Friday, June 28, Tel Aviv: The First Hebrew City

Today was another great day!  I am so impressed that so far, both days of travel began with everyone getting on the bus on time!  This is rare when traveling with a group the size of ours.  I hope this trend can continue.  There are certain things we need to remember when traveling in Israel in late June/early July.  First is you have to wear tons of sunscreen, a big-ugly-Israel hat, and you must drink lots of water.  More water than you even think you need.  I am trying to not be an annoying dad to Hayley constantly reminding her of these things and let her enjoy Israel with her friends, but I find myself reminding her often…  In fact, I think I am reminding all our travelers often.  I apologize!

Today, we began with an activity I was really excited about, because it is one I have never done before.  Today we followed the story of Israel’s pre-State elite fighting force, the Palmach.  We visited Beit Palmach, a state-of-the-art multimedia experience that allows a glimpse into the lives of these heroes. 

This was an absolutely incredible experience.  Because of the size of our traveling party, we needed to split up into two groups.  There were many photos on the walls that showed these fighters.  What Hayley and I noticed immediately was the fact that they were young kids, some as young as 16 years of age, who were a part of this important organization.  While the first group began the tour, the second group that Hayley and I were a part of met Zvi, a veteran of the Palmach. 

Zvi, with the help of Uri who translated his words, shared with us his story and how he fought to win Israel’s independence.  He shared that in his unit boys and girls were fighting together.  How cool for Hayley to see such strong women, not much older than her, that played a huge role in the independence of this land we both love so much.  He also shared that many in his unit were holocaust survivors.  This was incredible to think that just a few years before many of these young men and women were surviving the horrors that came at the hands of the Nazis and now they were on the front lines in this battle to keep the dream of Israel alive.  We learned that Zvi was fighting on the Lebanese front in the north when he was shot in the arm.  In his 90’s you could still see how his eyes lit up when he spoke of his experiences.  He was eager to show us his battalion book that had many photos of those who fought with him and even Zvi himself. 

He shared that they used a special canon that didn’t cause much damage but made a HUGE noise and that noise was reason for the enemy to run afraid.  The bravery of these fighters was truly an inspiration.  We also learned that the veterans of the Palmach actually raised all the monies needed to create this extraordinary place.  We were not allowed to take any photos inside Beit Palmach, and I was grateful to be able to experience this with Hayley, who is just beginning to think of what kinds of things she can contribute to our world.

Following this experience, we visited the Shalom Tower, Israel’s first skyscraper, which was built upon the foundation of the first Hebrew Academy, Gimnasiya Herzliya.  

This tower was the tallest building in the Middle East when it was built.  We explored the development from Jaffa to Tel Aviv through the famous Nachum Gutman mural, and Uri and our travelers interpreted the art and discovered new meaning to the beautiful images inside this huge mural. 

Following this we walked the newly opened Independence Trail, where we learned of the journey that began with the founding of Tel Aviv in 1909 and ended with the establishment of Israel in 1948.  Uri went through this explanation, bringing the event to life for all of us as we learned of the more than 2000 year old dream of a Jewish state, a declaration by Herzl at the First Zionist Conference in 1897 that between 5 and 50 years there would indeed be a Jewish state, and, 50 years after the UN creating the Partition Plan that would have divided Israel into two states: an Arab State, a Jewish state and International territory that included Jerusalem. 

We learned that the Arab community rejected this plan, which led to that famous day, May 14, 1948, when David Ben-Gurion declared an independent State of Israel, which of course led to a brutal war for Israel’s survival.  All of this teaching took place in front of Independence Hall, which is currently closed for renovation.  How powerful to hear this history in front of the building where the declaration was made.

For me, the important message is that Israel was not created as a consolation for the Holocaust.  Rather it was the result of more than 2000 years of yearning for a Jewish homeland.   

We then made our way to the Nahalat Binyamin pedestrian mall and walked its bi-weekly crafts fair and eateries.  We had free time to grab a bite to eat, shop in the pedestrian mall and visit the nearby Carmel open air market.  What a cool place! 

We boarded the bus to ride back to our hotel for everyone to enjoy some free time before sharing Shabbat overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.  Our Shabbat experience began with the lighting of the Shabbat candles.  Uri had discussed with us earlier in the day the notion of light and its importance within Judaism, specifically in Tel Aviv as the modern Israeli city.  We spoke of the lights of Shabbat as our reminder that we need to add our light to this world, and our goal is to take the light of Israel home with us and share it with our community and beyond.

We then made our way out onto the boardwalk on the waterfront behind our hotel and had a totally Tel Aviv Shabbat service.  There was a bar not too far off with music playing.  People would come by and join us for a song or two, one lady took out her cell phone and began recording us during our service.  A few animals came by (we see tons of cats and dogs in Tel Aviv).  There was a communal pool behind us that had swimmers swimming.  All of this went on as we created our Shabbat moment as the sun set on the Mediterranean behind us.  As we turned and faced east for the Bar’chu I got so excited thinking of the fact that in a week we will be laying our hands on the Western Wall, the very place we all turn to when we pray during services.  I know that they will never pray the same way again after experiencing this, and I cannot wait to share that experience with them.  As our service was ending, the sun was setting creating a most beautiful picture moment.  What a Shabbat experience!

We then went to our private room at the hotel for an AMAZING dinner provided to us by the hotel.  

No one left that table hungry.  It was amazing that the elevator could hold us all on our way back to our rooms!

Another amazing, beautiful and meaningful day in our home in the east.  There is no place like Israel.  If you haven’t experienced this for yourself, you need to consider coming with TAE in June, 2021 for our next trip.  It truly is the trip of a lifetime.  I cannot wait for tomorrow!

Thursday, June 27, Welcome to Israel

Today was a great day!  These are words that you are going to hear a lot during this trip.  After more than 2 years of planning today was the official beginning of our trip!  It is so exciting to be officially on this journey together as a community.  But before we get to that, let’s begin with…

BREAKFAST! 

Not a bad view to accompany a wonderful meal!  After breakfast, we had a few hours before the tour began.  Many of our TAE families made their way to the beautiful beach on the Mediterranean to relax and enjoy the water and the sun. 

In the afternoon we welcomed our final travelers who arrived on the last flight in and we were ready to go.  I was so excited to introduce our group to Uri, an incredible educator who will be guiding and teaching us all about Israel.  I have worked with Uri before and know that each and every person on the trip will fall in love with him as they did 4 years ago when he led our last family trip to Israel.  He becomes a part of our family.  I am so grateful to be working alongside my good friend again!  

We loaded our bus and noticed the sign on the front…

It didn’t take long for people to appreciate Uri’s knowledge as we made our way on our bus to our first stop, the ancient port of Jaffa, and began to understand the thousands of years of history that occurred in that place.  

We made our way through the staircases and alleyways to the Jaffa overlook to get our first look at the grand city of Tel Aviv, or the Big Orange as it is called.  

This gave us our first chance to get our first of many group photos, this time with the Tel Aviv skyline in the backdrop. 

Following this, we made our way to our bus and met Mati, our bus driver.  On the way we stopped at a theatre located in Old Jaffa.

This theatre, the Arab-Hebrew Theatre has Israeli actors on stage with Arab actors.  It is funny, but we rarely hear about such collaborative efforts between our two communities.  Uri reminded us that in Jaffa, there are a multitude of people living right next to each other.  He pointed out that on one corner there was a Mosque, and right across the street there was a synagogue.  These sparks of light are the hope for a peaceful future.  Don't get me wrong.  There is still much work to do.  But there are sparks of light.  I hope we can add to those sparks of light as a community.  

Mati carefully navigates our bus through the narrow streets to Tel Aviv’s Yemenite Quarter and took us to our welcome dinner at Maganda.  

The food was delicious!  I do not think anyone left this meal hungry (although I know some chose to go out for some ice cream afterwards!).  Uri gave us an overview of the trip and the hope that Israel not just be a place to ooh and awe at the sites, not just a place to experience the history of our people, to learn our story, but to discover more about ourselves.  Israel can change the way we interact with the world.  I can’t wait to see the impact she has on each of our travelers.  Today was a great day…  Tomorrow will be even better!

Wednesday, June 26, Making Our Way to Tel Aviv

Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Ha-olam, who opens the eyes of the blind.

In every morning service, we acknowledge the daily miracles we have in our lives.  Not the miracles like the parting of the Red Sea, but those small miracles we all take for granted.  I love the way that Rabbi Diamond describes a miracle.  He says a miracle is when you lose the ability to do something and then it reappears after a day, a week, a month…  And when it returns, you feel like that is a miracle.  Actually, that ability was always a miracle, we just took it for granted.  Today, Hayley and I had a lesson regarding a specific miracle we both took for granted.

This morning started off as every other morning, with a delicious breakfast with more food than we could ever think to taste.  So much of this meal is spent with Hayley and me talking about the fact that we took WAY too much food on our plates.  It really must be such a comical sight for the staff at the hotels…

Then, we got to share a few minutes with our educator for the trip, Uri Feinberg.  It was so great to see my good friend in person again after 4 years had passed since he and I worked together before.  He looks the same and still has the same passion for guiding people through the land he loves dearly.  I feel so privileged to get to share this experience with him again, and I know my group from TAE will love him as much as the group did 4 years ago.  They have no idea just how lucky they are. 

After this all too brief meeting, Hayley and I loaded our bags into a car and headed to Tel Aviv.  It was an amazing hour drive, as we drove past the security fence that divides Israel from Palestinian territory.  It was a sobering reminder of just how fragile Israel is and how she resides in a place with neighbors who are not so nice all the time…

We dropped off our bags at the hotel and made our way to the Children’s Museum for a remarkable exhibit called “Dialogue in the Dark.”  I had heard of this exhibition before and thought it would be a nice way for Hayley and I to do something totally different.  I had no idea how impactful this experience would be.  We walked into a room and were greeted by a nice Israeli lady who told us to take off our hats, glasses, watches, to remove all items from our pockets and place them in the lockers they provided.  She recommended that we bring 20 shekels to purchase snacks at the cafeteria at the end of the tour.  Hayley and I were a little anxious to leave all of our belongings in a locker.  We discussed how strange it felt to not even have our phones with us.  Boy how we have become to reliant on those phones.  In reality, they wanted us to place all items we could potentially drop (hats and glasses, etc.) and were not allowed to have anything that produced light because it would destroy the experience we were about to have.  We went into a room where another lady gave each of us a cane that you often see visually impaired people using and gave us a quick lesson as to how to use them properly.  And then we met Udi, our guide.  All the guides in this experience are either totally blind or visually impaired.

Udi brought us into a pitch dark room.  No light at all.  I don’t know if I have ever experienced darkness like this before.  We were with about 10 other people from all over the United States.  We were strangers, and suddenly we were in a totally foreign environment.  Immediately we all felt uncomfortable and afraid.  Udi explained that we were going to explore different rooms in total darkness and that our job was to try to figure out what type of space we were in.  We were told there would be no one who would jump out and scare us, and all we needed to do was follow the sound of his voice to find our way to the next room.  For the next hour, this is what we saw.

As we understood what was happening, we suddenly did not feel like strangers anymore.  We all had to rely on each other in order to navigate our way through the rooms.  We bumped into each other so many times, and the word “sorry” was the most commonly used word during the experience.  I feel bad for the grandparents from Long Island that Hayley and I kept hitting…  We became very friendly with them!  I was so impressed with how quickly Hayley adapted to her new environment.  I found myself seeking her out.  She became my safety net.  When I was with her, I felt safe.  I hope I played the same role for her.  We explored a house and navigated furniture, a boat (yes there was real water involved), a city street and navigated sidewalks, curbs, cars, motorcycles and bicycles, a grocery store that was filled with produce, and a train that also doubled as a club that played music.  In this last room as the music played on, Hayley and I got up and danced around.  I would like to think others danced as well, I know the grandparents from Long Island did not.  In the first room, we would not have danced, but we became comfortable enough that dancing felt good in the last room!

Finally, we went into the cafeteria and made our way to the counter where we could order drinks and snacks.  Hayley and I ordered soft drinks and paid and made our way to the table, all in total darkness.  Here we sat with Udi and asked questions of all kinds, trying to understand how difficult it is to navigate the world without the use of sight.  We went into the next room and began to see a dim light coming from the corner.  This was the light that would guide us back to our reality.  That first sight of light was a miracle for us all…  And I will not take my sight for granted again.  It was an incredible experience for Hayley and me, and I am so glad we got to experience this together.

Following this, we made our way to hour hotel and checked in.  Here is the view from the hotel lobby.

And from our room.

The view does not disappoint!  We unpacked and made our way outside to enjoy the Mediterranean Sea for a while.  We ran into Reesa and David Shaw and Gigi Dictor, travelers in our group who had just arrived from the airport and were already out enjoying the pool overlooking the sea.  Hayley and I then took a walk on the beach.

Finally, this evening we got to have dinner with Allison Weisenfeld.  Allison is a TAE kid, the daughter of Melanie and Howard Weisenfeld, who is turning into such a wonderful adult!  4 years ago she was with her family on this very trip and we were enjoying Tel Aviv together.  This summer, she is here as a resident, doing an internship for a small startup in Tel Aviv.  We walked to a fantastic burger joint, and then to the best ice cream place in all of Israel (so we were told).

It was so great to get to see Allison and learn about all she was doing here in Israel for her internship and how she was handling living in a foreign country.  She is doing GREAT!  I am so proud of how she has taken advantage of this opportunity and is really getting the most from her experience.  I would not have had the guts to do that at her age.  I know she makes her parents really proud. 

All in all, this was another amazing day in Israel.  And tomorrow, our tour officially begins.  I cannot WAIT to share my love of Israel with the 43 people traveling with Hayley and me.  I hope that each of them grows to love Israel as much as I do, and that I am able to help them open their eyes to see themselves a little clearer as a result of our pilgrimage.  

Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Ha-olam, who opens the eyes of the blind. 

Tuesday, June 25, Exploring the Old City

Well, this was a day for the ages.  And another day in Israel that I will never forget.  There were expected highs, and, of course, those unexpected moments that will stick with me forever.  And how privileged that I get to share the experience with Hayley.  She constantly amazes and impresses me with how she handles herself.  She is growing into quite the young woman.  I am so proud…

Our day began with the all important BREAKFAST at the hotel.  You all need to come with me to Israel just to experience these breakfasts!  Following this was something I have been anticipating for a long time now.  We celebrated Parker and Preston Lauinger becoming a bar mitzvah at the egalitarian section of the Wall.  I have led many bar and bat mitzvah services before, but I have never had the honor of officiating one at the Wall.  What an experience.  The egalitarian platform does not actually touch the Wall.  We are about 50 feet away from the Wall, but we are looking directly at it (actually the Western Wall we all know from the photos is to our left).  Beneath the platform you can actually see the destruction of the Temple in the form of rubble that clearly fell from the Temple Mount and has been left in its exact excavated position.  So we see the Wall in front of us, representing the strength of the Jewish people, and, right beneath is the rubble that represents the fragility of humanity.  And we were right in the middle.  It was a powerful place to be.  Here is our standard “Let’s do this” photo, this time with a much different backdrop.

When we got to the platform there were two other groups celebrating people becoming b’nai mitzvah.  One was from a synagogue and the other was what seemed to be a Birthright trip.  It was loud and distracting to say the least.  But after about 10 minutes, the Birthright group left and we moved ourselves right in front of the Wall to have the best view.  What followed was one of the most meaningful prayer moments I have experienced.  I love Parker and Preston and their mom, Alissa.  We have been connected to them since preschool at TAE and I was so excited when she brought her boys back to TAE in preparation for this b’nai mitzvah experience.  I have also had the honor of being with them and Alissa’s mom, Rocky, as they dealt with the passing of the boy’s grandfather a couple of years ago.  To stand with these two young men as they led our small congregation was really powerful and beautiful.  I was so grateful to be a part of that moment for them.  And special thanks to Hayley for taking these photos during the service so I can share them with you.

The most powerful moments were those when we faced the Wall for our prayers.  I was so moved after experiencing Ammunition Hill yesterday, and I could not get the thought of those soldiers weeping at the Wall after entering the Old City in 1967 out of my mind.  It was a moment that I will never forget and every time I turn towards the east when I am leading services at TAE I will remember those soldiers and how grateful I am to them for allowing me to have this experience.

Following our service and our impromptu hora that we danced together we made our way up to the Kotel, the Wall.  I did what I always do when I head to the Wall, I stand beneath the stone I chose as my stone 6 years ago when I first made my way to this most holy place.  I always make my way to this part of the Wall.  It was another meaningful moment.  

This visit to the Wall was short-lived because Parker and Preston and their family had to make their way to their next activity and I had a meeting scheduled with Rivka, our Da’at rep who I have been working with on the planning of this trip.  Walking through the itinerary got me so excited to begin this journey with the 43 souls from the TAE community.  It is going to be an epic adventure that I cannot wait to experience!

After this, Hayley and I walked back to the Old City from our hotel.  I think that the Old City is my most favorite place in all of Israel.  I love to explore the many confusing streets and pathways that lead to the different quarters and different shops.  I love to experience the people of all faiths seeking their special connection to Israel.  We are in the Middle East in the middle of summer, which means it is HOT here.  So to cool off we made a stop at Aroma and had our second experience.  And then we started walking.  We had no set schedule, except our desire to experience the Burnt House and work our way up to the rooftops of the Old City to get a view of the Temple Mount from the best vantage point. 

We walked to the Burnt House and discovered the next showing in English was in about 30 minutes, which was the perfect amount of time for us to grab our first falafel of the trip.  There is nothing like falafel in Israel.  Everything just tastes better here.  

It was finally time for us to experience the Burnt House, one of my favorite places in the Old City.  I have been here on each of my trips and it never disappoints.  It is in the middle of the Old City and takes you underground to ruins from an upper-class house from the Second Temple period.  This site is one of the most moving testimonies of what happened in 70 CE that led to the destruction of the Temple.  It is an actual archeological site, and through a multimedia presentation it tells the story of this family.  At the site the archeologists found  a broken stone with the inscription “D’Bar Katros” on it, identifying the tenant who lived in this home.  This name is also found in the Talmud as the name of one of the 24 priestly families who worked in the Temple.  The Burnt House focuses on the fact that in the Old City at this time there were two different factions living in the Upper City and the Lower City, one the upper class, and one the poor.  And while the Temple was ultimately destroyed by the Romans who were camped outside the gates, it was our fighting with each other that led to our demise.  This lesson of us just getting along with each other is still a lesson we need to learn today.  One wonderful part of this experience is that it is air conditioned!  A nice break from the 90+ degree, high humidity day we had outside.

Following the experience at the Burnt House we went in search of the best rooftop view of the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.  Our friend and Da’at rep Nimrod suggested we go to Aish HaTorah and pay the 10 shekels to go to their rooftop.  We finally found the entrance and Nimrod was absolutely right.  This was an AMAZING view.  We stood in awe at the place where we were standing. 

What happened next was absolutely unexpected.  As we were walking down from the rooftops, Rabbi Seth (who gladly took our 20 shekels at the entrance) was standing with another couple on the stairwell and looked at us and said, “Come with me, I want to show you something.”  We did as we were told and Rabbi Seth took the four of us into a circular movie theatre an told us to sit…  The lights dimmed and he showed us a movie about why the Wall is so important to Jews.  It was a terrific 4 minute movie, but we noticed that one of the people with us, James, a man from Australia began to weep.  As the movie ended he continues to sob for a few minutes.  Hayley and I and the lady he was with just sat there in silence as he let released his emotions in a raw display.  It is as if he finally understood why this place was so important.  It brought tears to my eyes.  And then, Rabbi said, you want to see something else?  Follow me!  Hey, when the rabbi asks you o do something, you don’t say no!  He took us down to the first floor into what he called the “VIP” room, where people of high prominence come in in order to have privacy as they create the prayers they want to bring and place in the walls.  Countless famous people have been in this room, with no windows or doors, total privacy in order to keep out the paparazzi.  He explained why the room was so important and then gave us each a moment to create our own prayers that we could take to the Wall and place them between the stones.  Both Hayley and I took a lot of time writing our private prayers and we will place them in the Wall next week when we are here with our community.  Only in Israel! 

Our walk back to the hotel was filled with discussions of God, and the role God plays in our world.  It was a deep and meaningful discussion.  I am so proud of how Hayley views the world and the seriousness that she takes her responsibility to bring healing to our broken humanity.  She feels things on a deeper level than I ever have.  I stand in awe of her.

Our conversations continued over dinner and as we turn in for the night, we are looking forward to the next adventure Israel brings our way.  We know one thing for sure, she will surprise us!  We will find connection and meaning even where it is least expected.  My heart is full!