6/26/06

Got to the airport on time. Definitely a little nervous about flying for 17 hours with a 4 and a 6 year old!

On the plane our family of four were seated three together and one separate. Rocky, our 6 year old, said he wanted to try to sit on his own. He sat beside a 20 year old woman named Talia who had a one way ticket. She was making aliya. She and Rocky became fast friends.

There were many Temple Isaiah congregants on the plane, and some who were meeting us along with Cantor Kent in Israel. We talked, shared books, and imagined together what our journey would be like. If we were lucky, we slept. Rocky fell asleep against Talia.

We arrived in Ben Gurion and found our bus, beginning the ascent to Jerusalem, thinking of how our ancestors made pilgrimages up these very slopes. The highway was lined with groves of trees, signs in Hebrew, Arabic and English, villages tucked into valleys, and a few rusted tanks left over from the 1948 war.

In Jerusalem, we first stopped at the Promenade and sang shechechiyanu overlooking the old city of Jerusalem.

After dinner late at night a group of us ventured into the old city to visit the Western Wall.

6/29/06

Our family was the first to arrive in the banquet hall for the breakfast buffet, mostly because Kinneret woke up at 3 am. I couldn't wait to see the rest of our group behold the bounty. There were tables and tables of succulent choices, eggs, quiches, a cornucopia of fresh vegetables, assortments of salads, platters of fish, bowls of fruits, baskets of fresh breads, giant arrays of cheeses, juicers and mounds of grapefruits and Jaffa oranges waiting to be squeezed. We sat at each other's tables and friendships grew.

After breakfast we all walked to Hebrew Union College for the b'nei mitzvah of Saul Bruenell, Alex Leichenger and Matthew Lewis. In a clearing of trees with the walls of the old city rising behind us and the Mediterranean sun streaming down, we chanted from the Torah and sang songs of praise.

We had lunch in the old city, and continued to tour throughout the Jewish quarter. It brought back so many memories from the two years I lived there.

In the evening we went through the Kotel Tunnel Tours, under the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The tunnels had not been opened yet when I had lived there, so it was a first. At one point during the tour, we were directly across and under the place where the Holy of Holies would have stood when the Temple existed-now of course that place is covered by the Dome of the Rock where Jews are not allowed to enter. Directly above us was a synagogue which had been built by a rabbi in honor of his son who had died in the 6 Day war. A little further to our left was a cistern underneath a Catholic monastery. The little underground space we stood was so charged with history and prayer. I'll never forget that little patch of wall in that tunnel.

Kinneret fell asleep all afternoon and had to be carried everywhere.

6/30/06

We all planted trees at a JNF forest at Modiin. Afterwards, we visited a Tank Museum at Latrun. The kids especially enjoyed climbing all over the tanks while we learned about Israel's armor corp. At the end of our tour we went to the little chapel there and sang songs of peace.

In the evening we were welcomed at services at our sister synagogue Mevasseret Tziyon, where we prayed, some of the melodies familiar and others foreign and enchanted.

We were hosted by various Israeli families for Shabbat dinner. Kinneret slept through services and only woke, conveniently, for dessert.

7/1/06

Ah, Shabbat in Jerusalem! Many of us went to Hebrew Union College for services which Cantor helped lead. After a special Shabbat lunch at the hotel, we took a long walk through various Jerusalem neighborhoods, visiting the windmill of Yemin Moshe, and arriving at last in Abu Tor for refreshments and Havdallah at Cantor Kent's apartment. Kinneret slept the entire walk and had to be carried. Note to self: Next time pack a stroller!

7/2/06

We went to Yad VaShem Holocaust museum while the children in our group went to the Herzl museum with the youth counselor, Ido. The museum was replete with personal stories, told by survivors or through letters and artifacts that they left behind. A doll that a young girl risked her life returning into the ghetto to retrieve. Her family tried to stop her but she said, "A mother doesn't leave her child." The doll survived, the family did not. There were postcards and notes that people had slipped through the cracks of the cattle cars as they were taken to concentration camps. The notes were addressed to no one, but pleading anyone, anywhere.

Our group moved through the rooms, entranced by the visions that filled our eyes. We would brush past each other and nod solemnly, smile weakly, and continue on, until we exited the last door to the sound of children singing HaTikvah, and the green slopes of Jerusalem, beautiful air and endless blue sky.

After Yad VaShem we visited Har Herzl, a military cemetery, where we saw the graves of Yitzchak and Leah Rabin, Theodor Herzl and Hannah Senesh, as well as so many soldiers who have fallen defending the land.

If we were solemn in the morning, we were anything but in the early evening when we found ourselves loping along on camels and donkeys led by Bedouins through the desert dunes. On the drive from Jerusalem south, the landscape unfurled from forests to the pink and gold pastels of the desert dunes. When there was nothing but sand, rock and cliffs of chalk, Cantor exclaimed on the bus, "If you lived here you'd be home by now!" I don't think I stopped laughing for hours!

After camels and donkeys, we had dinner in a Bedouin tent, where our host treated us to the music of the coffee pot, and many savory dishes-a couple as yet unidentified! Kinneret slept through the Bedouin part.

7/3/06

Okay, this is it, I am determined NOT to carry Kinneret all the way up Masada! We walked slowly up the Roman Ramp with our group. Kinneret and I stopped for at least a thousand water breaks in my effort to keep her pepped up in the heat. Hooray! We made it to the top! Emily Baker was the first one to the top. We all explored this fascinating fortress where Jews made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom nearly two thousand years ago.

After descending in the cable car we went to the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth. After getting muddy and floating on the  spent a long time lounging and splashing in the pool at Herod Beach. The kids exerted themselves trying to dunk one of the guards who traveled with us, but even against nine kids, he was a formidable opponent.

It was a long day, but we still had one more stop. A hike in Ein Gedi, a beautiful desert oasis with tall waterfalls and fresh water pools. We hiked and admired the serene looking mountain goats who in turn watched us from their narrow cliffs. Jumping into those natural springs felt like immersing in the fountain of youth. We never wanted to get out!

We slept at a Kibbutz on lake Kinneret. Kinneret was so excited all day to see "her lake-" but when we got there, quelle surprise, she was asleep.

Larry Zucker asked when we were going to visit "Lake Larry Zucker." Is there such a place?

7/4/06

We took a very bumpy jeep tour of the Golan Heights, hanging on for dear life while our Israeli jeep drivers made sure not to miss a rock or ditch in the road. The kids had a blast. (Kinneret could not have slept through that if she tried!) Afterwards we visited Mount Ben Tal and climbed through the bunkers there. In the afternoon we went rafting on the Jordan river, enjoying the winding scenery and trying not to crash into the banks. In the evening we had a July 4th barbecue and disco dinner on the shore of Lake Kinneret with members from Temple Beth Am from Los Angeles. We kicked off our shoes and danced in the grass while the sun set over the lake.

7/5/06

Today we visited Tsfat, the center of kabbala, and were treated to a remarkable lecture by a local artist all about Jewish mysticism. It is one of the four holy cities in Israel for Jews, along with Jerusalem, Hebron and Tiberias. We returned for a sunset boat ride across Lake Kinneret, which Kinneret almost slept through. There were drums and music and we danced with all our energy, laughing and celebrating life, singing songs of peace as a circle of increasingly close friends. Dinner in Tiberius.

7/6/06

We visited the ancient Roman city of Tsipori and then drove to Haifa where we stopped to look over the magnificent Bahai Gardens. After Haifa we continued on to a Druze village where we were treated to warm Druze hospitality and a delicious lunch. We learned about the mysterious Druze religion.

In the evening we drove to the last city of our journey-Tel Aviv.

7/7/06

In the morning we visited Rabin Square, the site where Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin was assassinated, and afterwards we toured the Palmach Museum, teaching us through multi-media the early history of Israel.

In the afternoon we swam in the Mediterranean sea and began to prepare for Shabbat. Tomorrow evenings we will pack our bags and return to our home on the other side of the world, leaving a part of our hearts here. The forty of us from Temple Isaiah arrived as acquaintances, became friends, and left as one big family. I pray that we can do this again and again, discovering ourselves, each other, our heritage, and our hope for a peaceful future, journeying through Israel, the land where realists believe in miracles.