Shalom All,

It was a celebration of the soul and the senses. More than 4,000 Jews from North America came to Jerusalem to discuss the issues, debates, challenges and future trends of the Jewish world. And boy, did they discuss! Arguments, politics, agreements, disagreements, mutual pride and bitter debates were flowing in the air, filling Jerusalem's already thick atmosphere with a heavy sense of rush, a vibrating sense of urgency, an energizing sense of determination.

Because at the end of the day, when you scrape away the dust of rhetoric, what you will find underneath is a solid sense of commitment. A strong belief in the importance of people hood, a high motivation to enrich that people hood and a strong will to ensure a sustainable Jewish State for the entire Jewish people. A great foundation - but a risky one as well.

It demands a shared language; a common dictionary that will ensure the debate and discussion goes on based on mutual understandings and common values. And that dictionary is shared these days by fewer and fewer of our people. We are at a critical crossroads in building our tower, the tower of Jewish excellence, with Israel at its heart. If we do not make sure that our language is the same, that it is based on the foundation of shared values, priorities and understandings, it will become the tower of Babylon and crumble. Generations before us knew how to strengthen those foundations. Now it is our challenge.

The numbers that show a dramatic decrease in affiliation and involvement, the numbers that show a dramatic decrease in Jewish presence in large parts of our homeland, the numbers that show a dramatic increase in poverty in the only state we have - those and many other numbers must be a red flag to us all.

In this week's portion, Abraham insists on buying the land he needs to bury Sarah. He insists on ownership - and with that ownership, comes responsibility. Today, we are the owners of Jewish People hood. It is our responsibility - no one else will do it for us. It is almost the last hour to remember that we must all make sure it continues to flourish and grow, so the legacy we leave our children is the pride of building the next layer on our ever-growing Jewish tower.

And Jerusalem - as always - will be placed on the crown of our joy.

Shabbat Shalom,
Liat