That's a Wrap...for Now Anyway...

---

Its taken me some time to put together this last entry, partly because I don't want it to be over, and partly because I have had a hard time finding the words to sum up the experience. This trip was truly a dream come true, and everything that I have shared with you is just a fraction of what we truly experienced. For all of us who went, it was more than a physical journey or a simple vacation. It was a journey of the heart and the spirit, and what I have shared is really just the tip of the iceberg. For each of us, the trip has been a deeply personal experience, and I am sure if you asked, we would each give you vastly different answers about how we were affected by the places we visited and the things that we saw. I hope that I have done some justice to these magnificent and inspiring places.

As a way of wrapping this up, I want to share with you some of my favorite and/or most moving memories of the trip. Please remember, this is just my perspective, and I am speaking only for myself. So, here they are, my top ten memories....

10. Touchdown in Tel Aviv
For so long, Israel was just a dream. How do you explain to those around you the yearning in the heart for a place you've never been? How do you help them to understand the longing for a home you've never been to when you can hardly explain it to yourself? That is what Israel was to me. Some would say it was a figment of my imagination. Others might call it genetic memory. Whatever label you choose to put on it, I've always known in my heart that Israel was home. This wasn't the first time that I'd planned to go, but every time before this, something has happened at the last minute to prevent me from going. I guess it just wasn't time yet. So, I felt a certain amount of trepidation when we began planning for this trip. I didn't want to get my hopes up only to have the rug pulled out from under my feet yet again. I am sure I drove people crazy with my check lists and count downs, but it was my way of dealing with the uncertainty. When we set off for the airport, someone asked me if it felt real yet instead of a dream, and I think I disappointed them when I responded with a "no". My analytical mind was still too busy examining and calculating all the potentials and possibilities. It still felt like a dream when we boarded the first plane and as we raced from one end of the Phoenix airport to the other to catch the second one. When we boarded the flight to Tel Aviv in Philadelphia, everyone else seemed to relax, but I couldn't. All around me, the passengers were settling in for the long flight and falling asleep, but I was reluctant to close my eyes. I was afraid that if I fell asleep, I would wake up to find that it had only been a dream, and I didn't want anymore insubstantial fantasies. I wanted the real thing. All through the long flight, I kept checking the flight status on the screen in front of my seat, as if somehow that would make it seem real, or looking out any available window every time I got out of my seat, but there was nothing below us but the sea. When I got my first glimpse of the land, I thought it would be enough, but it wasn't. We turned toward the airport, and I was craning my neck to look out the window, watching as the ground got ever closer. My heart began to race the closer we got, and then came the bump of landing. We began to taxi to the gate, and yet my heart could not be calm. The flight attendant's voice came over the loud speaker, and first in Hebrew, and then English, welcomed us to Ben Gurion Airport and to Israel. Peace washed over me, and it was finally real to me. I was home at last.

9. Peter's Fish
We had alot of amazing, wonderful food while we were in Israel, but some of it was more interesting than others. Probably the most unusual meal we had was at a small restaurant in the Galilee. We had started the morning with a sail on the Sea of Galilee followed by visits to Kefar Nahum and Tabgha; so, by the time lunch rolled around, we were all feeling pretty hungry. Our guide suggested this restaurant which was quite popular with travellers to the area and recommended their signature dish which was known as Peter's Fish. Most of us elected to try it. The meal started in much the same way as most of our meals in Israel with pita, hummus, and salads. Then they brought us each a platter. For the non-fish people in the group, there was delicious smelling grilled chicken and what they called "chips", but we would consider them fries. The rest of us received a platter of fish. We got "chips" also, but it was hard to find them because of the fish. You see Peter's Fish was just that, a whole fried fish. And yes, I do mean a whole fish complete with fins and eyes. It tasted pretty good once you got past the fact that it stilled had its fins and eyes, but it was pretty hard for some of us to get past that part. It can be a little hard to keep eating when your lunch looks back at you. Others didn't find this quite as disturbing and actually enjoyed the fish eyes which, of course, became a running joke for the rest of the trip...

8. "George of the Jungle" moments
Trees are very popular in Israel, both in the countryside and in the cities. So, if you ever get to Israel, just remember to "watch out for that tree!"

7. The Zoo
There were alot of wonderful moments while we were in Israel, but the Zoo was definitely one of the highlights. When we first got to Israel, our guide didn't understand why we wanted to go the zoo. Most people would probably share his puzzlement. Before we left, I had many people ask me why, with so many other things to see and do, would we want to see a zoo half way around the world? After our afternoon in the Banais Nature Preserve, our guide understood. Our group was full of people who had a great affinity for nature and for animals. Everytime we saw an animal, anywhere we went, everyone got excited. By the time we got to our zoo day, we were all anticipating what we would be doing that day. Our guide was excited too. It was the first time he had been to the zoo with one of his groups, and he also told us that it was his first trip to the zoo in many years. We got to the zoo just as it opened and were able to spend several hours there. They have most of the animals that are common to zoos everywhere, but they also have a special section that is devoted just to Biblical animals. And of course, feeding the lories was one of the highlights. Our poor guide was trying to keep us on schedule, but we infected him with our enthusiasm. Even as he was trying to usher us towards the entrance, he would spot some animal we hadn't seen yet and stop so we could all see it. I think we could have very happily spent the entire day at the zoo.

6. The Galilee
There is so much to see and do in the Galilee that it is hard to narrow down one favorite memory from our stay there; so, I am going to share two. The first is sailing on the Sea of Galilee. It was such a beautiful morning, and I was sitting up in the prow with Yolanda and Irene as the boat tacked away from the dock. It was wonderful to feel the sun on my face and the wind in my hair as we went further and further from shore. All around us, the land was blooming with spring, and yet we were also surrounded by so much history. It is one of the paradoxes of Israel. It is a land that is at once young, vital and overflowing with life while at the same time full of ancient memories, promises, and ruins, and there is also promise and hope for the future. In Israel, past, present, and future all seem to collide. I enjoyed the sail on the Sea of Galilee, but oh, how I wished that it had lasted longer! There was a tranquility about it that was very comforting and inspiring. It's that feeling that comes to mind when I think of my other favorite memory of Galilee. I am, as a general rule, quite an early riser. I took advantage of that quality to go for a walk early one morning. I was up before the sun walking by the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Everything was so still, so fresh. I watched cormorants and herons fishing for their breakfast, and I found a mostly dry rock to sit on as I watched the sun rise over the hills of the Galilee. The peace and tranquilty wrapped around me like an embrace, and it was a wonderful and refreshing change from my usually hectic, busy life. It would be so pleasant to wake up every morning to a view of the Sea of Galilee and the sun rising over the hills.

5. Shopping in Mahane Yehuda Market
This was one of the highlights of the trip. It was a completely spontaneous, unplanned moment (well, the first time any way), but it definitely will be a lasting memory. In the heart of the modern section of Yerushalayim, it is the market where the local people shop. It covers several streets and has strange little alleys that connect the main streets. Some parts of the market are open air, and some are covered by permeant canopy-like structures. It is filled with everything you could possibly want or need. You can buy groceries, shop for clothes, pick up a cd or two, and perhaps, stop by the local falafel stand for a nosh. Some shops have set prices while at others you must employ the ancient art of haggling. It was so much fun! While it has its share of tourists, the vast majority of the people shopping here are locals, and it was amazing to get to experience the feel of a local market. For me, the best part of shopping there was the moment I realized that the shopkeeper I was bargaining with was treating me like a local and not a tourist. He asked me a question and without thinking about it, I responded in Hebrew. He smiled at me, handed me my change, and wished me "Shabbat Shalom". I responded in kind and walked away. It was definitely a feeling I could and would like to get used to.

4. Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is an experience that is hard to describe. You experience feelings of both great sorrow and great hope there. The sorrow, of course, is from the tragedy of the Shoah. The hope comes both from the knowledge that there were survivors and that there were those who were willing to risk their lives (like the Righteous Among the Nations and the Resistance fighters) to rescue people from the atrocity and fight against the perpatrators. There is also horror and anger that one human could treat another the way the Nazis treated their victims. There is also a sense that it is consecrated ground upon which you stand. It is a lasting memorial to those who suffered and lost their lives, many of whom will have no other memorial as their final resting place will never and can never be known. It stands both as a testimonial to their loss and a determined vow to never let something like that happen again.

3. Yarden
There is just something fascinating about the Yarden River. It finds it source in the springs of Mt Hermon, and it falls through great cateracts like the waterfalls of the Banais Nature Preserve through the Hula Valley and into the Galilee. It enters at one end of the Sea of Galilee and flows out at the opposite end. At some points, it is a great rushing river, while at others, it is wide and placid, like at Yardenit where we had our mikvah. In still others, the opposite shore is so close that you could easily throw a stone across to the other side. It flows down from the Galilee towards the Dead Sea serving both as water source and national boundary between Israel and Jordan. In some places, like Banais, the water is clear and sparkling, and at others, like the Yarden Crossing, the water is brown with sediment and debris. It finally ends as it pours into the Dead Sea. The Yarden is complex, full of nuances and changes. I can't tell you why it fascinates me; it just does.

2. Yerushalayim
I could talk to you about Yerushalayim forever, but I would probably bore you. There is so such more to Yerushalayim than can be summed up in a few words. Like Israel itself, it is place where past and present often exist side by side. It is a beautiful modern metropolis with an ancient heart. There is a reason they call it the City of Gold. At sunrise, the sun glints off the stones of the City and bathes everything in a golden light. It is a truly beautiful sight to behold. Everything here is built of stone, and while this is true of most of Israel (wooden structures are extremely rare as trees are a very precious commodity), there is a different quality to the stone here. It has all the amenities you would expect of a modern city, but truly, the Old City is the heart of Yerushalayim. Seeing the City for the first, I had a feeling of coming home, of being where I belonged, and the more time we spent in Yerushalayim, the more that feeling grew on me. Walking through the Jaffa Gate the first time, and being able to touch the mezuzah on the gate...wandering through the Jewish Quarter past the rebuilt Hurva Synagogue...seeing the Kotel for the first time and being able to pray where so many others had also prayed to H-shem over the centuries...watching children play and sing in the public squares...wandering through the market places...seeing the Temple Menorah in its glass case...wandering beneath the streets in the Western Wall tunnels...Shabbat.......

We spent over a week in Yerushalayim, and it still wasn't enough time. But then, I have a feeling that I could spend months in Yerushalayim and still feel like it wasn't enough time!

1. Shabbat
Shabbat in Israel is a truly amazing experience. In America, we stop for Shabbat, but the world continues on at its usual hectic pace all around us. Shabbat becomes an island of peace and tranquility in sea of busyness and chaos. In Israel, its different. You aren't the only one stopping for Shabbat....Shabbat is no longer an island; its a whole world. The businesses close early so people can get home to complete their preparations. Computers and tvs are turned off. Even in hotels, there is special consideration and preparation for Shabbat. People focus on Shabbat, on their families, and their communities. Celebrating Shabbat in Yerushalayim is a special blessing. You can go to services at the Great Synagogue, enjoy a walk through the Old City, participate in Shabbat services at the Kotel, or all three if you desire.


There was so much more to the trip than just these few memories. I could write many, many pages, and I still wouldn't be able to fit in everything. I have been told to treasure my memories because it was "a once in a lifetime trip". While I do treasure the memories that I have made, I already know that its not a "once in a lifetime trip". It was merely the first in a lifetime of trips! So while this might seem like the end, I refuse to say goodbye. Instead, I shall end this with a common Israeli salutation....

L'hit ra-ot!! Be seeing you!!! (soon, I hope)



P.S. Be sure to check back as I will be adding pictures and videos to the gallery....

---