“Oseh Shalom bimromav hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu v’al kol Yisrael – May the One who makes peace in the heavens, make peace for us and for all Israel.”

I have been thinking and singing these words from our prayers for the past few days. It has served as a kind of a meditation, a much needed meditation from the complex, informative, frustrating, sad, disturbing and otherwise enlightening conversations and information sessions I was privileged to participate in during the AIPAC/American Israel Education Foundation Rabbinic Mission 2015.

I need to express my profound gratitude and appreciation to AIPAC for including me in this first class experience of Israel. I have had the blessing of traveling to Israel before; this trip was a first for me in many ways and the staff and Mark Waldman, Director of the AIPAC Synagogue Initiative, in particular, were fantastic.

I know that it will take me many more hours, if not days and weeks to fully process the information we were given. The intensity of the meetings and the stakes in which Israel, the US and the world find themselves in are incredibly high and complex. What was so thrilling was to experience the diversity of perspectives, and some directly counter to those of AIPAC, which was even more impressive.

To describe the week as a rollercoaster is more than trite but right on target. The emotionality of every day was a combination of peaks and valleys, sometimes more valleys than peaks, but always worthwhile.

I always knew Israel was complex. I always sensed that the issues around peace and security, religion and state, secular and observant, among many other opposites, bubble nervously near the surface of Israeli society. But this past week, I saw them up close. A few examples…

I spent most of my 3 weeks in Jerusalem, Israel’s most populous city. The city is alive with activity; the cafes are bustling, the stores are full, people seem to be buying. But no one looks you in the eye on the street. No one smiles. No one shares a shekel with the numerous homeless people asking for help. It seems that there is life but a careful circle of who is engaged in dialogue. Maybe its a Texas thing, but a smile doesn’t cost anyone anything.

I loved my walks in Jerusalem, even though I complained at every hill. The flowers and vegetation is absolutely stunning. I always loved the hanging baskets, the purples and the reds of some variety or another. The Jerusalem stone buildings seemed a perfect match against the blue sky. But then there was the trash. Jerusalem streets and alleyways, parks and public spaces are strewn with trash. While there are large metal containers for trash, recycling and the like, it feels like no one really cares. And unfortunately, its not just in Jerusalem, it is all over Israel, in every town I visited, the reckless display of careless consideration for Israel’s natural beauty was heartbreaking.

And then there is the politics. Our group met with the chair of the United List, 4 Arab political parties who joined together to form an Arab coalition, so to speak, in the Knesset. He explained the difficulty of being a minority in a minority coalition, whose principle aims are to fight for the rights of Israeli Arabs and the fight against settlements. While he did mention some legislative victories around economic development for some Arab communities, its a tough fight every single day.

We met with Dr. Saeb Erekat, Chief Negotiator for the PLO and now on the Executive Committee, who explained his frustration and years of trying in the peace process. While his presentation was a skilled lesson in what to say and what not to say, I couldn’t get past the emotion he genuinely felt at the prospects of running out of time for peace.

There is the issue of security and crossing borders and who is allowed where at what time for what purpose with what vehicle. There is the issue of voting privileges. There is the issue of Palestinian self determination. There is the issue of borders. There is the issue of refugees. There is the issue of religious pluralism and the hijacking of access to religious holy sites, regional councils, funding for non-orthodox institutions, conversion laws, wedding officiation, and kashrut certification. Each of these demand a further explanation, but, you get the point.

Then of course, is the Iran issue. This will take more time to think through and while the Knesset seems to be in agreement that this is bad for Israel, and 47% of Israelis think a pre-emptive strike on Iran is necessary, not everyone is convinced the sky is falling. All this constant pulling and pushing and confrontation and opposites, leaves my head spinning. Solutions are aplenty…cooperation is minimal…success is incremental, and yet, hope still abounds.

I saw this in the multi-billion dollar private building enterprise of the town of Rawabi in the West Bank, a town built by Palestinians for Palestinians. To say it was spectacularly beautiful is an understatement. In a time when we see only Palestinian suffering, this place couldn’t be more opposite.

I saw this in the fight of leaders in the LGBT community who are fighting an incredible battle for all kinds of rights they re denied.

I saw this at the Ziv Medical Center in Tzfat, where the hospital has been treating Syrian casualties of many different kinds for a couple of years without formal policy to do so. The Israeli doctors and Army officials saw a need, saw human beings in need and acted righteously, never mind the cost; somewhere to the tune of 3 million dollars.

I saw this most profoundly in the Beit Elazraki Children’s home in Netanya, where a true tzaddik, Yehuda Cohen, saves Israeli children from the perils of abandonment, neglect and abuse. It was amazing.

So I left Israel, loving her more deeply, appreciating much more than I ever have how difficult it is to move forward and to make progress on any number of fronts. I understand now more than ever how nuanced Israel really is; how many layers there are to each and every issue, how hungry all its citizens are for peace and quiet and for the dignity that comes in valuing each other as a gift from God. I left Israel knowing that every day there are good and decent people fighting for Israel to be the highest example of holiness and goodness in the world; for her to really be a light to the nations who refuse to give up hope even in the face of not just overwhelming odds, but odds that would crush the spirit of anyone else.

What I know now, more than ever, is that any solution to any one of the current difficulties will come, not by the sheer force or domination of one answer over another, but from the creativity that lies in the varied interplay of both sides somewhere in between. When she is ready for compromise and creativity, then amazing things will most definitely happen.

I for one, because of these 3 weeks am, and will always remain, optimistic and hopeful.

Oseh shalom bimromav….