The manifest may have been short 16 names, but neither war nor threat of homophobic violence kept 19 Congregation Sha’ar Zahav members from flying off to Israel on Sunday, July 30.
The 19 congregants from San Francisco’s largely gay and lesbian Reform synagogue chose to press on with their long-planned participation in WorldPride, a controversial international LGBT gathering in Jerusalem set for next week.
Most of Sha’ar Zahav’s 16 dropouts cited safety and security concerns as the reason for bowing out. In addition, the marquee event of WorldPride, an Aug. 10 parade through the streets of Jerusalem, was canceled last week, further diminishing the incentive to attend.
Elad Vax, the New York-based office manager of trip organizer ARZA World, said that many other group excursions to Israel have had to change their plans. “We canceled four whole group trips planned for July and August,” he said. “We are dealing with a lot of cancellations and there are not many new bookings.”
However, Vax added that the war between Israel and Hezbollah has not impacted tourism as adversely as the last intifada. “People are raising a lot of concerns,” he said, “but we did have 19 [from Sha’ar Zahav] who went on the trip, and they were joined by people from New York.”
For the first week of their two-week trip, Sha’ar Zahav congregants will visit many of Israel’s most popular tourists spots, including the southern resort town of Eilat, Masada and the Dead Sea. The second week will consist largely of WorldPride events in and around Jerusalem.
A similar trip sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council was not as lucky. Organizers decided late last week to postpone their trip, skipping WorldPride altogether.
“There was a sense that there might be a better time to do it as a whole group,” said JCRC’s executive director, Rabbi Doug Kahn. “People were saddened by the prospect of not being at WorldPride, and we all hope it will be a successful event.”