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!

Mission Israel - Pre-mission Shabbat & Yom Rishon

Shabbat in Tel Aviv. Sleep late. Have breakfast in our suite in the Best Western Regency. We bought some cream cheese, some cereal and yogurt the night before at the AM-PM store near the hotel. The hotel suite includes basic cutlery (silverware) and crockery.

Cousin Lynette picked us up for a family dinner in her lovely apartment. Husband Amitai, brother Lesley and his wife Gali were gracious hosts. From barely knowing Lynette and not knowing the rest of the family at all, we nopw have some new close cousins in Tel Aviv. The mission is already a success and it hasn't even started yet! The food was tasty. We enjoyed the meal, the company and the afternoon to such an extent that we only left after 5pm.

We met Harold and Brigitte at our hotel on our return. they had just flown in on Lufthansa, who they said were fantastic, making sure that they made the connection in Frankfurt. Kudos to them.

We went for a walk up to Dizengoff Circle, Dizengoff Centre and then down towards Allenby street and back to our hotel. The weather was great for walking, cool but not cold. We stopped for an ice cream on the way. Yum.

This morning we started with a business meeting on one of the highest floors of the Moshe Aviv tower. We had a spectacular view of Tel Aviv.

After returning to the hotel on the bus, which was a bit of an adventure, we took a long walk to Jaffa, whcih took us forty minutes to get there. After wandering around, we took a detour through some side streets of antique stores and quaint artifact stores.

We then walked back down to the seaside and back to the hotel, walking a total of two and a half hours.

After relaxing for a while and doing e-mail, watching Tv and reading on my kindle, we met Harold and Brigitte in their hotel room. they had returned from their excursion with friends, buying grenadillas and "mon" cake which were both delicious.

We then walked the short distance to the "best" falafel place in Tel Aviv, Gabai Falafel on Borkushov Street. It turned out to be an absolute delight. The food was excellent, the staff were unbelievably friendly and fun. We spoke to fellow patrons sitting outside with us at the sidewalk tables. We will definitely return there.

We came back to the hotel. It is now 10pm. Time for an early night before we meet the rest of the mission group tomorrow afternoon.

Until tomorrow....

Mission Israel - Travel to the Holy Land

We're here, in Tel Aviv, Israel, after a long but enjoyable journey.

We left Houston at 9am on Wednesday morning. Luckily for us, brother Harold was able to give us a ride to the airport. We checked in at Terminal E with absolutely no problem. Continental upgraded all three of us!!! We had a wonderful short flight to New York La Guardia. We were served a delicious lunch on the plane.

We rented a car in New York from National. They are a pleasure to deal with. On arriving at their office, we simply walked to the Emerald row of cars, selected a vehicle of our choice and drove out. The lady at the drive through counter looked at my driving licence, gave me a toll tag and some directions. Quick and easy.

We drove to the Mahway Sheraton, about an hours drive. The Garmin GPS worked well, except for a small hiccup through the tunnels and under the overhead expressway.

The Sheraton in Mahway was ok, but a bit noisy because of the elevators, even though they were three rooms away. The room as clean and confortable.

We spent the evening with our famous cousin, Rabbi Henoch Moshe. He and his family are an absolute delight. It was a thoroughly enjoyable dinner with superb and fun company. Can't wait to do it again. We may have persuaded him to visit us in Houston for a Shabbaton.

The next morning; Thursday, we slept late in our comfortable hotel rooms. We made coffee in the rooms, after which we drove the few miles to Monsey, where we met Rabbi Henoch Moshe for brunch at the Avenue R Cafe. The food was good but very rich. Again we had a very enjoyable morning. We enjoyed ourselves so much we hardly noticed the time, having to rush thereafter to Newark airport to catch our flight to Tel Aviv.

Checking in at Newark was easy. We spent some time in the Presidents' Club lounge which was packed.

Security at the gate was very tight, as could have been expected, but bot a problem at all.

The flight to tel Aviv was terrific. Again we were upgraded to the superb Continental business/first class, equivalent to any carrier in the world. The food was good, the service was quietly efficient and friendly.

The flat beds allowed us an excellent night's sleep. The movie we watched was very good, especially on the large screen.

Getting through customs and immigration in Israel was no problem. We were met at the airport by David, a school friend whom I have not seen since at least 1977. He hasn't changed (much). It was wonderful catching up with him as we drove to our hotel a block away from the Tel Aviv beach. We hope to meet up with him and his family again while we are here.

After doing a bit of unpacking, we went for a long walk to the nearby market. It was bustling, noisy and full of different wares from handicrafts, food, clothing and a variety of other stores. We eventually walked along the beachfront towards Jaffa. We found a seaside "restaurant" where we enjoyed a light lunch. I had a local beer. Pretty good.

We walked back to our hotel for a rest before starting more energetic touring tomorrow.

Until next time....

Federation Mission Rev 0.1

So.... we are getting excited about our forthcoming trip to Israel on the Houston Federation mission. The e-mails are becoming much more numerous, detailing all aspects of the journey.

Yesterday I bough a small extension cord at the dollar store. I added a small power adapter to the male end to adapt it to Israeli (European) power outlets. This way we can plug in three devices such as my laptop, a cell phone charger and one other device. Neat!

Also, my new Kindle arrived so it will not be necessary to "schlepp" a pile of books around the world. Travel light where possible.

Having said this, we will be "schlepping" four huge medical tomes for an old friend in Israel; saving him a great deal. This is a pleasure, after all a friend in need is a friend in deed. I haven't seen this friend since 1977, so I am really looking forward to chatting with him and his family.

My mom arrived in Houston yesterday after an extended stay in Australia. She has a week to prepare for our much anticipated journey.

This is all very exciting, as said earlier.

Robert Louis Stevenson once said that 90% of the fun is in the anticipation and not the journey itself.