in Israel - Tel Aviv and the rest of the tour

My mom Jenny sat under some shade at a picnic table while everyone in the tour swam in the springs at Sachneh. It was very peaceful. There were lots of people there and everyone was friendly. When I went to change out of my wet swimsuit I found Jenny surrounded by about 50 students from Boston. They were mesmerized listening to her tell harrowing tales of surviving the concentration camps. What's amazing is how in this context she's a total rock star. They absolutely adored her. She just comes alive in a way I only see when she is up on stage singing Hebrew and Yiddish folk songs, partying at a simcha (a hebrew word for gladness or joy but used a lot for 'celebration'), mourning at a funeral, chatting with friends over tea, or other things like that. The rest of the time she is hard impenetrable and suffocatingly controlling. I was drawn into this circle of raptured youth and began telling more stories of her astounding trials and adventures. And then they started crushing on me. Jenny was beaming and I was flushed with pride. I guess I'm a lot like her in some ways. I like the attention and the free pass the Holocaust card gets you when it's played.
In Safed in an alley we stumbled on this guy making the best sandwiches on earth! It was some kind of Yeminte roti and man was he funny. Chatting away with everyone while he put on a show. It was delicious and we had to order more.

In the mountains we donned biblical garb in a village where we made bread and rode donkeys. It was fun. The tour guide was a big burly dude who had a very warm personality. His little daughter followed us around and man was she cute.
This tour guide took us underground through a museum that had been a hidden bullet factory during the Independence War.
The woman was our guide through the Armored Corp Museum at Latrun. All the Bar and Bat Mitzvah kids individually got presented the beret of the Israeli Armoured Corps while standing on a giant Merkava tank. It ruffled feathers at the Corps but as I mentioned, our tour guide had been a high level intelligence officer and finagled it. She was a lovely guide. She was from the US and had lost family in the Corps and was inspired to come to Israel and join up. We all teared up when she told her story and the stories of the warriors who had died.

On Masada the tour kids had their ceremonies. Jacob already Bar Mitzvahed in Jerusalem was invited to participate but he balked at the last moment feeling uncontrollably panicked. The entire conservative religious ritual is anathema to his sensibilities and he had to break away and go for a walk. We followed and consoled him. He just doesn't dig the sturm and drang of most religious ritual. Sturm and Drang being usually tranlated as "storm and stress". Jacob likes laid back.
Jacob loved the Independance Hall lecture in Tel Aviv. He liked getting up close and personal to the story of the history of the creation of the State of Israel. We're not Zionists but it's great to feel the tribal connections and if this trip were part of an online role playing game, Jacob's identity definitely got an upgrade.

Tessa and Jacob were inseparable for a few days after she arrived late to the tour with her mother. After a some intense companionship things cooled. Then they both began to chum up with the other kids on the bus, which was good for Jacob too.


in Israel - Jerusalem


This summer we went to Isreal for Jacob's Bar Mitzvah. We had the ceremony on the Goldman Promenade overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. The promenade had a magnificent view. We could see Jordan and the sea of Galilea. Our tour group was comprised of several families having sons and daughters Bar and Bat Mitzvahed on Masada. We broke off to have our's seperately in Jerusalem. The 2 week trip was great. The weather wonderful. Paula adored Israel and could imagine living there. She is a born traveler. The best. My mom came with us. She loves Israel and would thrive there. She has so many friends here and she's a total Zionist.
Our tour guide Ofer was a former intelligence officer who takes groups to China and Russia as well. His wife is an artist. He was brilliant although heavy on the Zionist perspective. Jacob enjoyed connecting with the history of the place and the people. At first Ofer was pretty pissed off with us because my mom, who is 84, was almost always the last on the bus, us and another family with little kids and we loved that family. But he mellowed out when he got what a special lady my mom is. She put her charm spell on everyone. But for me she's still Kryptonite.
Our Rabbi for the ceremony was Michael Klein-Katz, an amazing guy. He's a Reform Rabbi from Philadelphia and he was perfect for us. Michael is also a medical clown and has a terrific sense of humor.
Yad Vashem is a museum and memorial to the Holocaust. I was there in 1971. It's much bigger now. It's got art galleries. The crowds of people from all over the world were immense. It was Disneyland packed.


Jacob has already been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, but that was on more of a pleasure trip to D.C. Here he participated in a ceremony at a shrine and seemed to take it quite seriously. I guess he's growing up.

Our first dinner together was a mind blower. There was so much food it was insane. Course after course after course until we were dizzy.