Greetings from the Holy Land, the Western Wall, circa November 2024
Happy Holidays to one and all! I hope you have completed all of your gift shopping by now…or not. I’m keeping “it” — the holiday shopping frenzy — simple this year. After a big trip to Israel in November, my discretionary funds are a bit depleted. Plus, when you delve into a deeply spiritual place such as Israel, “stuff” has less meaning.
I don’t know about you, but this was the year when many of my “best laid plans of mice and men” fell through, and yet many unexpected turn of events came into play. The trip to Israel, for instance. It wasn’t on my radar until my 21 year old daughter, Betsy, said in April, “Mom, remember that mother-daughter trip to Israel we’ve always talked about…let’s do it!” Mind you, I had thought about it over the years, but it was her push that made it happen. It would be the first visit for both of us. Now it’s been over a month since our epic journey, so I’m a little late to write about it…but with the holidays and spirituality all around us, now seems as good as time as any.
As you can guess, many (if not most) people advised us not to go. Even the Tour Operator at AAA looked at me like I was planning an all inclusive excursion to Mars when I told her my plans. She advised me to wait until next year, because all of their 2024 trips had been cancelled due to the war. This Tour Operator doesn’t know my daughter, however, who is, and always will be, undeterred by fear and conventionality. Doing our due diligence, we checked the United States Travel Advisories and they said to “reconsider” travel to Israel. They didn’t say we couldn’t go…
Realizing that there might not ever be the perfect time to visit the Middle East, we started to research our options, since the traditional group tours were limited. Then, somehow, I stumbled upon Gal Klil. I guess my too-much-time-on-Instagram finally paid off — I looked at her website @gal.israel.tours and related to her sensibility and personality. I reached out to her with our tentative dates and she got right back to me. The rest is history!
Now you may ask, why go at all? Or specifically, why go now? I think the answer for us was we needed to go to heal a part of our hearts that have been broken after October 7. Seeing the hatred for Israel and the Jewish people rise to 1930s Germany proportions was emotionally devastating for most Jews, myself and my daughter included. I won’t go into the politics here, but if you are at all aware of what has been happening on college campuses, on the streets of Los Angeles (where I was raised and live), New York, Montreal, Australia, the UK…in too many places to name, you will have a semblance of an idea of how Jews have felt betrayed by our “progressive” society. Practically speaking, too, I wanted to go there for myself to legitimately see what all the fuss was about.
Betsy and I bought a few travel books on Israel to get a lay of the land. We wanted spiritual and ancient combined with exotic foods and unique jewelry (okay, okay, so some material “stuff” does matter after all). As it was our first time, we wanted to see Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Masada and the Dead Sea for sure. There is a town up north, Tzfat (also known as Safed) that my son, who had been to Israel over ten years ago, had recommended as being particularly artsy and beautiful. Unfortunately, because of the war, visiting the northern area of Israel, including Haifa, was not doable. (This was prior to the cease-fire and rockets were steadily coming in to that part of Israel from Lebanon.)
One thing I learned about this trip: flexibility was key. Having plans are great…but sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Gal was gracious and made allowances for the unpredictable nature of the situation: we could cancel at any time if need be. Admittedly, following the daily events in Israel was a bit harrowing at times with constant threats from Iran, drones from Yemen and the already ever present missile strikes from Lebanon. Plus, we planned to go during the first week of November — during the heated (!) U.S. Presidential election. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was anxious.
Most, but not all, of my Jewish friends said I should go to support Israel in its time of need. Without tourism, the economy has taken a big hit. Fellow Jews were either of the “Yes! You should go…you’ll feel safer there than you do here in the U.S.” (What does that tell you about the state of Antisemitism in the USA?) Other people said we should wait it out until it was safer.
Meanwhile, Gal created our itinerary, we booked our El Al plane tickets (a friend in Israel said, “El Al is the only one to fly no matter what…” which was reassuring and terrifying all at once) and made our hotel reservations. All of the other airlines did cancel their flights into Tel Aviv, so it was a good thing we booked on El Al. I started following accounts that showed the everyday in Israel: people enjoying restaurants, walking along the beach, going to interesting places…people moving forward despite the threats. Seeing some normalcy helped ease my mind.
And then…we made it! And I’m happy to say it was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life.
Right away, we felt an indescribable joy: being in Israel was like going to a party of strangers, and yet everyone has something intrinsically in common and you know they’ve got your back. The purest manifestation of kinship. Seeing the Israeli flag with the Star of David (aka Magen David) everywhere filled our souls. Here we didn’t have to hide our identity, we belonged to a tribe. Mind you, on every floor at each of our hotels there were “Safe Rooms” just in case of an attack. Gal instructed us right from the beginning, too, on what to do in case of an emergency. We were as prepared as we could be; honestly, we were ready for anything.
We spent our first day touring Tel Aviv — Gal started us off with the beautiful and ancient Jaffa Port. We met some jewelers from Yemen where they served us dates and spicy tea. Then we explored the vibrant streets with modern city skyscrapers, markets and urban cafes at the heart of the city. The next day, we met up with my friend Moran, whom I began corresponding with after October 7. She kindly took us on a walking adventure and we ended up a wonderful barbeque restaurant.
On our third day, Gal took us to the Roman ruins of Caesarea (where we did encounter our one and only missile experience, had to run for cover, and then witnessed the Iron Dome in action), and then onto Jerusalem.
(Also, my most favorite photograph I’ve ever taken.)
Ein Gedi. A nature reserve, archeological site and refreshing springs and waterfalls.
Don’t be claustrophobic walking through these three thousand year old narrow tunnels.
According to legend, Virgin Mary stopped here to drink while visiting John the Baptist’s parents.
I have about another 2,000 photos…but I hope these few give you a superficial gist of the sights, smells, tastes and sounds of what we experienced over the course of ten days. There was so much to take in — the ancient history, epic biblical significance, spirituality, delicious food, friendly people and the beauty of this tiny country the size of New Jersey. Throughout our trip, people were thankful and appreciative that we were there. Their hospitality was unprecedented. There was an undeniable seriousness, too…especially when you know that at any moment something could happen and you have to run for cover. (They even have an app to warn of sirens and alarms.) This serious feeling definitely influenced my daughter, who saw how young people (IDF soldiers her age were everywhere) are defending not only their country, but all Jews. It was a powerful lesson of resiliency, strength, courage and sacrifice.
Visiting foreign countries will paradoxically expand your consciousness by making you realize how miniscule you are in comparison to the rest of the world. For me, first and foremost, I paid homage and respect to my ancestral homeland. It was also eye opening to see how here in the United States we take so much for granted. When was the last time you had to run for cover because of a missile overhead?
My sincerest holiday wish for my family, friends and readers is to have a happy and healthy season. Perhaps next year the hostages will be returned and the war will end. As Antisemitism is on the rise globally, I also pray that people will miraculously be able to face their irrational prejudices, change their mindset and we will have a kinder, gentler planet.
A girl can only hope and pray at the Western Wall.
Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
With Love and Best Wishes for you and yours!
Cheryl
Acknowledgements: My deepest gratitude again to Gal Klil @gal.israel.tours for making this trip happen! She listened to what we wanted and then created the perfect itinerary to meet our needs. Also, to my dear friend, Moran, who took off a day from work to show us around Tel Aviv and make reservations at Ha’achim. Another shout out to the hilarious writer and influencer Lee Kern, who moved to Israel from England (we call it making Aliyah) and took time to meet with Betsy and me for a few hours in Tel Aviv to talk about life!
To both my wonderful husband, Kevin, and son, Ernie, for their complete encouragement and support even though they were (very) worried about us…and last but not least, to my beautiful and brave daughter, Betsy, who took her Jewish mother on the trip of a lifetime.
Am Yisrael Chai!
Cheryl Thatt-Burbank 