In 1964, I was one of a legion of young Hebrew School kids from across the US who were studying the Hebrew alphabet, learning about Israel and the history of our people and saving dimes to plant a tree in a Jewish National Fund forest somewhere in Israel. I recall that one of my proudest moments was being invited to represent my family’s synagogue as a flag-bearer at the start of the first major Israel parade in the US, held on Fifth Avenue. Hineini! (I’m here), supporting a homeland I had never visited (yet!).

Many years later, I took my first trip to Israel. My sister was marrying an Israeli and my parents, younger brother and I flew El Al to celebrate their nuptials. I believe we had to walk on the tarmac to enter the airport – and yes, I may have kissed the ground upon stepping off the plane.

Fast forward to the early ‘90s, when my synagogue was disinvited from marching with our LGBTQ-identified........

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