Impressions of the Holy Land from a first-timer to Israel.

It was surreal when I first stepped off the plane in Israel. I’d been anticipating the trip for months, since I first learned last year that leadership of the Detroit Jewish News Foundation would send me and my colleague Mike Smith, the Foundation’s archivist, to Israel as a part of the Motor City Mission. I couldn’t believe it was finally happening.

Many of the people I’ve worked with and met during the dozen years I’ve been editing the paper have told me about their visits to Israel. It will be life-changing, they said. I knew they were right. All travel is life-changing — new horizons never-before-seen, windows to new vistas, new food, new people, new ways of doing things. “It will transform you,” they said. “Bring Kleenex. Everyone who goes to Israel ends up crying.”

I nodded politely. I’m not a super-emotional person and being neither Jewish nor a practicing Christian (but with a deep understanding, love and respect for both religions), I wasn’t expecting a “spiritual” transformation, nor did I expect anything to move me to tears.

I was wrong.

Day 1: Hava Nagila!

Due to the late arrival of the flight, our mission trip organizers gave us a generous 10 minutes to freshen up at the David Intercontinental Hotel after the long trip before we headed to our first adventure — dinner and entertainment at “Floor 49” atop the Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv.

Israeli “dignitaries” Theodore Herzl, David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan were in full costume and schmoozing with the crowd, many who looked dazed and tired but happy to be in Israel at long last.

I started to get to know my fellow mission-goers, our Israeli guides and security personnel (one of whom would become a good friend during the trip). I had a friendly face at the table, Yiftah Leket, Detroit’s shaliach (Israeli emissary).

In the meantime, waiters kept bringing food to the table — five, six courses, maybe more. I lost count — every dish was more delicious than the last. Then the Ash Layla Band started playing and people began to dance. I ventured out to the floor and saw some people I knew. I didn’t really know the steps, but they were easy enough to follow. The band played “Hava Nagila” and as we moved in a circle, I could see nothing but smiling faces and felt an electric energy pulsating through the room. That was spiritual moment No. 1 for me, a highlight of the entire trip. I was a part of this circle, and it felt like a family celebration.

Day 2: Exploring Tel Aviv

After I collapsed in bed the night before, my phone alarm rang all too early for an Israeli breakfast in the hotel before we embarked on a walking tour of Tel Aviv. I did not know what an “Israeli breakfast” was until I arrived in the dining room. Friends, it was the biggest buffet I had ever seen: fruits, vegetables, salads, breads, pastries, cheese, eggs and smoked fish — endless choices of each, including shakshuka, which I had never had before. (Israelis who come to America must be sorely disappointed when they find out what an American continental breakfast is.)

After breakfast, we met our first guest speaker, Ambassador Mark Regev, former Israeli ambassador in London and chair of the Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy and Foreign Relations at Reichman University. He spoke about the challenges currently facing Israel.

We had arrived in the country during a historic moment — when much of the country was demonstrating against proposed judicial reforms by the Netanyahu government. Regev, a masterful diplomat, explained the controversy without taking sides, and did his best to answer our groups’ many questions.

The weather was gray, drab and rainy when we got off the bus in Tel Aviv to follow our guide, Zalman Spivak, who was determined to transmit as much information as possible about the founding of this city by the sea since April 11, 1909, the date 66 Jewish families gathered on a desolate sand dune to parcel out the land by lottery using seashells.

The highlight of the tour was the mural by Nahum Guttman depicting the early history of Tel Aviv in the foyer of the Shalom Tower, what was the site of the first high school known as Gymnasia Herzliya. The mural tells the history of Tel Aviv in four colorful mosaic panels. From its founding on a barren sand dune to one of the high-tech capitals of the world, the story of Tel Aviv is a fascinating one.

A planned stroll through the Carmel Market was derailed by the rain and instead the bus took us to the Sarona Market, an indoor food market with endless choices. After lunch, our bus set out for the JAFI Bet Brodetsky Young Adult Absorption Center, where we met two young olim who had recently arrived in Israel, one from Ukraine and one from Iran. I admired their bravery and determination in setting out to build new lives in Israel.

It was a busy day and, still feeling the effects of jet lag, Mike and I had dinner in the hotel and turned in early.

Day 3: An Archaeological Adventure

The day began at ANU — the Renewed Museum of the Jewish People, where we enjoyed a VIP tour in small groups. Zalman was a fountain of information and took us through the story of the Jewish people through generations up to the present time. During our two hours, he covered a lot, but probably only about 20 percent of the exhibits that were available. You would need a whole day to experience everything there, but we got ample flavor of all the museum had to offer.

After the museum, we were off on an archaeological adventure (the track Mike and I chose to follow — other tracks included entrepreneurship and the great outdoors). First stop was Kibbutz Hannaton in our Partnership2Gether region in the Central Galilee (which, come to find out, is a term made up by us in Detroit. Ask an Israeli about the “Central Galilee” and they’ll look at you blankly.)

The kibbutz is in the Jezreel Valley, home to fertile farmland, rolling hills and valleys, and some of the prettiest views I’ve ever seen. After lunch, we got to see the Roman-era mikvah found during highway construction, which was relocated to the kibbutz, near the community’s existing mikvah (which we also got to see).

Seeing the mikvah, around 1,500 years old, was an amazing experience.

We left Kibbutz Hannaton for Tsippori, once the capital of the Galilee, the seat of the Sanhedrin and the place where the Mishnah was completed. We viewed its magnificent mosaics, including “the Mona Lisa of the Galilee,” part of a Roman villa containing a mosaic floor describing scenes from the life of Dionysus, god of wine in Greek mythology. We also saw the synagogue, which dated to the end of the Byzantine period and whose mosaic floor was divided into four parts: the sacrifice of Isaac, the signs of the Zodiac, a description of the Tabernacle in the desert and the Ark of the Covenant in the Jerusalem Temple.

While I was listening to Zalman explain the meaning of the art depicted in the mosaic, my mind’s eye was back in the 1400s, imagining the thousands of feet belonging to the generations who had come here to pray. I could almost hear their footsteps. Spiritual moment No. 2.

The evening ended with a community dinner put on by our Partnership2Gether partners in Israel at Kibbutz Sarid, complete with food and entertainment, including an Israeli dance troupe. It was a magical evening.

Day 4: Northern Israel

We left our hotel in Nazareth the next morning to explore Israel’s north. We met with Col. Ilan Lavi near the border with Lebanon. During his talk, he pointed to the houses across the border that held weapons aimed at Israel, according to the IDF. When someone asked why Israel doesn’t display more “power” and simply destroy the enemy, Lavi said he needs “to look in the mirror at night and know that I have done everything I can to protect innocent lives ‘over there.’” He added, “In a place where people do not act civilized, we must strive to be human.” Lavi introduced his son, who was about to begin his service as well. The colonel did express concerns about “maintaining Israel’s democracy” in light of the judicial reform controversy consuming the nation.

After the sobering security assessment, all the mission-goers headed to Moshav Yesud HaMa’ala, where we had lunch and enjoyed an ATV ride up the mountain in the Golan Heights. The scenery was beautiful and green; cows were meandering the countryside. Then I saw a sign warning of land mines, a sobering reminder of why this territory is so strategically important to Israel and how, not that long ago, blood was spilled to secure its possession. At the top of the mountain, we could see how close we were to Syria.

Next came a trip to the beautiful city of Safed, the capital of Jewish mysticism, where we met with local kabbalist artist, Metro Detroit native Avraham Loewenthal, who paints the sounds of the shofar. He taught us some of the basic principles of Kabbalah. Then, on the steps of an old school in this ancient city, Cantor Neil Michaels of Temple Israel, with his guitar and beautiful voice, played an impromptu concert before it was back to the bus for the trip to the hotel. I wish I’d had more time to explore this beautiful city.

Later that night, we had dinner with our Israeli partners at the hotel. I met an Israeli couple whose son will be one of the Shinshinim in Detroit next summer. We talked about the everyday struggles of life, the same in Israel as anywhere else, affording childcare, wanting the best education for your children,t worries what politicians might do to upend your country … We have so much in common with one another.

Day 5: My Spiritual Transformation

We leave Nazareth for Jerusalem. Our first stop is Mt. Herzl, where we gathered for a mission ceremony at the newly opened National Museum for Fallen Soldiers. Each person who lost their life in service to Israel is memorialized on a brick and remembered every year on their yahrzeit. The museum’s design is breathtaking and sobering, and the visitor is reminded of the high price the nation must pay to ensure its survival. We joined in singing “Hallelujah,” and the voices rose through the tower to God above. Spiritual moment No. 3.

Everyone was given free time in the hotel that afternoon to prepare for Shabbat, before we left for a 4 p.m. Kabbalat Shabbat by the mission clergy (Rabbi Mark Miller from Temple Beth El, Rabbi Mike Moskovitz from Temple Shir Shalom, Rabbi Paul Yedwab and Cantor Neil Michaels from Temple Israel, Rabbi Aaron Bergman from Adat Shalom and Rabbi Simcha Tolwin from Aish).

We walked along the walls of the Old City, to the Davidson Center and Hermelin Steps at the Southern Wall Excavations. It was amazing to realize that two men from Detroit had such a profound impact on the Old City, and how thousands of visitors to Israel benefit from their philanthropy this very day.

We sat on those holy steps, gazing at the Mount of Olives, squinting through the evening sun as the clergy led us all in song. As I sat there, surrounded by new friends, amidst voices lifted in songs that I couldn’t understand but could feel, I had my transformational moment. Spiritual Moment No. 4 left me a different woman.

I was overcome with joy and a feeling of camaraderie and something I can’t even name — maybe the touch of God’s finger on our little group — and the tears came unbidden. Nothing I could do to stop them. I was still wiping them away when we each got to light a Shabbat candle before going to the Western Wall to add our prayers to the countless others who came to pray and ask for God’s grace in their lives. I added my slip of paper to the Wall, but the emotion I felt didn’t come close to what I experienced on the Hermelin Steps.

Day 6: Shabbat in Jerusalem

Shabbat in Jerusalem is a peaceful time. I opted for a guided walking tour of the Old City (the slow-walker group), which highlighted the city as the center of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I fell in love with the Old City and its narrow streets and curves, never knowing what delightful things I would see around the next turn. A glimpse of a 2,000-year-old road? An observant Jewish family making their way through the city? A group of old nuns holding rosary beads? A colorful shop selling fabrics or jewelry?

Although the Jewish Quarter was largely silent during Shabbat, there was plenty of activity and shopping to be had in the Christian Quarter, as well as a tour of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Later that day, a Havdalah ceremony was held in the hotel lobby, the rain putting the kibosh on the planned trip to the Jerusalem Windmill Plaza. That evening, it stopped raining long enough for us to explore the old Train Station, now an outdoor mall/entertainment/restaurant area.

Day 7: Yad Vashem

Today we went to Yad Vashem, where we had a guided tour of the museum. So many horrific stories of the Nazi’s inhumanity, so many stories of Jewish suffering and death.

I walked out of the museum filled with emotion — horror, sorrow, regret, disbelief that human beings could be so cruel and awe that Jews endured so much terror and pain …

We ended the visit with a mission-wide memorial service in the Hall of Remembrance. As Rabbi Bergman laid a wreath on the grave in this cavernous building, his grief became too much to bear, and he broke down in tears. Seeing his grief made my own grief bubble up and spill out as well, and again the tears came unbidden. Spiritual moment No. 5 for me.

When I remember my visit to Yad Vashem, the memory that stands out will be that of Rabbi Bergman, whose honesty and vulnerability allowed me to process my own feelings of all I saw and learned that morning.

That afternoon, our group, which was set to learn about the “people of Israel — understanding the challenges of Jerusalem’s religious, secular and Jewish and Arab populations” visited the Hand in Hand Center for Jewish-Arab Education, a school in Jerusalem that teaches in both Hebrew and Arabic for a diverse student body. We got to meet the school administrators and three students: two Arab Muslim students and one Arab Christian student.

They described to us how they were able to observe Yom HaZikaron, Yom HaAtzmaut and the “Nakba” (Palestinian Catastrophe) at the same time without tearing themselves apart, which gives me hope for a future where peace is possible for all people living in Israel.

Our guide showed us the old Green Line (the armistice line of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war — now partly a light-rail line) and pointed out the different neighborhoods that were Arab, Haredi or secular. We ended the day at Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center, where we climbed to the roof and watched the sun set on a spectacular view of the Old City.

The evening was spent enjoying drumming and dancing and dinner. A fitting end to my trip to Israel. I had to leave the mission early the next day to head for home, so I missed the final day of the mission, which was to end at a farewell dinner at an IDF base.

The Flight Home

I had lots of time to think on the way home. Yes, I learned a lot about Israel: its history, geography and politics, its challenges and triumphs. In a mere 75 years — less than a lifetime — it transformed itself from its barren desert roots to a thriving, high-tech nation. However, I realized what I loved most about this trip were the people I shared it with.

I met so many wonderful people (Bus No. 3 — Sound off!). There was so much laughter shared, like when someone mistook their hotel room safe for a microwave oven or got “locked” in a handicapped restroom … Discussing what we had learned the day before with Jeannie and Joel every day at breakfast … Rabbi Moskowitz’s and Rabbi Miller’s jokes on the bus … the camaraderie and kinship we felt as one group from Detroit. That’s what makes a mission trip special, I learned. It’s sharing a once-in-a-lifetime experience with others who start out as strangers and quickly become like family.

Thank you to the folks at Federation for planning such an amazing trip. Thank you to the DJN Foundation for making it possible for me to go. And thanks for the advice of those who went before me. I’m glad I brought Kleenex.

Mike’s Memories

The Motor City Mission to Israel was nothing short of fantastic. Seeing the sites and meeting the people of Israel was, as advertised, a life-changing experience.

Beyond experiencing the culture and land of Israel, the mission was also an opportunity to for us to connect with Jewish Detroiters on the tour. And, the first connection was made at Metropolitan Airport.

As we waited for our connecting flight to JFK airport in New York, unexpectedly, we waited with woman-about-town and president of the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan, Jeannie Weiner. This was a great beginning as Jeannie gave us first-timers useful tips about traveling in Israel. Our paths continued to cross throughout the mission.

The stories of the people on the mission were as meaningful as the sights and sounds of Israel. We landed in Israel and were immediately met by one of our guides and whisked-off to the opening meeting, or rather, party. After a copious amount of food, and a bit of drink and music, the evening ended around 11 p.m. I was on the last bus to the hotel and sat near Judy (Loewenstein) Roberts and Nancy (Osten) Fortier. There, I witnessed a pretty neat event. Across the aisle was Ruthie (Simko) Moss, their childhood friend. They hadn’t seen each other in over 50 years!

I must admit, I was a bit fearful that several of our side trips to visit particular Jewish NGO programs might be a bit boring. I’m happy to report that I was completely, totally wrong. For instance, on our first full day in Israel, after walking around Tel Aviv, as a (now, lifelong) member of Bus No. 3, we went to Jewish Agency for Israel’s Bet Brodetsky, Young Adult Absorption Center. It was a moving experience. We heard from young women from Belarus and the Ukraine, and a young man from Iran, who all recently made aliyah. The Center provided them with lodging, food and intensive Hebrew lessons in order to give them a fresh start. In fact, I donated my tzedakah to the center.

I also had a great conversation with a new friend in Mark Milberg, another Bus No. 3’er. It turned out that we both have a deep interest in Jewish Archives.

Exploring Israel

We moved to the Upper Galilee area of Israel, to visit our partnership region, and learned that, in Israel, there is no such thing as the Central Galilee area. That’s a Detroit-only designation. Regardless of nomenclature, we received a most warm welcome, a great dinner and friendship.

By the way, our primary Bus No. 3 guide was Zalman Spivak, the “Z-man.” It is an understatement to say that he was one knowledgeable person. And, he did like to talk. This was all to our benefit. It was like having a professor of Israeli history on board. We learned a lot from Zalman, who was also a good guy.

I might also mention we ate well — really well. Not that I relished the superb meals or the outstanding morning buffets with the great Israeli fruit, or the fine Israeli tomatoes and salads, or the pastries or anything like that.

At one very tasty lunch at the winery at Moshav Yesud HaMa’ala, we also met some of our favorite people on the mission. Jacob and Jonathan, and Shira and Brooke, from JARC. It was a real pleasure to meet them and see the unbridled joy of Jonathan and Brooke.

I thought one of the great moments of the mission occurred during our evening at Kibbutz Sarid. The smile on Jonathan’s face when Jacob took him to dance with the members of the kibbutz was something to remember. We all agreed that we never saw a bigger smile in our lives.

I’m still in awe of the tremendous Middle Eastern spread provided for us at the Tzidkiyahu Restaurant in Jerusalem. This was, perhaps, the best meal I’ve ever had … Ever. This was a bona fide feast by any standards. I speak for Bus No. 3 when I say we left there stuffed to the gills, but happy and content.

I found the excursion to the Golan and Israel’s border with Lebanon most interesting. It was sobering to be so close to a potential area of conflict, knowing that we were being watched by hostile forces from Hezbollah and/or Iran. But, after listening to Col. Ilan Lavi, and meeting his son who was about to enter the IDF, we felt secure.

This leads to my most moving moment. As we moved to Jerusalem, our first stop was Mt. Herzl and the new Soldiers Memorial. It is a spectacular work of architecture, but most moving was the wall of bricks, each with the name of a fallen soldier.

I noticed that one of our superb guides, Itzik Yzanai, was staring at the wall and having an emotional moment. He was looking at bricks with names and the date of Feb. 4, 1997. Itzik lost many comrades that day when two IAF helicopters crashed killing all 73 soldiers on board. Having served in the Marines, I understood the comradery he felt in the IDF and the deep loss.

Celebrating Shabbat

This was a Shabbat to remember. As sundown approached, our rabbis sang to us as we sat on the Hemerlin Steps, with a panoramic view of Jerusalem behind them. We then moved to the Wall and saw the Davidson Center. In short, in the midst of the Holy City, one sees Detroit connections.

Finally, the walking tour of the Old City was special. The feeling one has while walking on the same path as Jews, Christians and Muslims from thousands of years ago cannot be described.

My trip ended a bit like it began, with a new friend. When I arrived at Ben-Gurion for the flight home, I traveled with Bus No. 3 Rabbi Mike Moskowitz. We lucked out and went through security and bag check in about 15 minutes (Sorry to mention this because I know the previous day it took 4-5 hours to clear security for some Mission folks). This meant Rabbi Mike and I had a leisurely coffee before our flight, and some really great conversation.

BTW: Debbie and Robert Simon. You asked me if the JN was going to write about the trip. Well, here it is! It was good traveling with you.

I will always be grateful to the leaders of the DJN Foundation who sent Jackie and me to the fantastic land of Israel.