First day in Israel
Twenty of us are going on this trip to Israel, and you are invited to come along though our pictures, videos and writings, right here. We hope to share all of these, from most all of us, as we go day-by-day. It wont be quite real time, but it should be pretty close. Israel is eight hours ahead of Chicago.
Most of us are traveling from Chicago, with six others from California and Pennsylvania meeting up with us in Israel.
We got to OHare airport just before 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Check in for Lufthansa was relatively quick. Joshs parents and sister came to see him off, and we went through security with literally no one in line. The TSA agent said people were actually getting confused because they couldnt find the long line in which to stand.
We got through security and couldnt find Josh. How could we lose him that quick? People walked up and down, back and forth over concourse C. No Josh. And hes hard to lose because hes a head taller than most of us. But no Josh.
Was he being interrogated by TSA? How could we lose him so fast? Suddenly there he was. He had made it to the gate (C17) ahead of all of us, and finally came looking for us when we didnt show.
Jody came separately and we didnt find her until we got on the plane. Connie came from Pittsburgh and we didnt even know she was on our flight until we reached Germany. But somehow we all made it.
The flight to Frankfurt was a double-decker 747-8. Full, but boarding was quick and not harried. The food was decent (pasta or chicken), most watched movies, read and slept, and after seven and a half hours, we arrived in Frankfurt early on Thursday morning. We had to go from our arrival gate in terminal A to our departure in terminal 1, C. This required a long (really long) walk to a train. And a ride on the train. And another really long walk. Really long.
At the end there was Connie! Shed been on the same flight but since we hadnt met before, no one knew it! The tribe was growing.
The flight to Tel Aviv was about four hours. We ate again (pasta or chicken), and finally landed at Ben Gurion airport. We sailed through border control, gathered our luggage, sailed through customs, and were met by Polina (our helper from Shoresh Tours) and our Israeli guide Kira. She is from a Russian Jewish family, and is a follower of Yeshua.
We hopped our bus and met Ibrahim, our driver, and headed for Netanya, just north of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast. Ibrahim too is a follower of Jesus.
On the way up the coast Kira told us of the founding of Tel Aviv in 1909 by a handful of Jewish families on what was then simply sand. Today it is a bustling, large modern city with its own version of Silicon Valley.
We headed for our hotel (The Seasons) in Netanya, and took a back road through a local neighborhood, then up along a narrow route only to find ourselves, about 100 yards from the hotel, blocked by boulders and construction debris. Ibrahim expertly backed us down the same hill, and we drove round-about for another 30 minutes, with lively conversation with Kira, and arrived.
We checked in quickly just before 7 PM, got our rooms, and then came down to our first Israeli dinner in the hotel dining room. It was a feast of salads, eggplant (spicy, Indian-style), hummus (of course!), meatballs, roast beef, pasta, rice, many different cooked vegetables, fresh salmon, and tables filled with deserts. No one left hungry.
After dinner we gathered outside the hotel in the sea air for nearly an hour of good conversation and questions with Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg, author of The Jewish Gospel of John which many of us have been studying. He lives nearby and had accepted our invitation to visit with us. Questions ranged from what the disciples thought about Jesus, to the accuracy of the historian Josephus, to how a modern scholar like Dr. Eli can understand the times and faith of the first century. He proved to be a friendly, even humble, man with great knowledge and experience. He too is a Jewish follower of Yeshua/Jesus.
Finally both he and Kira discussed what it is like to be a Jewish believer in Israel, and how they are treated by both secular and religious Jews. The answer is, apparently, it depends, but it seems to be pretty well in general.
Finally we all headed up to bed to try to sleep a bit. As I write this (George), it is 2:30 in the morning, and my room is facing the Mediterranean Sea. My window is open, the weather is perfect, the moon is high and reflecting off of the water, and the waves are gently rolling in. The sound is wonderful. The view is lovely.
We start with breakfast at 6:45 a.m., and then head to the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee. We will share it all with you!
We are in Israel. Baruch haShem - Bless His Name. Joy has come, early in the morning!