We had our first taste of Eretz Yisrael in the Newark airport, where, as we approached our gate, we saw a large minyan davvening. Mincha, Nisan, and I were immediately approached to help make a second minyan. In that minyan of very differently dressed Jewish men, there was a feeling of standing together, in our diversity, before G-d. I believe the diversity of Jews there will pale in comparison to the diversity we’ll encounter in Eretz Yisrael, and the standing before G-d that we’ll IY’H experience in the Holy places on our itinerary in the Holy Land on the upcoming Holy days will far outshine that weekday mincha in the Newark airport. Nevertheless, there was something new in the Newark experience, something that touched me particularly in the Avinu Malkeinu—there was a sense of "our Father, our King, I’m coming to be close to you. Thank you so much for the privilege of traveling with my whole family to be in and taste the sweetness of your presence."
On the Plane
We thought we were being adventurous in taking our whole family, including our 1 year old, on a transatlantic flight. The scene on the El Al plane quickly dispelled our sense of doing anything out-of-the-ordinary. The flight was full of Jewish life, the most audible of which was the cry of some baby somewhere on the plane. A family with 5 kids under the age of 8, including twin infants, sat next to us. Unfortunately, our Yisrael, completely exhausted and over-stimulated, frequently contributed to the chorus. Nobody slept much.
Left: the children on the plane
Right: sunrise from the flight
Touchdown
We were all too tired to manifest much emotion, but inwardly, we were all excited to finally be here. We went straight to Chevron. What struck me the most on our way was how small the agricultural plots are and how they are interspersed with areas of compact human settlement. It reminded me of what I’d often heard about the term “agri-culture,” namely, that the growing of food is the foundation of all human culture and it functions best when it is done in close physical proximity to the other forms of cultural activity.
Although this mix of cultures is not unique to Israel, there is a unique sort of wholeness to the experience of living together and growing food together as Jews in our Holy Land. Many of the plots we saw along the way were either grapes or olives, two of the 7 species of fruit that the Torah defines as special to our connection to the land and to G-d. In Israel, that mix of agri and other forms of human culture always includes G-d. Viewing the interweaving of our land, our people, and our G-d from the highway straight from the airport was my personal “welcome to Eretz Yisrael” experience.
In Chevron
We are being hosted by Dovid and Vered Shirel, two incredibly gracious hosts, who welcomed our sleep-deprived family into their home like family. We’re renting an 8 X 12 caravan a few steps from their house (for sleeping). Thank G-d everyone got a chance to lie down and rest this afternoon before Shabbos.
I think if the realm of Jewish experience had a contrast knob you could turn up and down, the place you’d land if you turned that contrast knob all the way up would be Chevron. I had a beautiful davvening this morning and I’m sitting here now in this very Jewish home in the place that Avraham Avinu purchased from Efron the Chitite for 400 silver shekels approximately 3,300 years ago. This was Jewish land over 1,000 years before the most well-known of Jewish sites was purchased by King David to be the site of G-d’s Holy Temple. The people who gave us our identity are buried here. It belongs to me and to every Jew in a way that is deeper than anywhere else. Our spiritual DNA is rooted here.
From the kitchen, I’m hearing the sounds of Jewish music and smelling the aromas of Shabbos in-the-making. I’m feeling very much at home in this most Jewish of places. I am also hearing the muezzin calling the Moslems to prayer, and when I look outside, I see the police and soldiers with their rifles and flak jackets, all here to protect the Jews from the violent expressions of Arab hatred that have periodically convulsed this place. It’s a head-spinning experience. It takes a special kind of Jew to make this his or her home.
