‘If the goal of the trip was to reconnect with our Jewishness and the state of Israel, it worked.’

Riding camels at a Bedouin camp

Photos and Story by Marcia Schonberg
Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer

The tour bus displaying the “2010 Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton: 100th Anniversary Family Mission” banner drove hundreds of miles, dropping passengers to pray at the Western Wall, mourn at Yad Vashem, discover underground grottoes that give way to the Mediterranean at Rosh Hanikra, and to explore archaeological finds in the Negev desert.

Jewish Federation Executive Vice President Larry Skolnick said the mission during the Federation’s centennial year, at the end of December, celebrated the Dayton Jewish community’s support of the Jewish homeland “in action and deed, from days before statehood to current times.”

People have many choices when traveling to Israel. There are Birthright programs for teenagers and young adults, camp experiences and adult travel. But Skolnick said there’s something wonderful and unique about parents, children and grandparents (in our case) sharing what Israel offers families. Participants’ ages ranged from Skolnick’s 8-year-old daughter, Sophie, to Helen Appel, 82, grandmother of Jessica and Nathan Cohen, children of Lori and Dr. Scott Cohen.

Julie and Dr. Rob Bloom and daughter Rachel, as well as sisters Dr. Judy Woll and Diana Zurer had taken previous trips to Israel. Those in Israel for the first time were Todd and Gabriele Leventhal and their children, Quinn and Asa; David and Lisa Pierce and their children, Ben and Sara; Dr. Ann Sherbet with her 15-year-old son, Evan; my brother, Dr. Michael Albert; my husband, Bill, and me.

Also on the trip were Skolnick’s sister, Susan, Dayton Jewish Community Center Director Cheryl Carne, and DJCC Early Childhood Services Director Audrey MacKenzie.

At Ben-Gurion Airport, Rachel and Jessica began planning to meet up with Israeli teens they met at Camp Wise near Cleveland.

Dr. Judy Woll and the group on a trip to the Golan Heights

Arie Harel, an energetic 60-something guide made learning about Israel easy for everyone. “Everyday I’m going to build upon yesterday’s layer until you have a complete sense of Israel by the end,” he promised.

“I was surprised he took a two-year course in preparation for his job, and knew so much about Israel,” said Scott Cohen. “And he talked us into doing some activities some of us questioned, like the ATV rides, but everyone enjoyed it in the end,” added David Pierce.

Those all-terrain vehicles and Jeeps came in handy when the group set out to climb the Golan Heights. Drivers were instructed to stay on the path to avoid hidden land mines while driving past barren bunkers and views of the 1973 battlefields. After stopping to explore the bombed out remnants of one Syrian bunker, guides, in typical Israeli style, offered cake and tea, steamed over an open fire.

Eitan Oren, a guide from Kibbutz Malkia, led an excursion to within meters of the fortified Lebanon border, initiating participants to Israel’s daily peril and security issues. Under the guise of planting a kiwi tree in a young orchard within the scopes of border and United Nations patrols, he escorted the group even closer.

Tour guide Eitan Oren helps Julie Bloom plant a kiwi tree near the Lebanese border

Evan Sherbet dug the hole with a shovel and Julie Bloom planted the tree before departing the secluded site for an Israeli army base. Here, proud young soldiers stopped their tasks to demonstrate tank maneuvers. Everyone chipped in to buy pizza for the troops before departing.

Stopping at the Israeli Air Force Museum, located on the Hatserim Air Force Base near Beersheva, provided another hands-on experience as kids and adults climbed into helicopters and bombers. Inside the museum, they marveled at the highly sophisticated instruments used by Israeli pilots.

At Masada (Hebrew for fortress), a high-speed cable car whisked us to the top. After walking amid the stone ruins of Herod’s refuge, later used by a band of Jewish rebels from 66-73 C.E., some from our group chose scaling hundreds of steps to reach the bottom.

Along the way everyone took in the Dead Sea views. Kids and adults tried out its floating and healing powers later in the day.

“The most powerful part of the trip was taking my 11-year-old son to the Western Wall,” said Scott Cohen. Touching the holiest site in the Jewish religion had a profound effect on everyone in the group, some of whom returned to the Wall several times during the stay in Jerusalem. “If the goal of the trip was to reconnect with our Jewishness and the state of Israel, it worked,” Diana said.

The tour of the Western Wall Tunnels led visitors through more than 1,000 feet of excavated passages, under stone archways and amid remnants dating from King Solomon’s Temple.

Hiking Ein Avdat in the Negev Highlands

Riding camels at a Bedouin tourist attraction, shopping at tiny artist galleries, visiting an early synagogue in Safed, and shopping for Shabbat at the Machane Yehudah open market all contributed to the Israel experience.

Most visitors wished for more time at Beit She’an, the fascinating ancient city dating back to the fourth century B.C.E. Located along the Jordan River south of Lake Kinneret, only one tenth of the city — complete with roads, marketplaces, baths and a 7,000-seat amphitheatre — has been excavated to date.

Aside from daily touring, the group met in Akko and Nahariya to pack food boxes for the area’s needy, visited an absorption center for Ethiopian immigrants, and enjoyed dinner at the homes of Federation Partnership With Israel families.

“The kids are certainly talking about all the fun activities,” said David Pierce, “but I think they’ll long remember the purpose of the trip and being more connected with their Jewish tradition and heritage. I can see it on their faces and the way they act.”