Mission Israel - West Bank & Israel Museum

Wow! Wow! Wow! Talk about an eye-opener.

We spent the morning in the "notorious" West Bank; the place of terrible Arab Refuge Camps and persecution. I couldn't have had a more incorrect perception.

We crossed the check point to go into the West Bank after leaving Jerusalem maybe half an hour earlier. The first thing I noticed is that the much talked about concrete wall actually covers very little of the fence, in fact, it only covers 5% of the fence. So already we have been totally misinformed. The balance of the 95% is an alarm fence, and not an electrified fence. It is unobtrusive.

We drove along the road until we reached a reasonable sized Jewish Settlement of approximately 650 families. They had been there for over 35 years. We entered a beautiful girls school. The place was neat. The scholars appeared to be very happy and friendly. We were given a talk about how the settlement operates and their hopes for peace with their Arab neighbors. It was certainly illuminating. We drove around the settlement. It was spick and span. The gardens were well maintained, the houses were neat and the overall impression was that this could be a really good place to live.

We drove further until we came to the top of a mountain where we visited another settlement near Nablus, 63 km (41 miles) from Jerusalem. We had a delicious lunch served with excellent local wines, made from grapes grown right there. The owner explained his passionate views of the biblical history of the region. He told us that he just wants to be left alone to grow his grapes, make his wine and serve his customers in his mountaintop restaurant. He told us that his vines had been damaged maliciously by his Arab neighbors, but he did not retaliate because this would only start a cycle of unnecessary violence. He would even live under Palestinian control, if they left him alone and didn't threaten or harm him.

We saw a number of Arab refugee camps, about which we have heard so much. The only difference is that these were beautiful towns. The picture attached to this blog is one of these camps!

Our guide through the West Bank was Danny Tirza, one who normally takes VIP's through the area for fence tours. His knowledge of the negotiations, the territory and the people is amazing. He was forthcoming with valuable information. It is interesting to note that he has taken Senator Obama and Hilary Clinton on two hour fence tours. They did not take the trouble to get an in-depth knowledge of the West Bank as we did.

After we left the West Bank, we went to the Israel museum for a guided tour of the Old City of Jerusalem model and the Dead Sea scrolls. Our time was limited, but we enjoyed this educational session greatly.

We returned to the hotel to prepare for our farewell dinner. When entering the Inbal's ballroom, we were surprised to see that it had been set up for a true gala farewell dinner. The guest speaker was the mayor of Jerusalem, a young self-made millionaire. Another fascinating insight into Israel, Jerusalem and the territory.

After the thank-you's and speeches, we partied until late at night with all our newfound friends. It was very sad to say goodbye to our Mission friends.

We are definitely going on the next one!! Join us on March 3, 2013.

Mission Israel - Old City & Beit Givrun

Another busy enjoyable day in Israel today.

Our breakfast meeting was a fascinating glimpse of Israel's public relations efforts, given by the IDF. Lt. Colonel Avital Leibovitz discussed how Israel was undertaking a public relations initiative to counter the biased one-sided international campaign against Israel. It was very interesting.

After the briefing we went on a walking tour of the Old City of Jerusalem. This continues to fascinate us all. We were shown a spot on a roof above the old city, from where we could see the four sections, the Jewish, Armenian, Christian and Muslim quarters. We were shown some more of the archeology of the area. We were given some free time to shop.

After the old city, we drove to Ammunition Hill for a picnic lunch. We came across a group of soldiers who were pleased to have photos taken with us. We then enetered the Ammunition Hill museam for a detailed sicussion of the intense battle that took place there. The bravery of the israeli soldiers who took this important hill in the 1967 six day war was incredible. Our tour guide, david, brought the battle to life. Great job, David!

We then drove to a Kibbutz where a modern day pioneer discussed how they had started a movement of young adults who were activists in the community, particularly in the Negev and the Galilee.

We then sat in a circle according to our bus groups to discuss out thoughts on the Mission as a whole. Every single person conveyed their very positive thoughts on the Mission and its organization by the Federation. It was amazing to see how this one week Mission had affected the lives of some of the participants in a permanent way. We were also very tactfully and tastefully asked to make a donation to the Federation. All the people to whom we spoke were happy with the way this was done.

We then meandered down the mountain for an hour before reaching a surprise location for a gala dinner. The location was the ancient archeological bell caves of Beit Guvrin. The setting was absolutely spectacular. We we entered an "entrance" cave lit up in an orange glow. We were given hot soup in cups while waiting to enter the main venue somewhere ahead. There was a strange figure of a man with a ram's head and a cloaked body from the waste down performing in a very interesting way. You had to be there to understand. Across the entrance to the venue were five drummers of which two also had long "shofars" across their backs. After a while the drummers started playing, and led us singing down a path among the huge bouders and limestone to the bell caves. they were lit up in a fluorescent blue, with a stage and dinner tables set out for 200 people. Talk about spectacular!

The band played, their was a flautist, fire breathers, acrobats and drummers. There were drums set around the dance area for guests to play as well.

Apart from the fantastic entertainment, the food was delicious and aplenty.

This turned out to be a wonderful fun party. It was time to leave before we were ready. A great job by the organizers once again.

We entered our bus for the long winding road back up to our hotel in Jerusalem. We deiced to tell jokes all the way back, making for a pleasant trip back.

We got to bed real late, and I have to get up at 05h15 to go to synagogue in the morning. Whoa is me!

Mission Israel - Yad Vashem & Kabbalat Shabat Yom Shishi

Today was a real cerebral day.

Our breakfast briefing was done by Dr Rachel Korazim. She gave us an entirely new perspective of the Holocaust and how to view Yad Vashem. She explained that the process of both the Nazis and eventually the liberators was to photograph the people in the camps in such a way as to show them in their worst possible moment, without dignity. She told us that when we see the black and white photos of people without hair in striped pajamas, we should try to imagine them with colored clothes, hair, beards, hats and jewelery, as they would have liked us to see them. She also explained how we should explain the holocaust to our children.

We then spent the entire morning at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial centre. The museum part was difficult to walk through, seeing the abominable, unbelievable atrocities inflicted on the Jews of Europe. Although it is unpleasant, infuriating, saddening and extermely emotional, it is something every human being should do once in their lives.

We ended the visit to Yad Vashem with a very moving ceremony in which members of our Mission placed wreaths on a grave stone for the six million Jews who perished. We heard stories of survivors, Psalms were read and then everyone said a prayer for the dead. A cantor sang two extremely meaningful songs, one being the song that the Jews sang as they walked into the gas chambers. There was not a dry eye in the hall. We ended the ceremony with everone singing Hatikva (Hope) the Israeli National Anthem.

After spending a short time for lunch in a typical Israeli Jerusalem neighborhood, we traveled to the Haas Promenade for a small ceremony prior to welcoming the Shabbat. We sang and danced overlooking the old city of Jerusalem.

From there we were dropped off at the old city to spend Kabbalat Shabbat at the Kotel; the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. This developed into one of the unscripted but amazing events of the mission. A group of us started the Kabbalat Shabbat with the leadership of Rabbi Gelman from UOS in Houston. It added a new meaning doing this in front of this holy place. When we finished, we started to dance in our little group. There was a bunch of around 25 Israeli soldiers next to us. They invited us over to join them. We all started dancing together with vigor singing "Am Yisroel Chai!" (The Nation of Israel Lives). There was another group of religious Jewish Yeshiva students behind us. All of a sudden, they also joined us. It was amazing and inspiring.

Eventually we left the combined group to fonish our Shabbat service, after which we walked through the Old City, through a modern (closed) mall and down to our hotel.

At the hotel, after a quick wash, we joined our entire group for a Shabbat Dinner with a visiting Rabbi, a Jewish Archipelo group and some visiting students and current soldiers who are in Israel from Houston.

A wonderful, difficult, inspiring, day which made us think... a lot!

Shabbat Shalom.

Mission Israel - Safed to Jerusalem Yom Chamishi

A long but good day.

We had our usual breakfast briefing, but this time by a resident of the Galilee who lives within "spitting" distance of Lebanon. he outlined the other side of Israel. A totally different point of view to what we were used to. Fascinating.

We then drove the short distance to old Safed where we visited a number of synagogues; both Sephardi and Ashkenazi. We also spent some time in the Kabbalah Centre, where we started by looking over the hills where the original scripts were written and where Lag Ba'Omer is celebrated my thousands of people every year.

We spent some time exploring the artists' colony in Safed. The vast array of beautiful Judaic pieces of art was fascinating.

After Safed we drove down through the Jordan Valley to the Sea of Galilee to the Beit She'an ruins. We picnicked there before touring the amphitheatre and the ruins. The old road, the shops and the other aspects of life two thousand years ago was obvious to the eye following the archelogical excavations.

We then drove up from the valley to Jerusalem. We stopped on Mount Scopus to get a view of Jerusalem before we actually entered the city. We said a prayer, drank some wine, sang some relevant songs and even danced a bit.

We drove to our hotel before going out for a light dinner in a small group.

After dinner we went for a tour in the tunnels along the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. We passed the "Wailing Wall" on our way to the tunnels. We took a short respite to approach the original Western Wall directly. It was our honor to lead two people, Paul & John, to the wall for the first time; quite a touching moment!

The tour along the tunnels was absolutely fascinating. We saw the amazing architecture and structural engineering capability of the ancient peoples, over 2,000 years ago.

We returned to our hotel very tired but pleased with another wonderful day in Israel.

Until tomorrow....

Mission Israel - Golan & Galilee, Yom Rvi'i

Wow! What an amazing day in Northern Israel!

We met for breakfast at 07h15 where we were treated to a feast of healthy fresh foods typical of Israeli. After breakfast we were briefed on the Golan Heights by General Kobi Marom. Our tour guide, who served under the General had some interesting stories to tell us later in the day.

After the briefing we drove up to the Golan Heights where we saw army and tank brigades. We met at a kibbutz where we boarded four wheel drive jeeps for our trip along the Golan Heights. We could easily see into Syria, gaining a strong understanding of the strategic importance of the Golan Heights from a military and a water point of view. The weather was superb, giving us a clear view across the border into Syria.

After this, we drove along the Golan Heights, down across the Jordan river and up to a kibbutz adjacent to the Lebanese border. We stopped at a winery for a delicious "light" lunch. of course we were able to taste some of the locally produced wine with our meal. We ate within view of the Lebanese army post on the hill overlooking the winery. We were given a tour of the winery and then a wine tasting session. The wines were excellent. it turns out that Joe Blog, in Houston, is the distributor of these Galil Mountain wines. They are certainly worth trying. Great quality.

After lunch and wine, we drove a very short distance to the kibbutz, where we looked across the Lebanese border. We could see the UN positions, the border fence, the Lebanese twon on the hills above and even saw a number of Israeli patrol vehicles go past.

We returned to Sefad (Zvat) where we had two hours of leisure. A few of us tried the hotel's spa. We sat in the hot tub, did some lengths in the pool and sat in the Turkish baths.

We we driven to the ancient town of Sefad for a "treasure hunt" through the streets. Once we had located our "treasure" we met at the dinner venue. What a pleasant surprise! In the lobby we were given hot drinks similar to Gluewein. We went down the stairs to the dinner hall which was decorated to look like the streets of the town. There was a Kletzmer band playing music. We ended up dancing in a crowd of at least 100 people. The food was pleantiful and very tasty. The vive was wonderful. A terrific time was had by all.

Eventually they had to "throw" us out to return to the hotel.

Now we need to pack in order to leave for tomorrow's adventure directly after our breakfast briefing.

Mission Israel - First Day: Yom Shlishi

Another busy fascinating day in the Holy Land.

We were woken at 06h30!! A tasty healthy Israeli breakfast of olives, cheeses, yogurts of varied and Mediterranean types with salads and other foods. there were also pastries and eggs, but I kept well away from those.

We had a breakfast briefing by Gerald Steinberg, a political specialist. he highlighted Israel's difficulties in the world forums, especially in the current unstable middle eastern climate. It was scary to hear both the pessimistic and the optimistic points of view.

We left the hotel to visit the Yitzchak Rabin Centre and Museum. It was extremely interesting and very heart wrenching. There were many aspects that struck us as fascinating. This is a visit well worth doing.

After the museum visit, we spent almost two hours in the Carmel market in Tel Aviv. The craft market was taking place at the same time. Ingrid's friend Lynn, who had just flown on from visiting the USA, surprised us in the market. Because we had been to the market twice already, we found a small coffee shop called Coffee Lab. It turned out that they manufactured their own coffee and distributed it to the surrounding shops. We spent an enjoyable hour there. The fact that they had free internet was an added bonus.

We then drove for an hour to the Leo Beack school in Haifa. At this KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Programme) school spends considerable time and effort assimilating very young Ethiopean jews to a stage where they can enter grade one as regular little Israelis. Another interesting visit.

We left the school for an hour and a half drive to Sefad to the Canaan Spa. Here we had dinner with a young Israeli soldier. The soldier at our table was 21 years old, a staff sergeant in hos platoon and still a young man. He told us many stories of his life as a soldier in the Israeli army. Another very interesting evening over a good meal.

After dinner, we sat in the hotel's lounge drinking fragrant fruit tea. The ambiance and friendship is wonderful.

It's late. we're tired. So far a most enjoyable, educational and fascinating tour.

Mission Israel - Meeting Day & Yom Sheini

Today was an interesting one. After waiting for Harold to return from getting his cell phone data plan working, we walked to the Michal Negri store; the original one. The area was most interesting with small boutiques and coffee shops. From there we walked to the Carmel Market where we bought a few small items and fruit to take with us on our journey. Unexpectedly, we met up with cousin Barbie and hubbie Paul.

We checked out of the Best Western and moved to the David Intercontinental a short way down the road. Because we had lots of luggage, three of us took a taxi with the luggage while two walked the ten minute stroll to the hotel.

This is a very luxurious expensive Western style hotel. As usual, the better the hotel the less you get. The internet cost is $22 plus tax per day. Crazy. The room is great though.

We met up with many of the Houston Mission group when we checked in. Somehow they forgot to give is a room, but eventually they came through with Club rooms, although we did not have lounge access. No problem as we did not have enough time in the room, anyhow.

We met up with the majority of the group in the lobby and boarded our bus (number 3) to drive the Petach Tikvah. When we got there, we entered an auditorium in the Josephdal-Dodi community. This is a community which has been assisted by the Houston Jewish Federation for many years. They were extremely welcoming. There was young girls handing out flowers to us, the guests, and saying "Welcome to Israel." Very sweet.

There were a few short speeches before we met up with our host family for the evening. We walked to their house about ten minutes away. This turned out to be a totally unexpected joy. The family of Yuval, Havatzelet and four of their five children were an absolute delight. Yuval spoke good English and we made do with the others. The conversation was fascinating, discussing many aspects of their lives in Israel. The food was absolutely amazing. We had at least ten courses of fish, meat and chicken with many salads. There was delicious Yemeni soup, deserts, home made wine, drinks, fragrant tea, nuts and other tasty dishes.

The evening flew past. We were sad to eventually have to say goodbye, until we hopefully see them again one day soon.

We returned on the bus, before getting ready for bed. Tomorrow is an early 06h30 wake-up for the busy day ahead!