”Buffalo Israel Experience” group trip in October had a memorable time visiting the Holy Land. Hope to see you again next year!
Day 1: The Mall and The Wall
Our group of almost 80 arrived in Israel about 8:30 this morning after a 10-hour flight from Toronto. We cleared customs, got into our three busses, and drove to Jerusalem treated to a fascinating historical, geo-political, and cultural narration by our tour guide, Ezra Korman, a native of Ithaca, New York. Ezra is one of three guides—one for each of the busses.
What stood out (or maybe better, what “stuck out” through the fog of jet lag) were: the height of the hills we climbed to get to the city (close to 2,500 feet above sea level); the impending completion of a high-speed rail line between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; the fact that Jerusalem has been conquered roughly 40 times in its roughly 4,000-year history; the open-air and super secular Mamilla Mall, outside the gates of the Old City, where we had lunch and got a chance to meet our fellow travelers; and the contrast to that of a late afternoon visit to the Western Wall, the most significant spiritual site in the world for the Jewish people.
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Day 2&3 Digging into the Old City, Shabbat at the Western Wall,
Friday, October 26, 2018: Our 80-strong cohort split into two groups to tour the Old City on a remarkably crisp and sunny Friday morning, our second day in Israel. We entered the city through the Jaffa Gate, one of eight that penetrate the city’s walls, with the first group exploring the Armenian and Jewish Quarters and the second group following a slightly different route at a slightly more relaxed pace. Shaded narrow alleyways gave way to sunlit squares as the morning progressed, with one of the highlights the visit to the “Cardo,” the city’s main street when the city was under the rule of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian 1500 years ago. Hard by was The Burnt House Museum, a hybrid archaeological excavation and audio-visual presentation that dramatized the politics and culture of the city in the days leading up to its burning by the Romans in AD 70. A bus ride to the Machane Yehudah Open Air Market wrapped the morning with a pastrami sandwich and an IPA for some, various other treats and purchases for others.
Shabbat in Israel is an awesome experience. Literally. Awesome. We met as a group at the Davidson Center, part of the large Western Wall complex in the Old City. The service took place on a hill with stone steps for seats and broken columns scattered around. Susan Goldberg Schwartz and Cantor Arlene Franks led the services, accompanied by Michael Franks on guitar.
The music, songs, words of the service, the people there—carrying many others in their hearts with them to this holy site—were awestruck by the beauty, the setting, holiness, friendship, simplicity, community and millennia of history gathered there together for Erev Shabbat. It was a breathtaking experience for even the most secular among us. Following our welcoming in of Shabbat, some of us went to the Kotel to join the throngs of pilgrims there to celebrate together. Our group prayed, put notes in the Wall, sang, danced, explored areas new to us, and were just happy to be there together with each other, continuing the practice that has kept Jews Jewish over the centuries—celebrating Shabbat with our Family.
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