A Ninth-Grader Comes Home - To Israel
Daniela Kisel
Mexico
Traveling to Israel does not just mean traveling to a foreign country. For Jewish people, when we travel to Israel, everything changes, not just the time zones.
As soon as you get off the plane and hear and read everything in Hebrew, you know you’ve come home.
Have you heard the phrase “less is more?” For Israel this phrase is significant. Israel is relatively small, but powerful. For example, Israel is number one in developing technology. Every single city in this small territory has a story to tell.
Jerusalem, the “City Of Gold,” is a place full of history. Just take a look at the Kotel. Though it may seem to be just a wall, it is so much more than that: it is a place that makes us feel as if we are a huge step closer to G-d—it gives us hope. There are also the ruins of the ancient city and the tombs of the historical figures who helped build the city.
Everyone moves in perfect synchrony.
Tel Aviv attracts so many tourists, since it's right on the coast, and has the most amazing beaches. One of the most beautiful things that you can experience there is the Arcadot, where a person plays music and everyone dances the same rikud. Thinking about the Arcadot brings to mind the idiom, “Lev ba lev— “Heart to heart”,Everyone moves in perfect synchrony.
Haifa, with its famous and beautiful gardens, is known for the fact that in this city, Muslims, Christians and Jews coexist happily with almost no conflict.
Eilat is a pretty modern city with lots to offer. It is surrounded by multiple beaches where you can practice snorkelling or scuba diving, since it is full of aquatic life. Eilat demonstrates how Israel has progressed technologically, biologically and socially, since it has become so powerful and modern in such a short time.
I feel so grateful that in a few days, when I travel to Israel, I'll get to experience all of this, and I'm also so honored to be part of the first generation of ninth-graders to participate in this amazing trip since the start of the pandemic.
A Return to our Spiritual Homeland
Josh Nyman
United Kingdom
Following the removal of COVID travel restrictions, I’m really excited to return to Israel this summer with my wife and kids for our first trip in three years. We are all so looking forward to reuniting with family in Tel Aviv, Netanya and Herzliya.
I’ve booked a couple of days of fun away in Ein Gedi, and look forward to celebrating the bar mitzvah of our friend’s son with events at the Kotel and then Shabbat together in Tel Aviv.
Build bridges within global Jewry and Israel.
Having been away for what feels like a very long time, I am also looking forward to seeing the new buildings, infrastructure, and kosher restaurants that will undoubtedly have popped up whilst we were away. We are hoping for a memorable and fun-filled summer holiday in the Holy Land.
Israel is always a place that feels like home, no matter how long we’ve been away. It’s where I discovered the kind of spiritual person I wanted to grow up to become in life. It’s where I hope the same will happen for my kids: it really is both my spiritual and religious homeland – and I can’t wait to get back there.
Reconnecting with the Energy of Israel
Mariza de Aizenstein
Brazil
After the madness of the pandemic, even though I am a little fearful to travel,
I am very anxious to see Israel again.
The sunset light over Tel Aviv's Mediterranean Sea is something I've been dreaming of seeing again. I miss friends, family, and the energy of the Israeli people that always inspired me whenever I visited- this constantly makes me want to return.
This time, a special drive attracts me to the city of Haifa, which, I know, is undergoing a revitalization process. Then I go to Tsfat to reconnect with the vitality of Kabbalah that I believe so much in! And of course, I want to buy some cute little things from our talented artists.
ISRAEL, wait for me! I'm already with you in spirit!
Photo Credit: Abner Palma
A Whirlwind Return to Eretz Yisrael
Vered and Michael
Germany
Israel 2022: haven’t been here for a while. A few years before Corona, the last time.
Shortly before landing, the Mediterranean Sea greets us on the right, a sea of houses on the left. Tel Aviv continues to grow,
white to the horizon. From the Hilton to Jerusalem Beach, the sand is great. Beware of motorised paragliders flying low and paddle-ball ricochets.
For dinner, pizza on the corner on Bograshov Beach-coincidentally the same place as last time. From the twelfth floor in the hotel, however, it is even quite quiet at night.
Shuk ha Carmel is crowded, yet romantic.
You have the pool to yourself if you jump in at 8 a.m., when the temperature is below 20 degrees.
Shakshuka for breakfast.
Large construction site at Rabinplatz, but still a little melancholy here. Good vibes then on Ben Gurion: Live gig with a rock band at the roadside and a spontaneous picnic under the trees. Tsunami Evacuation Route, favourite street, feels modern and cool.
Shuk ha Carmel is crowded, yet romantic among the old houses of Nachlat Benjamin. At the opera in the evening, they sing well-known English musical hits - only in Ivrith.
For dinner, fish at the Old Port, the kilometre-long wooden-planked floor at the pier shaking from the continuous disco.
Under huge olive trees on a smoothly polished marble floor, a huge chuppah.
Then to the mountains of Jerusalem, to find some more peace and quiet, and nature - as far as nature has grown back since the last forest fire. That evening, under huge olive trees on a smoothly polished marble floor, a huge chuppah, dance floor made of parquet, a few ruins and four hundred guests: Jewish wedding. Start at 8 p.m., ceremony, a stomp on the glass and fast-forward- the disco goes off. Dinner goes quickly. At ten, all the tables are empty, the old people have disappeared, and only the young people are dancing until 2 a.m., while the families are looking at photos. Fresh burgers with avocado as a midnight snack.
A bit of yoga on the flight back to Germany: three hours in the queue at Ben Gurion. After a holiday in Israel, you need a holiday!
A Love Letter to Israel
Catherine Lacrosniere
France
Israël, my Love,
I checked in my diary. It’s been nearly three years since I came to visit. This pandemic, which no one thought possible, prevented me from coming.
Three years since I heard the flight attendants announce our landing at Ben Gurion Airport as passengers cheered.
Three years since I said to the taxi driver « kama ze ole le Tel Aviv » and heard him answering « Oh, at me Serfat ! »
Ken, ani me Serfat, and I’m dying to walk your streets, up Rothschild Boulevard, to sit in Habima Square and listen to the music.
hands on the wall as if it were the first time.
I want to swim in Gordon, the best swimming-pool ever in the world, with its incredible cold and soft water.
I want to smell the odours in the Souk.
I want to be in Jerusalem, feel the unique atmosphere, go to the Kotel and put my hands on the wall as if it were
the first time.
I want to float on the Dead Sea and climb Masada’s hill. I want so many things that my stay won’t be long enough.
But more than anything, I want to see « in person » my cousins in Ramat Aviv, my friends, Serge and Patricia
in Tel Aviv.
Departure is scheduled on August 8th. One more month to go and we will be flying to you.
I can’t wait until we see each other again.
Photo credit: Eugènie Martinez
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