Many of the rabbis agree, however, that some of the most valuable moments of the trip happen between planned events, when they have a chance to meet and get to know one another on bus and plane rides.
"Masks come off. We’re becoming human beings to each other. We become two Jews who have the same passion but express it differently," said Rabbi Adam Kligfeld, from the Conservative Movement’s Temple Beth Am.
He said that during the plane ride to Israel, he and another rabbi agreed to do a "pulpit switch" upon their return to Los Angeles, whereby each will deliver a sermon to the other’s congregation.
Learning is one of the ways in which the rabbis manage to come together despite their differences.
"While we may have difficulty praying together, and we do, we can learn together, and now we even teach together," said Rabbi Laura Geller, from Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills, who, like many of the other rabbis, spent time studying at Jerusalem’s Hartman Institute.
"The Torah started us as a people, it must unify us as a people," Kligfeld said.
Gary emails: You are so lazy. In your copy and paste excuse for real journalism, you of all people
ignored the fact that even the JPoat could not identify by name a
single orthodox rabbi admitting to a joint activity with colleagues.
Not one.
