When I joined the Israel@60 Community Mission to Israel, Feb. 17 – 25, my thoughts turned back to my only previous trip to Israel, in the summer of 1978.
At that time, I was newly married, and my children had not yet been born. My husband and I traveled alone for a week, with only very loose plans. In contrast, last month’s trip offered a more structured itinerary.
I wondered how I would find things changed in a nation that was now twice as old as on my last visit. And I was now twice as old, too, and more integrated into the Jewish community. How would I view the sights and sounds of the modern Jewish homeland?
The trip itinerary offered a careful balance between important, conventional destinations — such as Yad Vashem, the Western Wall and the Dead Sea — and unusual attractions chosen by the mission leaders.
Among the less customary choices was the Ayalon Institute, a clandestine ammunition factory built in 1945 by the Haganah. Above ground, there appears a normal kibbutz, but secret passages from the laundry room lead to underground rooms that once housed a large bullet factory designed to supply crucial ammunition for the War of Independence. At the height of operation, 40,000 bullets a day were made at the institute.
Another unusual — and fascinating — choice was a visit to the Druze village of Daliat El Carmel, where a speaker explained the lifestyle and traditions of the Druze, whose secret religion includes Islamic elements and whose culture promotes strong loyalty to the Jewish state.
Mission participants toured two museums that did not exist during my 1978 visit. The Begin Heritage Center portrays the life, work and achievements of Nobel Prize winner and former Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
His story is told through realistic sets, sounds and lighting. Even more high tech are the multimedia effects of the Palmach History Museum, which depicts the stories of the young men and women of the Palmach, elite of Israel’s pre-State combat forces.
Yad Vashem is the world’s leading Holocaust memorial, museum and documentation center, and it has changed in both focus and use of technology over the past decades. A visit here is always overwhelming, as multimedia presentations bring together the broad historical picture with 90 intimate stories of victims of the Shoah.
At the Children’s Memorial, pinpoints of light and the recitation of names honor the memory of the 1.5 million children who were murdered.
Two members of our group whose parents were child survivors — Nancy Barnett and Mina Tepper — laid a wreath in the Hall of Remembrance. The rest of us gathered close in support, and Betsy and Mike Green distributed pins that say “z’chor” (“remember”).
The existential despair that inevitably accompanies contemplation of the Holocaust was met and mitigated by the awesome power of community.
The 38 mission participants really did come together as a community. During our visit to the Sovev Kinneret region, our Partnership 2000 region around the Sea of Galilee, we were welcomed warmly at the Kinar School, where dollars from our community are making a real difference in the lives of hundreds of children.
Despite a strenuous agenda and cold, rainy weather, shared experiences and meaningful conversations forged relationships of substance and depth.
The unpredictability of travel brought people together. For example, a planned trip to Masada was cancelled due to washed-out roads, and the first-timer group happily ignored rain to swim in the Dead Sea. This, indeed, is how a trip becomes a journey.
This visit to Israel was very different from my first in 1978. On the plus side, Israeli cuisine has improved enormously, but sadly, on this trip I saw fewer interactions between Jews and Arabs.
There were new sights to see, changes to some of the old ones, and the discovery of more unusual, out-of-the-way attractions. Too, this visit was enhanced by the energy of new relationships and cohesive community.
Laura Barnard is the marketing and communications director of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. Betty Chrustowski served as Israel@60 Chair; Mert and Dottie Rotter as honorary mission chairs; Judi Ketten as mission chair; and Betsy Green and Marlene Lauwasser as mission co-chairs.
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