Arutzsheva has a great write up about this years Boombamela festival here. Mordechai Zellar was a good friend of mine in Israel, and reading the article brought back plenty of memories from my great Pesach at the festival. (As talked about at this earlier post.) The very name of the Jewish Camp "Ohel Ahava V'Tefilla" - Tent of Love and Prayer, is characteristic of the approach that we need to be willing to take in accepting and inspiring the countless unaffiliated Jews out there. Obviously, not everyone is a hippie, and Boombamela isn't for everyone, but the theory behind accepting people for who they are, showing them love, and then teaching them in a loving, open and friendly environment can be adapted to just about any context. Acceptance and love of a person does not have to come with condoning or liking their actions and beliefs, but it IS a requirement if the person is ever going to open up to the possibility of listening and absorbing what you've got to teach and share. The healing of our people can only come out of acceptance and love, not fear and rejection. This is the great lesson that can be gleaned from reading the article and experiencing events like that first hand. Now we just need to do more of it...
Tzvi (A friend of mine from Bat Ayin) connecting
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