Holy Land Trip | Part 1 | Tel Aviv
Hello and welcome! I’m excited that you are following our trip with Luther Seminary in the Holy Land. This will be the first of what will hopefully be a few reflections on our time here, what we have been doing, and the various conversations that we have been having about this land, its people, its joys, and its struggles.
We started our day off very exhausted after having traveled on a 10-hour flight from Newark, NJ. We landed in Tel Aviv around 6:20am (10:20pm in Minneapolis) and immediately got started on a full day of visits with a stop at the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
On our way there, we toured through Tel Aviv and could see a city that was both vibrant and modern. However, at the same time it showed signs that this city is still building and emerging from the 1940’s era where thousands of housing estates were being quickly erected to serve the 750,000+ Jewish refugees fleeing Europe during the Holocaust (Shavit, 148). This housing might not have been optimal, but I would presume that it became a sense of home for those fleeing persecution across the world.
Once arriving on the shores of the Mediterranean we took a short walk down the coast before stopping to reflect on what home means to us and to those in this land. Many of us had just left what we would describe as safe, comfortable, and permanent homes and ended our travel journey in a land where a sense of home seems to be both finally secure and also slipping away.
To summarize, for the Israelis, their dreaming and longing for Zion and their homeland is being realized after over 2,000 years of exile (Halevi, 25). In the face of persecution abroad, they now have a home in which to come back to. However, on the other side we find another group of people with a different story. The indigenous Arab and Palestinian population that has been in this land for thousands of years see their homeland slowly being dissolved and occupied as Israel expands and builds. Contrary to popular belief in the West, these Palestinians are not religiously homogenous but contain practitioners of many faiths including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
While there is not enough time in this first post to explore that dichotomy in depth, it is important to make one point about a common theme that came up over and over again on our first day. People around the world are often energized on both sides of this struggle based on what they hear and believe. However, it is much more difficult than it seems on the surface.
This is further seen by our other stops for the day. We toured Wolfson Hospital and got to meet volunteers and kids in the “Save A Child’s Heart” program. This is an amazing Israeli based organization that does good for the Middle East and beyond by bringing kids eligible for life-saving heart operations to Israel to have difficult procedures. We got to interact and spend a few moments playing with kids that are here for operations from various parts of the Middle East and Africa. Seeing this program strikes how much of a blessing this service that the Israeli people provide is and how important it is that there is a close regional place that can support healing for those without access to it. This program is also an important bridge between Palestinians and Israelis as many Palestinians are treated here regularly.
Finally, we traveled to the Mount of Olives where we had a breathtaking look over the city of Jerusalem. While there, we spent time talking about how there is a place for everyone in this ancient city. There are always struggles for control of parts of the city or access to various places. But at its heart, Jerusalem is here as a refuge for the thousands of pilgrims that venture here every year. Muslims, Jews, Christians, and many others all equally find wonder, power, and the sacred in this space. They all have a place here. This might just be a metaphorical home for all of us.
At the end of our first day, I feel blessed to be here. I feel the energy and value that this place holds for so many different faiths. I continue to think about and ask the question, “what is home?” I invite to you reflect on that as you read these posts as well.
Shalom, Salam
Sources
1. Letters To My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi
2. My Promised Land: The Triumph And Tragedy of Israel by Ari Shavit