Part One of a Three-Week Odyssey 

It’s been over six years since I’ve been to Israel. Let’s just say, I was way overdue. My connections there are deep and wide.  Although I have a small number of actual relatives who made Aliyah in the 1970s, my network consists of dozens of Israeli friends cultivated over many years.  It’s one thing to stay in touch virtually and by phone, but nothing can replace face-to-face contact.  Israel for me is all about the people. Needless to say, since the cataclysmic events of October 7, 2023, I had been yearning to return to my second home.  Covid had been an obstacle for a few years, and my late mother’s declining health added to the barriers in my path.  As fortune would have it, this past year I learned of a groundbreaking travel mission to Israel sponsored by the Dror Israel movement that sounded like an opportunity too good to pass up.  (More on that in a later installment).

The timing of my trip could not have been more opportune.  Although I had originally planned to travel to Israel in the midst of the ongoing war in Gaza, I actually arrived one week after October 13, the date on which the twenty living hostages were released by Hamas. Of course, the entire country was euphoric on that day, as was I watching in real time at home at 3:00 a.m. What would the mood of the country be following this unexpected ceasefire and hostage release?  Would people be optimistic about the future, or would anger, a sense of betrayal, fear and the ongoing impact of post-traumatic stress be the prevailing sentiment?  And just how resilient were Israelis, in spite of it all.  Rather than answer those questions directly, I decided to share a series of vignettes from my recent experience in Israel.  In part I’m writing this piece to try to answer those questions.  Honestly, I’m still not sure I can. On the surface, there are many aspects of Israeli society and daily life that feel very familiar and “normal.”  Then again, beneath the surface this is not necessarily the case.  Because I have a lot to share, I’ll do so in three-part series of articles, of which this is Part One.

How JD Vance Interfered with My Plans:

Upon my arrival to Ben Gurion airport, I took great comfort in the knowledge that my young friend Shira would pick me up and deliver me to my first destination in Hod Hasharon, a city located northeast of Tel Aviv.  However, global politics got in the way.  Shira texted me to say that all access to the airport was blocked........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)