In late October, I traveled to Israel with a group of Long Island interfaith clergy, pastors, priests, and rabbis, who have spent years learning with and from one another through our local interfaith associations. For this particular trip, however, most of us did not know each other before we began. We had met only once or twice, except for the individual partners who came from our home communities. Yet from the moment we gathered at the airport, we were united by shared purpose and spiritual curiosity.
Our trip, part of the #LIFaith initiative, funded by UJA and JCRC, was designed to deepen our understanding of Israel’s sacred spaces and to strengthen bonds of relationship and shared purpose among us. We began our journey, however, with profound loss. Just after landing in Israel, Pastor Joanne Bond, of Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Babylon, died suddenly at Ben Gurion Airport. Her death left us heartbroken. Joanne’s rabbi partner on the trip, and our entire group, were embraced with care and presence by the leaders and participants. Every day that followed was shaped by ritual and reflection in her memory. Her spirit accompanied us as we prayed, listened, and stood together in the holy places for Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze, and People of Bahá’í faith.
What was remarkable about this experience was that I had seen nearly every one of these sites before and learned their history many times over. But this time was different. What elevated the experience was learning and feeling through the eyes and hearts of others, clergy who held faiths and practices different from my own. I found myself embracing the feeling of holding sacred what someone else holds sacred. Their devotion made the places feel holy in new ways.
Our itinerary took us through the layers of history and faith that define the land and its people. From the panoramic view of Jerusalem at the Haas Promenade, to the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the market streets of the Old City, we experienced the ways each tradition sanctifies space. At Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial, we stood together in silence, acknowledging how oppressive ideologies, then and now, threaten human dignity.
In the Galilee, we traced sacred texts through geography, hearing one of the ministers on our mission recite the Sermon on the Mount at the Mount of Beatitudes, visiting the Church of the Twelve Apostles in Capernaum, and sharing coffee with a Druze family in Mrar. Each encounter revealed how devotion, story, and landscape intertwine to make the spiritual tangible.
In southern Israel, near the Gaza border, we met survivors and first responders who lived through the horror of October 7. At Kibbutz Be’eri, at the Nova Music Festival memorial, and in Sderot, the testimonies were both devastating and grounding. We witnessed resilience born not from ideology, but from the human need to rebuild.
Our final days were spent in Jaffa and Tel Aviv, exploring what “shared society” might mean in a land where coexistence alone is no longer enough. We heard from Arab and Jewish Israelis striving to build communities based on equality and shared values. During a graffiti tour, artists described their walls as conversations, painted over and repainted, each layer a dialogue, not a declaration.
Yet, perhaps the most essential learning I did not come from the scheduled sites or speakers, but from the in-between moments, from sitting and talking on the bus rides, at meals, or late at night in the hotel lobby. Each clergy member brought their vulnerability, their questions, and their deep desire to engage in true dialogue. Those conversations, raw, searching, and filled with faith, are what knit us together. And those connections will continue.
They did, as we all hoped, at Joanne’s funeral. The interfaith coalition walking side by side with over 100 Lutheran ministers who walked in a procession to honor Joan’s service to her congregation and to God. They do, as we attend Vespers at the Greek Orthodox Church and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of a pastor’s service at a church in Hempstead. We have become woven into the fabric of one another’s ministry and service to our communities. That fabric, now stretched and strengthened, makes all of Long Island more whole. We are invested in one another’s spiritual journeys and the well-being of each other’s communities.
Throughout the trip, we asked: How do we tell our stories? Who are they for? What truths do we hold—and what are we willing to hear from another?
In a world where each community often feels unseen or unsupported by the other, our journey reminded us that being present, truly present, with one another, that is the sacred work. We may not share beliefs, but we share humanity.
As we move forward in our local interfaith partnerships, I carry with me the memory of Pastor Joanne Bond—her light, her faith, and the compassion that surrounded her in her final moments. May her memory be a blessing, and may our continued work together honor the shared holiness we glimpsed in Israel.
I look forward to all of you being part of this growing interfaith connection as we come together at our local Interfaith Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, November 23rd at 5:00 PM.
Location: The Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church of Port Washington
100 Fairway Drive, Port Washington
Rabbi Jodie
