.” I always wanted to understand those who run in the streets of Jerusalem, as many have an American accent. I believe we’ll have a lot to talk about next time I run down Jabotinsky, crossing Arlozorov meeting Marcus St.

Now that my hand luggage is almost filled up, I will add to it two more things.

I’ll take a blank notebook, as I want to document the feelings and immediate memories of loss and heartbreak as I leave colleagues and friends.

When I’m done crying, I’ll have my Jewish haikus book to start understanding some Jewish humor.

‘Healthy and strong’

In my two heavy suitcases that I plan to check, I’ll have the following unforgettable items:

• The challenges and peaks that I wanted to climb, and, with your help, succeeded in climbing, during my service here.

• The discussions on and practice of interfaith involvement and the leading role you play — daily — in Israel advocacy and charity.

• The tolerant way in which you handle disagreements and the magnificent way you end up reaching a consensus on almost every conflict. The word “pluralism” (which differs from “Ribui De’ot,” “many opinions”) has gained a new meaning here.

• The love and passion you all gave my wife, Anat, and our children, Amit and Omri and later Assaf, as we entered the community — and, oh boy, it was not easy.

• Learning to work in a not-for-profit environment, the art of fund raising, the advantages of procedures and committees, the importance of processes, the personal responsibility to the well-being and success of the organization one is involved in.

• Your ability to maintain Jewish life and values while proudly remaining equal United States citizens who love your home country no less than your homeland. The way you respect the law to a degree that every Israeli is astonished by and envious of. The American flags waving high, in every shopping center and schoolyard, the united way you stood after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that followed.

• I have already packed innumerable treasures, but there is one more that I want to add — your pride. Out of a collection of immigrants you made, within 100-150 years, a healthy and strong community.

You have created something of a “mini-state” within the larger one, a model of connection and linkage that serves and protects you, when necessary, with patience, justice and respect, that bridges the gap with other non-Jewish communities here and serves the global Jewish cause. The rich environment you put together exemplifies each and every one of your personalities. It reflects your commitment to (from Pirke Avot): “Lo aleicha hamelacha ligmor, v’lo ata ben chorin l’hibatel mimena” (“You are not required to complete the task, but you are not free to refrain from doing it”).

Wrapping all the valuables in these two suitcases will be a very special personal belonging: the love, dependency and responsibility that my nuclear family members — my wife and children, my parents, in-laws and very significant friends — have for one another, even more so after my exceptional and meaningful years here. If just for this one thing, our whole journey was worthwhile. The knowledge that we are one, in good times and in bad ones, is very comforting.

When all is said and done and I am back home, Alon Galron, my well-experienced successor, will be sitting in the shaliach’s chair in the Helfaer Community Services Building, ready to respond to issues that involve the community here and in Israel. I know that you will receive him, his wife, Einat, and their two small children, with all the warmth that you have shown us.

I have tried my best to bring to my Milwaukee family our joint history, our love of Israel, the bridges we use to close the gap with world Jewry with Israel at the center of our existence. After I leave, I know that a big void will remain in my soul that only time will heal. But I want you to know that I take from you the best gift one can ever get; I take from you … my future.

With thanks to all, and lehitraot until the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s community mission to Israel Nov. 11-20.

Nir Barkin has served as Israel emissary and director of the MJF’s Israel Center for the past four years. He invites you to contact him at 1 Choot HaShani St., Modi’in 71700, Israel.