A short while ago, I arrived in Israel. Joined by our director of Israel Engagement, Eli Cohn-Postell, and two of our board members, Alex Goldstein and Leah Robbins, I am privileged to be leading our annual winter study tour for Massachusetts legislators.

Two Massachusetts Senators – Joseph Boncore and Patrick O’Connor – and eleven Representatives – Linda Dean Campbell, Evandro Carvalho, Gerard Cassidy, Kenneth Gordon, Danielle Gregoire, David Muradian, Jerald Parisella, Jeffrey Sanchez, Alan Silvia, Chynah Tyler and RoseLee Vincent – will be spending the next nine days experiencing the region and learning about the challenges and hopes of this place that is so near and dear to all of us.

I’ve said it before, but with six consecutive December trips for public officials (some one-third of the current sitting members of the Massachusetts legislature have come with us during this period!) and several other delegations in between, one might think that I’d get a bit jaded. Hardly! Every trip is a unique experience for me, on three levels:

First is that, with each group, I get to experience this place I care so deeply about through fresh eyes. It’s amazing to encounter Israel and my own deep connection to our roots through the lens of someone who is seeing it for the first time. And, I get to witness as our participants fall in love with the leaders and activists who’ve inspired and energized me for years.

Second, I am confident that – as on every trip – this week, I will meet at least one interesting person here for the first time. Maybe he will excite me or, just as likely, she will challenge my thinking and understanding. But one way or another, I’ll come away with another layer, another story, another example of how – after thirty-one years since I first lived here and after visiting countless times since – I still have so much to learn about this place.

Finally, while every trip examines long-existing challenges and the layers of this region, each also presents the opportunity to come face-to-face with a unique moment and get a fresh perspective on how people here are grappling with and talking about the latest developments. This week, it goes without saying, that news is Jerusalem and the United States government’s view of this most ancient city and Israel’s capital.

Those “in the news” moments will inevitably bring us back to the enduring conversations we’ve been having for years. How do different people and stakeholders define “Jerusalem?” What does this place mean to us, and to others? How is Jerusalem an issue and where does it sit relative to other matters that come up as part of the discussion about achieving peace and a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians?

Which is to say that for folks who are here for the first time and challenging their understanding of this place in a new way, the conversation will transcend the current moment and news cycle. We will begin a broader conversation that will hopefully be an enduring one, as they continue to follow events and deepen their understanding in six months or six years.

So yes, it has been JCRC’s incredible privilege to bring so many members of the Massachusetts legislature – as well as dozens of clergy and other civic leaders – to Israel over the years. I am profoundly grateful to have the opportunity and the donor support that allows us to be here. This experience never fails to energize and inspire me. It will, I am confident, renew and strengthen my own commitment to all that we do back home in Boston to engage with Israel and to work in support of those here whose hopes and aspirations we share – for two people, Israelis and Palestinians, living in peace in two states sharing one homeland.

I hope over the coming weeks you’ll follow our journey on social media and I look forward to sharing more about our impressions when we return.

Shabbat shalom,

Jeremy