ISRAEL

June, 2023

Imagine it’s sometime in the 1980s. Imagine he begins the conversation with: “We loved our vacation in Italy, should Israel be next?” Imagine she came back to him after doing some research and thinking and ended that conversation with: “If we can’t pray together at the Wailing Wall I don’t want to go,” or at least he thought he heard her say that…maybe she said that…in his mind she was pretty clear…in his mind…hmmm.

Fast forward to 2020 (yeah that’s just about 40 years since that conversation in the timeline of the journey started so very long ago), and we receive some pretty exciting news. Son-in-law, Paul has been selected for a 3-year diplomatic billet in Israel. The family, Kea and our grandsons Ben and Dan, will accompany him. Quite an adventure can be expected, and wouldn’t we like to visit (hint! hint! nudge! nudge!).

Grandson Ben will complete high school while the family is billeted in Israel, and his graduation ceremony is scheduled for early June, 2023. Barbara thought we should look into being there to celebrate his accomplishment, and to visit with Kea and family whom we haven’t seen in person for 4 years or so (hint! hint! nudge! nudge!) – and oh by the way, LET’S VISIT ISRAEL!

Flight tickets were purchased, and without much planning we booked for 12 days – 2 days in transit back and forth, and 10 days on the ground.

Now all we had to do was figure out what we wanted to do for 10 days in a land with thousands of years of history and so, so many places and landmarks and holy sites, cities, kibbutzim and the Country’s regions to explore and experience, that is the center of the world’s 3 great religions, that could be dangerous (or at least a few of our friends thought so), and is a melting pot for Jews and Muslims and Christians, native Israelis, Palestinians and immigrants, one of those places in the world that blends ancient cultures and modernity, and welcomes young and old alike. As Barbara has said since we have returned: Israel is for everyone. But what about us?

We were advised that the first step in figuring out what to see and do during a first visit to the Holy Land centers on what we felt to be most important to us. We guessed that we couldn’t see it all, but wondered what would make for a truly great first visit?

עֲלִיָּה American Jews, whether one identifies as Orthodox, Conservative or Reform accept as a commandment aliyah – עֲלִיָּה. Zionists would define aliyah as Jewish immigration from the diaspora (back) to the “Land of Israel” and “going up” (thought of as towards the Holy City of Jerusalem). Brian was taught as an Amercian Jew that aliyah meant journeying to the Holy Land and honoring one’s Jewish heritage. Barbara was totally in agreement – our time in the Holy Land would first and foremost be a Jewish experience and then add on agreed upon essential places to visit and things to do. A wish list was developed.

Paul and Kea kindly took our rather long wish list, added in a few musts (seeing Ben graduate!), made some “wouldn’t you like to” suggestions, and under the guise of the Duckenfield Israel Tour Company (DITC) set up our agenda. They were our companions, chauffeurs, and tour guides. They hired a fabulous tour guide for a full day in Old City Jerusalem, made hotel arrangements, booked a night for us at a Bedouin camp, took care of tickets and meals, made sure we didn’t float away in the Dead Sea, and made arrangements for a kibbutz tour in the Negev. We toured Masada, visited Ben Gurion’s grave, stood on the banks of the Sea of Galilee, saw mosaic tiles in a synagogue from the 4th Century CE, experienced the Dead Sea Scrolls, and paid respect to the 6 million during a visit to Yad Vashem. We ate Israeli meals with the 8-12 small vegetable plates as appetizers to an entree, couldn’t get enough of freshly baked pita, and hummus far beyond the quality available in America, and enjoyed the flavors of shakshuka, shawarma, kabobs and frozen coffee. DITC gets a 5 out of 5-star rating; our appreciation for their love and attentiveness is without bound.

Living here in Michigan, the best roundtrip airfare to Israel including the additional expenses of transportation to and from the airport and parking our car for 11 days, was by a very, very large margin found by flying from JFK, Washington DC, or Chicago O’Hare. However, that also meant getting to any one of those airports – Chicago was doable – a 4-hour drive without (!) traffic.

So we were all set. Flights had been booked and parking arrangements for our car had been made, an agenda had been agreed upon by The DITC, Barbara and Brian, passports were found, cash was obtained, bags were packed and our in-flight bag was assembled.

Time to skedaddle to the airport. Traffic was anything but cooperative (surprise?); however, we had left enough time to make sure it would not be an obstacle. Finding the hotel at which to park the car and then the shuttle to the airport was easy (thank you Best Western O’Hare), and the line through the TSA checkpoint was not busy and efficiently handled by agents on hand. We did have more than a bit of time until our flight, but cribbage, a great rueben sandwich (Barbara’s favorite), being seasoned travelers and excited for our journey helped the time go quickly. When it was time to go to our gate, we had one more security checkpoint and personal inspection to hurdle. The gate area was alive with a cross cultural, multi-generational melting pot of travelers heading home, as well as first time and returning visitors to the Holy Land.

By the way, United Airlines was wonderful…snacks and beverages in the gate area, rapid and orderly boarding, and first-class service in coach for the entire 12-hour non-stop flight from O’Hare to Tel Aviv.

Upon arriving in Tel Aviv, and after a good “stretch your legs” walk passing by a view of the central concourse waiting area, we had to queue-up to have our passport electronically scanned and our passport picture matched with an on-the-spot photo in order to receive an entry pass to Israel. Brian forgot that US passport pictures were taken without corrective eyeglasses and had to repeat the procedure several times until he remembered to remove his eyeglasses. A quick verbal examination at Israeli customs, a few minutes wait for both pieces of luggage (well done baggage handlers!), and there was Paul waiting to greet us so very warmly (thanks for the UofM yarmulke) to transport us to the Duckenfield Estate Middle East!

The Duckenfield Estate Middle East is located in Herzliya, Israel. The town was named in honor of Theodore Hertzl, an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, activist and the father of modern political Zionism, who stands a somewhat stern guard over his namesake city.

Following the long flight to Israel we expected to suffer from the dreaded and renowned jet lag; however, we honestly did not experience any ill effects. Perhaps it was simply the excitement of spending time with the Duckenfields and the fact that we had begun our Aliyah? We’ll go with that for now, because, as we were to discover after our flight back home, jet lag is a real thing – but more about that later.

Saturday – We landed in Israel early evening Friday. The Jewish sabbath, Shabbat, begins at sundown on Friday and lasts until sundown Saturday, and since Israel is a Jewish State most everything comes to a standstill for Shabbat at noon on Friday…most everything means that any business not owned by Jews may stay open, and this means restaurants. Curiously though most museums are open on the Sabbath.

The first stop on our first day in Israel was a visit to ANU – The Museum of the Jewish People. For over four decades and located in Tel Aviv ANU has been “playing an integral role in strengthening Jewish identity and perpetuating Jewish heritage worldwide.” The museum celebrates the multiculturalism of Jewish diversity and identity, and adopts an inclusive, pluralistic approach to answer the question of: “Who Is A Jew?”

ANU has 3 floors to explore. Half a floor was dedicated to interactive holograms of native and immigrant Jews from all parts of the diaspora describing their decision to be Israeli, and what life is like for them. Israel is notoriously orthodox, and Haredi Jews (ultra-orthodox) consistently vie for power within the government advocating a position for stricter interpretation of Jewish law in everyday life; their philosophy would not recognize Reform Jews as Jews – would not recognize same gender couples, people of the LGBTQIA+ community, people who have tattooed their body, are committed to an interfaith relationship, or raising a child out of wedlock as Jews. Listening to the Jews embodied in the holograms, hearing from such a wide variety of Jews living comfortably and thriving in Israel answered Brian’s major question about living in the Holy Land – what is it like for Reform Jews to be citizens?

Other displays were purely historical and clearly focused on significant events throughout recorded time that were and continue to be important to the Jewish people, some honored Jewish contributions to mankind, some made the point that throughout history Jews came from and impacted all walks of life, and some enjoyable displays showed the contributions of Jews to all facets of the entertainment industry.

The Invisible Part of the Children of Israel “raises our consciousness and illustrates the significance of Asenath, Orah, Na’amah, Zelapoint, Mahlah, and all the unnamed others in Jewish history. It fills a sacred obligation by sanctioning their presence and, when possible, acknowledging their attendance.” …Carol Hamoy

…Jews came from all walks of life throughout recorded history…

George Washinton in 1790 wrote: “the Government of the United States (…) gives to bigotry no sanction (…). May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants.”.

Walking back to our car we couldn’t help but notice, to us, unknown flowers…

Following our visit to ANU Museum of the Jewish People we were off to Carmel Market, the largest market – or shuk – in Tel Aviv. When not the Sabbath, the traders of this thriving market sell everything from clothing and electronics, to fruit, spices fresh bread and pastries, meat and fish.

We were fortunate to find an open restaurant in Shuk HaCarmel. On the menu was shakshuka – a middle eastern dish made in a cast iron pan of a thickened spicy tomato sauce flavored with paprika, cumin, cayenne and garlic in which eggs are poached, the dish is topped with cilantro and served with challah for dipping. A moroccan sandwich was also featured. The sandwich which adds fried eggplant to the traditional falafel preparation of fried spiced ground chickpeas, hummus, tomato, onion, harissa, and tzatziki served in a pita sounded wonderfully tasty. Shakshuka for Barbara and the moroccan sandwich for Brian…

Sunday – Jaffa is an ancient port city founded by the Canaanites (2nd millennium BCE!). Sitting atop a naturally elevated outcrop on the Mediterranean coastline, its strategic location has been bitterly fought over repeatedly in Middle Eastern history. Control of the city was contested during the Crusades with many battles fought between Richard the Lionhearted and Saladin before a truce was negotiated, Napoleon sacked the town, and in the First World War the British took the city in 1917. 

Under Ottoman control during the 19th century Jaffa became known for its fruit orchards including its namesake, the Jaffa orange. It was the center for Palestinian journalistic activities in the early 20th century, where an Arabic-language newspaper, the Falastin, began as a weekly publication and evolved into one of the most influential dailies in the Ottoman empire and within Mandatory Palestine. (Just as a note: Mandatory Palestine was a geopolitical entity established in the region of Palestine under the terms of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine – it existed from 1920 until the establishment of Israel as a sovereign entity in 1948.) 

After the 1948 Palestine War most of Jaffa’s Arab population fled or were expelled, and the city became part of the newly established state of Israel being annexed into Tel Aviv in 1950. Today, Jaffa’s population is mixed; approximately 1/3 Palestinian and 2/3 Israeli.

A couple of fun facts – biblical mythology states that the city was named for Yafet, one of the sons of Noah (yeah – the ark guy) who built the city after the flood. And, for Greek mythology fans, an outcropping of rocks near the harbor is reputed to have been the place where Andromeda was rescued by Perseus from the sea monster Cetus.

It’s hard to argue against the significant historical importance of Jaffa.

Simon the Tanner, is mentioned in the “Acts of the Apostles” book of the New Testament. He provided lodging for Saint Peter during the missionary activities of the early Christian faith.

The clock tower is one of 7 built during the Ottoman rule of Mandatory Palestine.

On our way to the Jaffa flea market, Brian couldn’t help taking a representative sampling of the City’s Street Art…

Our grandson is set to graduate from the Walworth Barbour American International School in Israel, and one of his classmates is the daughter of the Swedish Ambassador. The Ambassador and his wife hosted a graduation party and reception in honor of their daughter’s matriculation; fellow students and families were invited. Graciously these grandparents were included.

Monday – Today is the celebration of Ben graduating from high school, and completing our easing into our trip to Israel – a nice weekend with family. But we have to eat, and while overlooking the Mediterranean feasting on the renowned Israeli breakfast is a pretty nice way to start the day

Israeli Breakfast – juice, tea/coffee, 3 eggs, bread/butter and spreads, and no less than 8 small plates including feta, tuna, hummus, vegetable salad with olives, tomato salad, roasted eggplant, whipped cheese spread, and tabbouli. No chance to leave hungry!

On the recommendation of Atlas Obscura we went chasing after a drinking fountain built from the design of Friedensreich Hundertwasser, an architectural master, who famously loved spirals and abhorred straight lines. Unfortunately, the drinking fountain had fallen into ill repair and had been removed for restoration. But we did find this cool sorta abandoned (?) building with a ladder seemingly going nowhere. Quite perplexing…

On behalf of the US Government son-in-law Paul is a diplomatic liaison in Israel and works in cooperation with a group of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. He was kind enough to arrange a time for all of us to meet, exchange thoughts and have a nice conversation during the soldiers’ lunch period. While walking to the meeting place we had the chance to see parts of the modern city of Tel Aviv, and to take in some street art as well.

For Brian, the chance to talk with these amazing intelligent, mature, thoughtful and welcoming young Israelis was an unexpected highlight of the trip. Finding out about the Israeli Jewish culture and experience was fascinating and part of the agenda visiting the Country.

It was a warm but pleasant evening for Ben’s high school graduation from the Walworth Barbour American International School in Israel. He was one of 50 international students seated on the dais and walking as graduates. Fellow graduates will be attending universities across the globe, may take a year or two off to travel prior to attending university, may be conscripted into the military or may join the workforce postponing any further education indefinitely. Unlike most high school graduates in America, travel or a gap year(s) is often an option for many high school graduates from other countries.

Tuesday – Ben is leaving this evening late for his summer job in South Carolina. He and Grammy Marty, who has been in Israel for his graduation are traveling companions. It’ll be a long trip for the 2 of them; a journey home for Marty and the beginning of his next adventure for Ben.

We took advantage of the “free” day to do some exploring on our own. Paul dropped us off at the train station, and we caught the train to Jerusalem. Our agenda for the day was to find our way to and from Jerusalem on the train and be back in time to say farewell to Ben and Marty, find our way from the train station to the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem followed by a walk through Mahane Yehuda Market and grab some lunch while there.

Jews use the phrase “going up to the Holy City” when talking about visiting Jerusalem. Why? Well, Tel Aviv is at sea level and the elevation of the dead sea is1400 feet below sea level (-437 meters). The highest elevations in the Country are found in both the north and south – in the (north) Galilee Mount Meron peaks at more than 3,900 feet above sea level and in the (south) Negev Mount Ramon peaks at a little more than 3,400 feet above sea level. Jerusalem’s elevation varies between 2,500 feet and 3,000 above sea level.

“Going up to the Holy City” was never more evident to us when departing the train and finding that there were 3 “multi-story” escalators necessary for us to make it up to street level!!

Upon exiting Yitzhak Navon Railway Station we found ourselves in the crowd of commuters and locals, and perhaps a few tourists as well. While some preferred to walk on their way, we wanted to take what we thought would be a traditional American streetcar, but our mode of transportation disappointingly turned out to be light rail.

But which way to go to arrive at our first stop of the day – the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem? A delightful woman approached and offered to help; however, she had to grab the next light rail car that almost immediately arrived allowing passengers to board. Fortunately she did have a chance to tell us which way to go so we bought our tickets and were on our way! After departing the light rail car at the correct stop (!) we had a 10-15 minute walk to the synagogue. How wonderful it felt to be on the streets of Jerusalem!

As early as 1923 the Chief Rabbis of Israel began considering plans for a large central synagogue in Jerusalem. In 1958 Heichal Shlomo, the seat of the Israeli Rabbinate, was established, and a small synagogue consecrated within the building. It wasn’t long before the premises could not hold the number of worshipers attending and the Great Synagogue, with a sanctuary seating 850 men and a gallery for 550 women was built. As an Orthodox Shul only men occupy the sanctuary floor; women pray from the balcony and behind a wooden “screen” that prohibits the men from the distraction of their gender during worship services.

A comprehensive private collection of mezuzah cases is on show inside the lobby.

The sanctuary was build in the “Babylonian Style” – the Cantor leads the service from a mighdol (pulpit) in the center of the sanctuary; the mizbeah (alter) is used to read from the Torah.

The main floor of the sanctuary is surrouded by beautiful stained glass…

While exploring the building we heard what we imagined to be an angry loud voice – Brian stuck his head into a room. He found a “leader” expressing some point to a group of older men sitting as students – a Rabbi conducting a Torah study group, and his students hadn’t done their homework? Or perhaps it was just the way (as we found out observing several interactions between Israelis) whatever point was needed to be made – of course in Hebrew. A short while later one of the “students” asked Brian if he read (Torah) and would like to join the group? He politely declined.

An annex to the Great Synagogue contained a display of “modern” Israeli art, which was not particularly appealing to us. But look around we did, and just as we were about to leave we walked by a gentleman seated behind what we thought was the reception desk. We greeted each other, and the fellow came out from behind his desk and placed a hand on Brian’s elbow to guide him to a plaque in the lobby. After a couple of minutes spent reading the plaque he pointed to our camera and wanted Brian to take a photo…

We were then guided into the sanctuary set aside for the relocated Renanim Synagogue of Padua, Italy. It was that small sanctuary used by the members of the Hechal Schlomo and their congregation beginning in 1955!

Our time came to an end at The Great Synagogue of Jerusalem – Time to walk to Mahane Yehuda Market. Street scenes on our way…

As we imagined, the market is aisles and aisles, both indoor and out, of merchants selling dry goods and supplies, fresh fruits and vegetables, tchotchkes, dried fruits and nuts, spices and coffee and pastries, and freshly butchered meats and fish. Quite overwhelming, but we made a few purchases, resisted the come-on from “clever” merchants, and had ourselves wonderfully delicious falafel and kabob sandwiches for lunch.

We found our way back to Yitzhak Navon Rail Station, purchased tickets, figured out on which track to catch the next train back to Tel Aviv, and made it back to the Duckenfield Estate Middle East in plenty of time to say farewell to Ben and his Grammy.

Our first several days in Israel were well spent with family, doing some light exploring, visiting an important museum, enjoying the ancient city of Jaffa and a little bit of Jerusalem, celebrating graduation from high school, having an earnest discussion with young members of the IDF, and discovering the belly-busting meal called an Israeli breakfast. Feeling centered and energized, we anxiously looked forward to tomorrow, and our visit to Old City Jerusalem.

Barbara and Brian

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau

Urban myths about the bible/israelwonderful to meet and talk with israelis…Roni, Danella, Soldiers kaddish at the wailing wall, masada, friday services, holocaust museum