Detour!
Lauren’s friend Hadar had organized a trip to Israel for many of Lauren’s friends from business school, who at this point are now good friends of mine as well. Several weeks ago, we decided to join this group, and bought round trip tickets to Tel Aviv to Bangkok, with stops in Istanbul, Turkey. Our week traveling through Israel was one filled with odd coincidences, lots of food, family, and a van full of hung-over “Mexicans” with “technical problems.”
This being my eighth time in Israel and Lauren‘s second time, we knew what to expect. We’ve seen the sights and visited cities all over the country. Maybe because I’ve been to Israel so many times, or because my father was born and raised there, or because my uncle Haim (my mother’s brother) and family lives there, or because I’ve been taught from a young age that Israel is the home of all Jews from around the world, I always feel a sense of comfort in Israel.
Our trip began in Jerusalem, and took us to the Dead Sea, Masada, Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum) Haifa, the border of Syria, a kibbutz near the Golan Heights, the Sea of Galilee, Nazareth, Caesarea, and finally to Tel Aviv. We had rented a van with a driver, and a very experienced tour guide named Ronen (Ronny). The group consisted of Lauren, myself, Nando, Mono, Dani, Pete, Julio, Dan, Natalie, and Hadar. Half of the group consisted of Latin Americans, specifically those from Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia. This group, along with several others at Columbia Business School, had comically referred to themselves as “the Mexicans”, even though none them were, in fact, Mexican. I guess this moniker is a jab to the “gringos”, some of whom naively assume that Spanish speaking people are obviously from Mexico.
Ironically, the only Mexican on the trip was my mother, who briefly met up with us in Jerusalem, as she was there for work. She works at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and was delivering and installing a Frida Kahlo painting from the MoMA to the Israeli Museum in Jerusalem. It was such a weird and awesome coincidence that she was there. It was great to see her, as it’s been six weeks since we had left New York.
Even though I’ve had several guided tours of Jerusalem in the past, most of our focus had been on Jewish sites and Jewish life in the city. Given that all but one of the “Mexicans” were Catholic, our tour consisted, in large part, to many of the holy Christian sites in Jerusalem, including the Garden of Gasthemeny (where Jesus was arrested), the Lion’s Gate (where Jesus was brought into the walled city of Jerusalem), Via Dolorosa (the street where Jesus carried his cross), and the Church of the Holy Sepulcer (where Jesus was crucified and buried, though his remains went missing soon after).
We also visited the Dome of the Rock, one of the most holy places for Muslims, and the most Holy site for Jews, although ironically, most Jews, and certainly no religious Jew ever visits, as the site is under Muslim control. It was the site of the first temple that was destroyed a more than 2,000 years ago, and supposedly the place where God spoke to Abraham, and told him not to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
On this trip, with the help of our guide, you could really understand why Jerusalem was so important to the Islamic, Christian, and Jewish religions, and how today there is still so much sensitivity and palpable tension between religions, and within the religions themselves. For example, at the Church of the Holy Sepulcer, we learned that there are six sects of Christianity that have rights to the church, each sect fighting for more prominence, control, and prayer time within the church. It was even more interesting to learn that a Muslim family holds the key to this church, as none of the Christian sects would be trusted by any other to keep the key.
Next we visited Masada, a very tall plateau where King Herod built 3 palaces. Herod also used this place as a depot for his monopoly of the salt trade, much of the salt coming from the Dead Sea nearby. This monopoly and Herod’s alliance with the Romans made him one of the richest kings in the world, and enabled him to build many of the temples and palaces in Israel that still stand today. Later on, after Herod died, and the Romans took over most of Israel, a group of 1,000 Jews fled to Masada , where they lived for many years, under siege of the Romans. Once they were about to be captured and made slaves to the Romans, they decided to kill themselves instead. Once the Romans were finally able to reach the top of Masada, they found the town and materials burned, and everyone dead.
With that uplifting story, we descended Masada by cable car to save time and to not shrivel up climbing and descending the mountain by foot in the 105 degree heat. We then headed to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth, for a float and a mud bath.
As we continued our trip around the country, we had great meals, always capped off with a glass of Fernet, not an Israeli drink, but one that our Argentinean expert Mono was convinced has magical digestive powers. These powers must have really worked too well, as certain individuals were beginning to have “technical problems”, a euphemism for serious stomach issues. With such a tight group of friends, no issues, technical or otherwise are kept, and the Rolling Stones song “Paint it Black” quickly became the anthem for our bus rides. I know, too much information…
As we made our way up to the north of Israel, we spent one night with in the wonderful hospitality of Hadar’s family, who lives in Haifa. Fantastic Israeli food was served, including Israeli salads, humus, grilled meats, and about 30 other dishes (enough food to feed an army… it’s the Jewish way). This was our first dose of home cooking in a while, and it was really welcome.
After a couple more days of touring around in the North, we returned to Tel Aviv for 3 days. We were able to see my mother again, and coincidentally, my aunt, uncle, and cousin from Los Angeles were in Tel Aviv, so we met up with them as well. We spent three days hitting the beaches, walking around, and having lots of fun at night and one of the party capitals of the world.
Lauren and I also were happy to get to spend time with my Uncle, Aunt, and cousins that live in Israel. We had delicious dinners with them, and stayed with them one night as well. I don’t get to see my cousins all that often (maybe once every 3 or 4 years), it’s really great to catch up, and see how their lives in Israel are developing.
Israel has great weather, awesome beaches, a great history, unified people, and a thriving business community. Whenever I’m there, I find myself imagining myself living there. I guess I’ll need to learn Hebrew first, but who knows
Detour!
Lauren’s friend Hadar had organized a trip to Israel for many of Lauren’s friends from business school, who at this point are now good friends of mine. Several weeks ago, we decided to join this group, and bought round trip tickets to Tel Aviv from Bangkok, with stops in Istanbul, Turkey. Our week traveling through Israel was one filled with odd coincidences, lots of food, family, and a van full of hung-over “Mexicans” with “technical problems.”
This being my eighth time in Israel and Lauren‘s second time, we knew what to expect. We’ve seen the sights and visited cities all over the country. Maybe because I’ve been to Israel so many times, or because my father was born and raised there, or because my uncle Haim (my mother’s brother) and family lives there, or because I’ve been taught from a young age that Israel is the home of all Jews from around the world, I always feel a sense of comfort in Israel.
Our trip began in Jerusalem, and took us to the Dead Sea, Masada, Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum), Haifa, the border of Lebanon, a kibbutz near the Golan Heights, the Sea of Galilee, Nazareth, Caesarea, and finally to Tel Aviv. We had rented a van with a driver, and a very experienced tour guide named Ronen (Ronny). The group consisted of Lauren, myself, Nando, Mono, Dani, Pete, Julio, Dan, Natalie, and Hadar. Half of the group consisted of Latin Americans, specifically those from Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia. This group, along with several others at Columbia Business School, had comically referred to themselves as “the Mexicans”, even though none them were, in fact, Mexican. I guess this moniker is a jab to the “gringos”, some of whom naively assume that Spanish speaking people are obviously from Mexico.
View of Jerusalem
Ironically, the only Mexican on the trip was my mother, who briefly met up with us in Jerusalem, as she was there for work. She works at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and was delivering and installing a Frida Kahlo painting from the MoMA to the Israeli Museum in Jerusalem. It was such a weird and awesome coincidence that she was there. It was great to see her, as it’s been six weeks since we had left New York.
Even though I’ve had several guided tours of Jerusalem in the past, most of our focus had been on Jewish sites and Jewish life in the city. Given that all but one of the “Mexicans” were Catholic, our tour consisted, in large part, to many of the holy Christian sites in Jerusalem, including the Garden of Gasthemeny (where Jesus was arrested), the Lion’s Gate (where Jesus was brought into the walled city of Jerusalem), Via Dolorosa (the street where Jesus carried his cross), and the Church of the Holy Sepulcer (where Jesus was crucified and buried, though his remains went missing soon after).
We also visited the Dome of the Rock, one of the most holy places for Muslims, and the most Holy site for Jews, although ironically, most Jews, and certainly no religious Jew ever visits, as the site is under Muslim control. It was the site of the first temple that was destroyed more than 2,000 years ago, and supposedly the place where God spoke to Abraham, and told him not to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
Dome of the Rock
On this trip, with the help of our guide, you could really understand why Jerusalem was so important to the Islamic, Christian, and Jewish religions, and how today there is still so much sensitivity and palpable tension between religions, and within the religions themselves. For example, at the Church of the Holy Sepulcer, we learned that there are six sects of Christianity that have rights to the church, each sect fighting for more prominence, control, and prayer time within the church. It was even more interesting to learn that a Muslim family holds the key to this church, as none of the Christian sects would be trusted by any other to keep the key.
Next we visited Masada, a very tall plateau where King Herod built 3 palaces. Herod also used this place as a depot for his monopoly of the salt trade, much of the salt coming from the Dead Sea nearby. This monopoly and Herod’s alliance with the Romans made him one of the richest kings in the world, and enabled him to build many of the temples and palaces in Israel that still stand today. Later on, after Herod died, and the Romans took over most of Israel, a group of 1,000 Jews fled to Masada, where they lived for many years, under siege of the Romans. Once they were about to be captured and made slaves to the Romans, they decided to kill themselves instead. When the Romans were finally able to reach the top of Masada, they found the town and materials burned, and everyone dead.
View from Masada
With that uplifting story, we descended Masada by cable car to save time and to not shrivel up climbing and descending the mountain by foot in the 105 degree heat. We then headed to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth, for a float and a mud bath.
Getting Muddy at the Dead Sea
As we continued our trip around the country, we had great meals, always capped off with a glass of Fernet, not an Israeli drink, but one that our Argentinean expert Mono was convinced has magical digestive powers. These powers must have really worked too well, as certain individuals were beginning to have “technical problems”, a euphemism for serious stomach issues.
L'Chaim!
As we made our way up to the north of Israel, we spent one night with in the wonderful hospitality of Hadar’s family, who lives in Haifa. Fantastic Israeli food was served, including Israeli salads, humus, grilled meats, and about 30 other dishes (enough food to feed an army… it’s the Jewish way). This was our first dose of home cooking in a while, and it was really welcomed.
After a couple more days of touring around in the North, we returned to Tel Aviv for 3 days. We were able to see my mother again, and coincidentally, my aunt, uncle, and cousin from Los Angeles were in Tel Aviv, so we met up with them as well. We spent three days hitting the beaches, walking around, and having lots of fun at night in one of the party capitals of the world.
Lauren and I also were happy to get to spend time with my Uncle, Aunt, and cousins that live in Israel. We had delicious dinners with them, and stayed with them one night as well. I don’t get to see my cousins all that often (maybe once every 3 or 4 years), it’s really great to catch up, and see how their lives in Israel are developing.
Israel has great weather, awesome beaches, a great history, unified people, and a thriving business community. Whenever I’m there, I find myself imagining myself living there. Not likely, but you never know…
