My Israeli Journey

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully you leave something good behind.” Anthony Bourdain

I recently returned from Israel with my best friend. We made lasting memories. We ascended the ancient fortress of Masada and floated in the Dead Sea (the temperature was 106 degrees that day!). We explored the Israel Museum and walked through unique neighborhoods in Jerusalem. We explored thousands of years of history on our journey from the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City to a river cruise on the shores of the Galilee to beautiful beaches and vibrancy of Tel Aviv. We visited a local kibbutz and an army base on the Gaza Strip. It was awesome!

However, the highlights for me were meeting the experts chosen by Road Scholar who each offered his or her unique perspective on issues faced by Israelis both today, in the past and in the future.

We had a beautiful lunch on the patio of an Israeli woman who lived in Jerusalem with her husband, a rabbi and 10 children. She prepared a feast for us with delicious quiches, humus, Home made breads and Israeli salads. She explained that she lived among the Arabs, but that the Israeli children and Arab children attend separate schools and do not play together. Of course, we were upset by this segregation, but this is how each group prefers. The schools teach in Hebrew and Arabic respectively and the children learn about their own culture. At the university level, they come together.

In addition, we met with an Ethiopian Jewish immigrant who described her harrowing journey on foot from Ethiopia to Sudan with her family. Many of her group died en route due to lack of food, water and illness but she and her family were lucky. They made it to Israel and made a wonderful life for themselves. Today she is a grandmother and still works with Ethiopian immigrants, fiercely proud of her country Israel and thankful for the opportunities.

Another interesting speaker was an Arab journalist, who is an Israeli citizen. He offered his rather depressing but honest viewpoint that there is little hope for a lasting peace in the region because the Palestinian leaders are unwilling to negotiate or compromise with the Israelis. 100% or no deal.

I returned home just in time for Rosh Hashanah or the Jewish New Year. Many people had told me that visiting Israel would be life changing. I came home with a renewed sense of Jewish identity and pride in being a part of the Jewish homeland.

After listening to the Rabbi’s words on this new year, I feel a desire to do my part to heal the world or at least my small corner of the world. On this holiday, we are challenged to step up and examine how we interact with the world. I am inspired to take a better look and reflect on the meaning of life. The Rabbi asked of us not only to hear the cries of the oppressed, but to do something about it. It can be as simple as bringing a meal to someone who has lost her husband or helping to feed the hungry at a soup kitchen (my next volunteer project).

The Rabbi also discussed respecting and talking to each other despite having different views. He distinguished between unity and uniformity. Unity is accepting that we may have different views, but can still communicate while uniformity is believing my view is correct and yours is wrong. Both Americans and Israelis/Arabs would do well to attempt this type of dialogue.

Anais Nin said “We travel some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.” This sums up our desire to keep learning through experiences, to discover ourselves just as much, if not more than to discover new places.

Resources

www.roadscholar.org

www.expertvagabond.com