The land of milk and honey
Raya and I returned yesterday from a week-long mission to Israel, sponsored by the Birmingham Jewish Federation. 32 of us toured Israel for a week, and it was an absolutely amazing experience.
I'm still processing some of what we saw, and will probably blog once or twice more about the trip later this week. For now, I'll just include the sort of "wrap-up" that I provided to the Federation for their email update, with links to a few pictures. All of our pix from the trip can be viewed at http://www.rzeszut.com/israel).
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Like many others have said, my wife Raya and I didn't know what to expect from this mission. We knew we wanted to come to Israel, and come with our dearest friends -- Bruce, Asher, Shira and Maggie. However, not knowing what the situation on the ground -- the matsav -- would be, we felt safer coming with a large group, rather than by ourselves as we have in the past.
Knowing we would have our own bus and our own security guard made us feel much more confident about coming to Israel, and so we signed up for the mission. But when this trip started with us doing vodka shots for our "Shehecheanu" prayer on the streets of Zichron Ya'acov, I knew that it was time to throw my expectations out the window!
There have been some unique experiences on this mission, some that can only be enjoyed on a trip like this. The visit to Ramat David Air Force Base was absolutely incredible. It was amazing to see these brave men and women, who defend the state of Israel every day, and yet some are 10 years younger than I am!
And, it was just so cool to be able to stand next to an F-16, to walk under the wings, look in the cockpit -- we wouldn't be able to do that on an American air force base!!
The visit to Rosh Ha'ayin, our sister city, was definitely a highlight for me. We had never been to Rosh Ha'ayin before, and although I knew of its relationship to Birmingham, I didn't know what the city itself was like. Now, I feel connected to Rosh Ha'ayin and its people.
The LJCC summer camp gets an Israeli counselor -- a shlicha -- each year, and Raya, who is the Jewish educator at the LJCC, and I have become friends with them over the past five summers. To be able to visit their city, and visit with four out of the five Rosh Ha'ayin friends that we have, sitting in the Kimerling Community Center in Rosh Ha'ayin was remarkable.
The memory from this trip that I will cherish most, however, is sitting on Ben Yehuda Street, with my wife and my rabbi, watching Israel walk by. I had this fear before we came that Ben Yehuda would be deserted, shoppers staying away out of fear of terrorist attacks. I expected to see boarded-up shops and empty streets.
Yet, the street was crowded, and it was a perfect example of the melting pot that is Israel. Very religious Jews in black hats trying to convince tourists to wrap tefillin as gorgeous teenagers in belly shirts and low-slung pants walked by. Uniformed soldiers strolled down the street, their machine guns slung over their backs. Ethiopians, Yemenites, Europeans, Asians, Americans, Israelis.
Later that night, Ben Yehuda was even more crowded, for a nighttime concert set up at one end of the street. The street was a teeming mass of humanity, solid people wherever you went, like Mardi Gras or something. It was absolutely amazing to see Israelis in the street, not afraid of terrorist attacks, not living their lives cowering in fear, but being out there, alive and well.
That, for me, is the most compelling memory from this trip.
I'm still processing some of what we saw, and will probably blog once or twice more about the trip later this week. For now, I'll just include the sort of "wrap-up" that I provided to the Federation for their email update, with links to a few pictures. All of our pix from the trip can be viewed at http://www.rzeszut.com/israel).
-----
Like many others have said, my wife Raya and I didn't know what to expect from this mission. We knew we wanted to come to Israel, and come with our dearest friends -- Bruce, Asher, Shira and Maggie. However, not knowing what the situation on the ground -- the matsav -- would be, we felt safer coming with a large group, rather than by ourselves as we have in the past.
Knowing we would have our own bus and our own security guard made us feel much more confident about coming to Israel, and so we signed up for the mission. But when this trip started with us doing vodka shots for our "Shehecheanu" prayer on the streets of Zichron Ya'acov, I knew that it was time to throw my expectations out the window!
There have been some unique experiences on this mission, some that can only be enjoyed on a trip like this. The visit to Ramat David Air Force Base was absolutely incredible. It was amazing to see these brave men and women, who defend the state of Israel every day, and yet some are 10 years younger than I am!
And, it was just so cool to be able to stand next to an F-16, to walk under the wings, look in the cockpit -- we wouldn't be able to do that on an American air force base!!
The visit to Rosh Ha'ayin, our sister city, was definitely a highlight for me. We had never been to Rosh Ha'ayin before, and although I knew of its relationship to Birmingham, I didn't know what the city itself was like. Now, I feel connected to Rosh Ha'ayin and its people.
The LJCC summer camp gets an Israeli counselor -- a shlicha -- each year, and Raya, who is the Jewish educator at the LJCC, and I have become friends with them over the past five summers. To be able to visit their city, and visit with four out of the five Rosh Ha'ayin friends that we have, sitting in the Kimerling Community Center in Rosh Ha'ayin was remarkable.
The memory from this trip that I will cherish most, however, is sitting on Ben Yehuda Street, with my wife and my rabbi, watching Israel walk by. I had this fear before we came that Ben Yehuda would be deserted, shoppers staying away out of fear of terrorist attacks. I expected to see boarded-up shops and empty streets.
Yet, the street was crowded, and it was a perfect example of the melting pot that is Israel. Very religious Jews in black hats trying to convince tourists to wrap tefillin as gorgeous teenagers in belly shirts and low-slung pants walked by. Uniformed soldiers strolled down the street, their machine guns slung over their backs. Ethiopians, Yemenites, Europeans, Asians, Americans, Israelis.
Later that night, Ben Yehuda was even more crowded, for a nighttime concert set up at one end of the street. The street was a teeming mass of humanity, solid people wherever you went, like Mardi Gras or something. It was absolutely amazing to see Israelis in the street, not afraid of terrorist attacks, not living their lives cowering in fear, but being out there, alive and well.
That, for me, is the most compelling memory from this trip.
Labels: travel
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