Humans Being- Israel 2022

 Trip Advisor: Our hotel remains lovely! More on that later. 

We boarded the busses and did the exact opposite of what one does when entering Jerusalem. When entering Jerusalem one ascends. Today we descended. We descended physical as well as temporally. We traveled back in time to 1947. To the years leading up to and including the War of Independence. 

By 1947 the writing was on the wall and both Arabs and Jews knew that the British Mandate was coming to an end, leaving a vacuum of power and a likely fight for this land. As always, Jerusalem was among the most contentious sites. In fact, Jerusalem and her 100,000 Jews were under siege. Completely cut off from the rest of the Yishuv (pre-state Jewish community), people were starving, dying of thirst, and unable to defend themselves from vicious attacks. 

The siege of Jerusalem was so devastating and effective because Jerusalem could only be accessed by a single one-lane road. Hard to believe, but true. Especially if you've ever driven from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Lining that road were dozens of Arab villages. Arab militants perched in the hills surrounding the road where they could easily target passing convoys as they attempted to break the siege. 

The men and women who drove and occupied those convoys were in fact, largely, not men and women. They were teenagers. Many of them Holocaust survivors, they daily risked their lives to break the siege. In some cases entire brigades or platoons died. The death toll was so high that in many cases platoons were forced to dig graves knowing fully well that they might the next day become their own. Can we imagine? 

We learned about all this at a brand new interactive exhibit that puts you in the shoes of these courageous human beings. The exhibit, quite moving, ends with the question: What do you believe? What do you value? Each of us had a dog tag that we were invited to place on a mounted display of the value that we felt was most important. As you might imagine, we took a moment to compare and contrast those values with our Davis Menschlichkeit values. I'm not doing justice to the power of the legacy of these individuals. But could any of us? 

From there we continued south through the beautiful hill country of the coastal plain. We passed the valley where David slew Goliath as well as rolling vineyards, cows, and so much more. We arrived at Tel Moresha, a United Nations World Heritage Site. 

After a picnic lunch which received admittedly mixed reviews, but did allow the kids to hang out and enjoy a pleasant park, we began exploring Tel Moresha. Home to more than 5,000 caves, we certainly didn't get the full lay of the land. But we saw a fully excavated cave, had a chance to do our own digging, and then saw a newly opened cave. We also had a chance to visit some even more ancient caves that were quite staggering to behold. One of them of particular interest was a burial cave. 

Discovering artifacts from the time of the Maccabees (167 BCE) is really special. Even the most mundane find (say a shard of basic pottery) links you to the land and to our history. How much the more so that one of us found what is undoubtedly the most unique and significant piece of pottery I've ever seen discovered on a Davis trip. That item, a piece of a handle with an inscription stamped on it, thrilled us all. Artifacts that contain writing are rare and provide incredible insight. Our local guide there was over the moon. I asked how to follow up and eventually learn what the artifact said. Fortunately a few of our girls were able to recognize the ancient Greek letters due to their familiarity with sorority culture. Go figure! Was it your kid who found that artifact? I bet you'd like to know! Perhaps you can figure it out from the pictures. Perhaps you'll have to wait and see. Sorry (not sorry). 

Before leaving Tel Moresha we broke into 8 small groups for our first brief reflective chat. I was a bit hesitant because, handled poorly, reflection feels forced and has the opposite of the desired effect. Today's reflections went, for the most part, smashingly well. So much so that we will likely keep the same groups for the next time we reflect. These groups, like so much of our trip, allowed the kids to stretch beyond their comfort zone in terms of content and company. Their engagement suggests that they found it liberating to do so. 

After dinner we took the kids to the hotel pool. Some splashed about while others circled up outside to listen to music and hang out. It was great bonding time and they were pretty ticked off (at least some of them) when the time came to leave. But they eventually understood that tomorrow's visit to the Old City will be worth the somewhat earlier "to your rooms" time. I just walked the halls and heard many of our kids happily chatting away, watching TV and otherwise laying low. All good. 

I chose to call this post "Humans Being" because when I think about today, I realize that humanity was on full display. 

This morning our kids enjoyed the omelet bar at the hotel where a kind elderly gentlemen proudly and diligently prepared fresh eggs to order, eager to get each and every one just right. Our water carafes were refreshed, always just in time, by the friendly Israeli Arabs who run the hotel kitchen. We chatted with some Christian pilgrims from Chile who have come all this way to be affirmed in their faith. 

At the War of Independence Exhibit we witnessed the extraordinary capacity of the most ordinary among us. We witnessed the love, self-sacrifice, bravery, and selflessness that all of us can appreciate but few of us can truly fathom. We also witnessed the hatred and disregard for human life. We witnessed suffering, dignity, and resilience. And we took a moment to find corollaries within our own lives. 

During lunch we enjoyed eating outside, in our truest home, Mother Nature. We ate simple food prepared by a kind hearted and gentle local vendor. We realized that today wasn't about food (though we ate well for sure), but about other forms of nourishment. We witnessed 2,000 years of human ingenuity, feats of engineering and design, ancient wisdom astounding in its foresight. 

During our reflection time we witnessed vulnerability, honesty, listening, humor, and curiosity. At the pool we experienced joy, silliness, refreshment, and bonding with friends old and new.

When we really stop and think about it, human beings are incredible. Take a moment to reflect on your day. What did you experience human beings being? What kind of humanity did you offer the world today? I'd venture to guess that, though your circumstances are likely more mundane than ours here in Jerusalem, you witnessed around you and offered in return something quite extraordinary. Sometimes it takes stepping out of our habits and routines to see anew what's right in from of us. In that regard, I'm 100% confident that your kids saw and appreciated much of what I saw humans being today. May the inspiration continue to move them brightly.