Israel 2015-- Northern Exposure Edition

5/7/15

            Before taking y’all through our first full day in Israel I want to take a moment to share some thoughts about this blog—why I write it and what to expect. So here it goes…

            This blog is intended for multiple audiences. First, it’s for the parents of the kids on this trip. Y’all have made an extraordinary investment and given your kids an incredible gift. The thing is, since you’re not here with us, you don’t get to witness the joyous and beautiful way that your kids are receiving the gift.  They are so deeply appreciative. As you’ve given such an extraordinary gift to your children, this blog is meant to be a gift to you—a way for you to accompany us on this journey.

            Second, this blog is written for the grandparents of the kids on this trip. Why? Because grandparents are awesome and I know that many have enjoyed reading this blog over the years. 

            Third, this blog is written for the kids themselves. Though they’re soaking it all in and immersing themselves in all that Israel has to offer, there are aspects of this experience that they won’t grasp in the moment. There are nuances they’ll forget, meanings that will escape them. My hope is that at some future point they’ll look back at this blog and have a deeper appreciation for what actually happened to them and because of them during this journey.

            The goal of this blog isn’t to chronicle every pit stop along the way. Rather the goal is to get at the meaning(s) of what we’re doing here. It’s meant to reveal the thoughts, feelings, and intentions behind our journey. At its best it can serve not only as a chronicle but also as a spiritual journal of our time in Israel. It’s all about meaning.

            Along the way you’ll notice that a handful of kids will be quoted or mentioned in stories. That’ll happen if and when I catch a kid doing or saying something that speaks to the broader whole. Please don’t be disappointed if your own child isn’t mentioned by name. I promise you that they’re here with us and that our trip wouldn’t be the same without them. My honest feeling is that anything that you find meaningful in this blog is made meaningful because it reflects the communal experience of every kid and chaperone that’s here. Yours included, for sure. Today a group of boys including Jeffrey R. and Matthew W. observed that our trip so far has included things that we haven’t done in the past—a new hotel and the Carmel nature reserve to be exact. I pointed out that about 80% of our itinerary is basically the same from year to year and then together we agreed that each trip is 100% unique. 100% unique not because of the itinerary but because of the participants.  

            We woke up to a beautiful morning in the Carmel Mountains. Room by room the kids made their way down to breakfast. Some opted for the American style offerings and others went straight to the sliced peppers, vegetable salads, and myriad cheeses that are typical Israeli fare.  From breakfast we made our way to the Nili School so that we might finally (in the light of day) meet our Israeli pen pals in person.

            Today is technically a “day off” for Israeli students. So the kids that greeted us at Nili did so purely from a desire to connect with our kids. And they all showed up. In fact, we learned that our visit to Nili last year was widely recognized as the highlight of their year.

Knowing that the art of chaperoning sometimes means simply getting out of the way, we broke the kids into groups, gave them a simple task, and set them lose on Nili’s spacious campus. Tentative introductions gave way to laughs and smiles as the kids warmed up to each other on their own terms. After an hour or so we gathered, sang “Kol Yisrael” (The Davis Academy’s international hit song) and headed off to the pedestrian boulevard at the center of Zichron Ya’akov. Davis and Nili kids quickly stormed the gelateria and continued to forge new friendships. There was genuine sadness as we parted ways but lots of contact information was exchanged. You’ve got to know yourself before you can really get to know another person, especially a person from a different country and culture. We’ve set our kids up for much future success in this area.

            We ate lunch in a Druze village called Usifiyah. Perched atop one of the highest peaks in the Carmel, Usifiyah provided us a chance to see a different face of Israel. Thousands of Druze men and women live in Israel. They are among the only non-Jews that serve in the IDF. They do so because Israel has offered them the chance to live full and meaningful lives in the Middle East’s only democratic country. Interestingly, Druze men serve in many armies in the Middle East including in Lebanon and Syria. This means that there are times when Druze fight against fellow Druze because of their National loyalties. We also learned that the religious ideas and practices of the Druze are secret and known only to those male Druze, that at age 15, elect to pursue the religious path. Our host family today was secular and therefore could not speak firsthand about Druze religious practice. But boy did they know about Druze hospitality. Our kids and chaperones happily devoured the flavored pita, authentic hummus, and other delicacies that crowded the large serving platters. It’s been several years since we last visited a Druze village. Based on our kids’ genuine interest in Druze culture, history, and food, it was a good decision to do so today.

            After lunch we visited a nature sanctuary in the Carmel that is dedicated to helping revive various native animal species that were previously on the verge of extinction. Just as Israel is one of the only countries to have more trees now than it did 100 years ago, Israel is one of the few countries that has demonstrated success in this sort of undertaking. Part of what makes Israeli conservation efforts so compelling, authentic, and successful is the fact that they are firmly grounded in Jewish values. The kids were able to sense that today in the Carmel. It’s our hope that many of the extraordinary feats that they accomplish in their lives will also have their roots in the values that we have strived so hard to instill in them.

            From the Carmel we headed to Haifa to visit the holiest site of the Bahai faith—the Shrine of the Bab and Bahai Garden. On our way there we passed a muslim wedding ceremony. How fitting that our first holy site in Israel belongs to the Bahai with their vision of a world free of prejudice and characterized by the unity of all humanity. How fitting that the first simcha we observed was an Arab wedding. From the Bahai Garden we walked to our first Pizur dinner in a trendy part of Haifa. The kids were incredibly responsible and many enjoyed their first falafel.  Our final activity of the day was a visit to Atlit.

            Those of us that know and love Morah Orna (for to know Morah Orna is to love her) should know that today was a deeply personal day for her. Her father, of blessed memory, Tzvi Neuman, survived the Holocaust and came to Israel only to be received by the British as an illegal immigrant. He spent time in the Atlit’s famous detention center before being sent to the Greek island of Cypress and eventually being released to start his life anew in Northern Israel. For Morah Orna, and for the rest of us by extension, Atlit is more than just a collection of historical buildings and facts. It is a story. It is our story. Morah Orna’s father is buried in Zichron Ya’akov. While our kids enjoyed gelato she took a quiet moment to visit his grave. The word “Yisrael” means to wrestle. Jews wrestle with God, with life, with love, with loss, with history, with the present, and with the future. We also transition incredibly quickly from endings to beginnings and back again, from personal grief to communal joy and back again, and from communal sadness to personal joy. And back again.

            All are exhausted and all are resting now. If you have a moment, look back at the pictures we posted on Twitter and let this blog post serve as an annotated caption to what you see there. When you look at your children see if you can detect an emerging awareness in their eyes, their faces, and in the body language. Hopefully that awareness is an awareness of how truly blessed they are to be here and to be here together, having this communal experience that each will translate and incorporate into his or her own personal story.