Emissary from Israel to Spend time at Midbar Kodesh Temple

Over the past couple of years, we have had the pleasure of hosting a young emissary, or shinshinim, from Israel at our congregation. The emissaries have been part of the Sh’nat Sherot program in which Israeli teens who have just finished high school take a year off before being drafted into the army and do service. In this case they serve as mini-ambassadors. You may have had the opportunity to meet Eyal Dagan or Raz Calimi, our two previous shinshinim.

This year I am pleased to introduce Lilach Sharabi, who will start with us on January 13. Below is her biography. Lilach will be working weekly with our religious school and is also going to participate in programming for the synagogue, and we hope many of our auxiliaries like Men’s Club, HAZAK and USY will actively involve her in their programming. There are opportunities to invite Lilach to join your family for dinner, dessert or even a movie. We want to make her feel welcome in our community. To find out more about that, please email Rabbi Tecktiel at RAVT@midbarkodesh.org.

Lilach lives just outside of Jerusalem in Mevasseret Tzion with her mother, Mimi who is a realtor and her dad, Yoel is an electrical engineer and architect. She has an older sister, Adi who is studying at the Hebrew U in Jerusalem and a brother, Avishay who is serving in the IDF. She majored in theater and Bible studies. Lilach served for 3 years as a counselor in the Israeli Reform Movement, Noar Telem. She is really into photography and sees it as a way to see things from different angles and perspectives. She wanted to do a gap year program as a way to show the Jewish community outside of Israel new things about the Jewish community in Israel. It is important for her to teach the community here that they will always have a safe home in Israel and will be accepted there. In as much as she wants to teach the community here her Israel story through articles, photos, songs, etc, she would also like to be exposed to and learn about the Jewish community in Vegas. She loves the camaraderie found between Israeli citizens and feels that a tough history brings them together and makes them feel a responsibility towards each other. She also loves the diversity of her little country - different peoples with different points of view, different landscapes and climates. She would like to make a difference in Israel in the arena of rights and civil duties so that there is more equality in this arena. She also wants to see more freedom of choice pertaining to religious Orthodox way of life. And although she considers Israel to be one big family, she would like to see more tolerance in how disagreements are spoken about.

Rabbi Bradley Tecktiel has been Midbar Kodesh Temple's spiritual leader since August 2008. Rabbi Tecktiel was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in May of 1996. He holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees, one from List College and one from Columbia University. He also holds a Masters of Arts from the Jewish Theological Seminary.

You can follow him on Twitter @RabbiMKT.