The Next Mission

In a couple of days we will be flying to Peru, the place where Asher fell to his death.

We will be observing Yom Kippur in the Conservative Synagogue in Lima, whose rabbi has been very kind to us in an extended email correspondence, and then we will proceed to Arequipa, to Chivay, to Cabanconde, and to the Colca Canyon.

We are bringing contributions to the High Mountain Rescue Unit, whose men risked their lives while searching for Asher and in recovering his body, and for the school attended by the children of the man who found Asher.

Four of us are going from Israel: my wife and I, our younger daughter, and Ofer, our older daughter's husband.  Our other son, Boaz, is going to meet us in Arequipa to be with us there.  After we have seen the place where Asher fell and met the men who searched for him, we will go north to Cusco and do some of the sightseeing that Asher planned to do.

A friend asked in an email: why exactly are you going there?

Each of the five of us has his or her own answers to that question, and I can only speak for myself.

Since I've been asked the question more than once, I have ready-made answers - which might be too ready, too pat.

First, I want to go in order to make sure that the money we raised from friends and relatives is spent responsibly, without finding its way into undeserving pockets.

Second, I want to express personal gratitude to the people who helped us.  I think it's important to let them know that we aren't simply wealthy gringos who expect poor Indians to risk their lives to help us.  We are human beings who underwent a terrible loss, and we are deeply grateful to the people who helped us in our time of trouble.  Because of Ofer's personality and devotion, the men of the rescue unit became personally involved in the search.  It wasn't just a job for them.  And they deserve personal recognition for their effort.

We plan to hold a couple of modest ceremonies to express our gratitude in an official manner.

Third, as an Israeli and a Jew, I think that this gesture of both expressing thanks in person and also bringing real assistance to them will be good for relations between Peruvians, the Jewish community of Peru, and Israel.

Fourth, I think these men, who are already highly motivated, will be even more motivated to help tourists who get lost or are injured in their jurisdiction.

Fifth, it is important to me, in dealing with Asher's death, to see the place, or at least the area where he fell.  Maybe it will help me understand what happened a little better.

I realize that I don't know how I'll react when I get there, I don't know what it will be like to meet the men who searched for Asher with Ofer, or the man who found his body.  I don't know what to expect.  I'm both hoping for surprises and dreading them.  But if I knew exactly what I wanted to accomplish and how I would feel after I'd done it, there would be no point in going.