Forty Shades of Grey: How Travel Opened Nicky Larkin’s Eyes

You can’t travel with a closed mind.  You can try, but inevitably something will come along and bust down your door and break in.  Travel, for better or for worse, opens your mind.  Are you prepared for that?

Nicky Larkin is an Irish filmmaker who had exactly that experience when he recently traveled to Israel.  Ireland, for reasons I really don’t understand, is overwhelmingly anti-Israel in its media and political bias.  So Nicky Larkin applied for arts funding and flew to Israel, planning and expecting to make a documentary about how bad Israel is.

How his eyes were opened!

In an interview with the filmmaker, he describes his surprise when he enters Israel and instead of seeing a country of Jews clad in kapatas with peyos dangling, he encounters the secular and cosmopolitan world of Tel Aviv.  It was not what he expected.  The doors to his mind were flung wide open.

As a result, he made a documentary, called “Forty Shades of Grey,” that explores the Israeli-Palestinian reality.  It is not black and white like the media portrays it.  It is, instead, Forty Shades of Grey.  And while he doesn’t talk about why he chose to use the number forty, it is a number that holds special significance for us Jews.

Watch the interview with Nicky Larkin here:

And watch the film trailer for “Forty Shades of Grey” here:

I’m sure it will be a much more worthwhile watch than the much more hyped up “Fifty Shades of Grey” that everyone keeps talking about!

Students at Neve Yerushalayim go on a hike in Ein Bokek near the Dead Sea - day hikes are very popular in Israel, with the added bonus that every step in the Land is a mitzvah!

Of all the countries I have been to, there is one to which I will always return.  There is one that is both an incredible place to travel and a perfect place to live.  There is one that both inspires and challenges, and that does so on all levels: physical, social, economic, conceptual, emotional, and spiritual.

That country is Israel.

We Jews have a special tie to the land of Israel.  It is considered a great merit to be allowed by G-d to go there – and once you are there you really are not supposed to leave without a strong, compelling reason.  Every few steps you take in the land of Israel is another mitzvah, so don’t take the bus if it’s possible to walk instead.  Israel is the land G-d gave to us, the Jews, and it is ours for eternity.  Our roots grow there, no matter how far our branches have spread.

So no matter how much Rabbi Ben and I travel, we always end up back in Israel and we always will.  We are Jews and that deep love of Israel flows through our veins.  There are no lures of any other country that could be stronger.

Every little part of Israel is important and beloved to us as Jews

The Jewish heritage of the love of the land of Israel is a powerful part of this week’s parsha.  We notice that the daughters of Zelophehad – Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah – go to ask Moshe for a portion of the land even though they are women.  Yet, the parsha comes to teach us, this is not because they are greedy or selfish or want the land for their own personal gain.  No, their ancestry traces all the way back to Joseph. Joseph, who, of all the sons of Jacob, made his brothers promise to return his body to the land of Israel after his death.  Joseph, who, after being sold into slavery at the tender age of 17, never got to set foot in Israel again but loved it so much that he couldn’t abide by his bones resting anywhere else.  From this we learn that the daughters of Zelophehad wanted a portion of the land of Israel because they loved it so much. And just as G-d granted the Jews Pesach Sheni when they asked for it out of love for the mitzvah of Pesach, G-d granted the daughters of Zelophehad a piece of the land of Israel.

This is how deep our love for the land of Israel should flow. It should be so deep that the thought of being left “without a portion” should drive us to beg our leaders to allow us one.  We should step up to defend our land from slander and we should do everything in our power to get there if we can, if not now, then some day.

Shabbat shalom!

Read more on Parshas Pinchas: Judaism as a Leader in Women’s Rights

On this day, November 29, in 1947, the United Nations General Assembly voted on whether or not to partition the then-British-held land of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.  After days, months, and years of working to create a Jewish state, it came down to one small vote.  Three minutes later, a Jewish nation was voted into being.

This moment in history must be remembered and embraced by us, for without it, there would have been, ultimately, no creation of the State of Israel.  This was the moment when optimism and hope flourished.  This is when we Jews knew we would have, finally, after so many centuries of homeless wandering, a place to call our own.

Please watch and enjoy the following video on the history of this momentous day:

Riding a scooter in the rain around Bali. My back pack is in the plastic bag in the front. It was an amzing trip but it rained a alot and made the roads slippery. I stayed sometimes in guesthouses and other times in villages. Bali is a beautiful place if you can get away form the main tourist spots.

A Blessing for rain in Shmoneh Esrei

The shmoneh esrei, also known as the Amidah, is recited three times daily. In one of the blessings we ask Hashem to bless the year along with the produce of the land. Because the blessing refers to things growing from the ground we change the blessing slightly from winter season to summer season to reflect what the ground needs.

In Israel starting on the seventh day of the month of Cheshvan (this year Nov 2011) they begin to say ‘V’sein Tal Umatar’ (asking for rain). However we only begin to say this insertion outside of Israel on December 4^th or 5^th.

Say one is in Israel now but plans on flying outside of Israel. What should he or she say?

There are two main opinions. 1) Say it like wherever you are according to the custom of the place. 2) If you are planning to return to Israel within the year, continue saying like they do in Israel even if you have left the country.

It is best to ask your local Rabbi to find out what you should do in this situation.

Lately, I have become very attached to the earth.  I’ve become more connected to the ground, to life, to growing things.  I’ve always been drawn to animals, but lately I’m being drawn more to plants.  This connection probably has a lot to do with where I’ve been over the summer months.  First in Eden Village Camp, then visiting our good friend Farmer Ben, then in Baltimore with Rabbi Ben’s friends who grow their own produce, and also to Kayam Farms.  We have been in a lot of places that focus on growing.

But it’s not just that.  My interest in growing things also stems from my having become a vegetarian some 8 or so years ago, which made me look at vegetables and fruits in a different way.  And also from my involvement a few years ago in a CSA (community supported agriculture) program that allowed me to buy a share in a local farm.  Maybe my interest really reaches as far back as our childhood trips blueberry and strawberry picking.  Who knows? What it comes down to is that slowly, slowly, my fascination and joy with growing vegetables and fruits has… grown!

So in reading this week’s parsha I am immediately struck by the mitzvah (commandment) of bikkurim, or the first fruits.  When a farmer goes out and sees the first fruits growing on his trees and in his fields, he consecrates them to the Kohanim (the priests), who serve G-d full-time.

At first glance, this seems kind of neutral.  I mean, we already have to tithe our produce and let the land lie fallow once every seven years.  So the concept of “giving up” for G-d is nothing new.  But there’s just something about those first fruits…

I remember once when I grew some tomatoes in the back yard.  When the first ones appeared, I was incredibly excited and couldn’t wait to taste them.  My hard work and patience had paid off!  I didn’t want to share that first bite with anyone.  It was so precious and so lovely because it was the first.

This sentiment that I felt as a teenager provides a clue to one of the meanings behind this law of bikkurim.  Not only do we have to give up for G-d, but we also have to be willing to give up the very first, the very best, the most precious that we have.  We have to be willing to give up even that which is near and dear to us for our love of G-d.

And, really, G-d isn’t asking too much.  He’s not asking us to sacrifice our children or to deprive ourselves of all worldly pleasures.  He’s asking us to be willing to give up the first and best of what our hands can produce, in His service.  After all, He is the one that gives us all our “fruits” in the first place!

So although the mitzvah of the first fruit technically only applies in Israel and technically only applies to the seven species, we don’t need to limit it to that when it comes to a deeper meaning.  We can use any skill or talent or possession we’ve worked hard to acquire to serve Him first, before anything else.  In this way, we will remember Him and recognize that without G-d, we would not have that skill/talent/possession at all, no matter how hard we try.  As a doctor, you can provide free check-ups to Jewish children from poor families.  As a juggler, you can entertain at a wedding.  And with your new car, you can deliver food to poor Jewish families or give a lift to a friend in need.

As we enter the coming week, let us remember: one of the most beautiful things about the mitzvah of the first fruits is that it has no limit.  We can tie a string to designate just one fruit, or we can tie many.  Let’s set our sights high as we approach Rosh Hashana and the start of a new year, and strive to donate as much of our very best, our “first and foremost” as we can, in the service of Hashem!

Shabbat Shalom!

“Israel has more companies on the NASDAQ than those from all of Europe, Korea, Japan, Singapore, China, and India combined.”

The above quote is from a book I’ve just finished reading called ‘Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle’ by Dan Senor and Saul Singer.

I really enjoyed the book, which gave a lot of insight into why Israel, a small and relatively new country, has been able to grow into the super economic country that it is today. The book explores a number of ideas, one of which I can appreciate.

“Israelis are not afraid to go where others will not,” says the author. “For example, Israelis have been traveling to China long before Americans and Europeans.”

I once read that Israelis are the second-to-most traveled people outside of their own country per capita after the Germans. Americans are the most traveled per capita within their own country. So what does this all mean?

When it comes to global business, having traveled to a country or at least not having any fear of traveling to it will enable positive business opportunities. If an Israeli gets an idea to import or export something to India or South America, he would not need to think twice about hopping on a plane. He may have already spent half a year in either place. But take the American who has perhaps not traveled outside of the US, or maybe they have traveled but only to somewhere in Europe. What if they had an idea to do business with India, perhaps for them and within their circles of friends and family going to India is a crazy idea.

A well known joke about Israeli travelers applies equally well in Nepal, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Peru, Bolivia, or Ecuador. A hotel-keeper sees a guest present an Israeli passport and asks, “By the way, how many are you?” The young Israeli answers, “Seven million,” to which the hotel-keeper says, “And how many are still back in Israel?”

Partially why I travel so much is to explore business opportunities and ideas. When a friend of mine suggested I join him in the Philippines to start a business, I went. When some Slovakian guys I met talked to be about their honey bee farming business in Cambodia, I checked it out.

Being fearless of travel is a definite benefit to growing a business.