First Impressions - Blog Entry number 1 for July 2024 Israel trip
I thought I would start the blog for this trip about a few initial impressions. I got here about 24 hours ago and I’m here on my own, not on a program, not with an agenda, not to study or tour. I’m here to see and support friends, expand my wine contacts and knowledge, celebrate a wedding of dear friends. So far what I’m seeing and feeling differs much from what I’ve heard and read from other post October 7 visitors from the US.
Right now, I’m on a train to Tel Aviv for dinner with my fake niece, who is here on an onward Israel internship. Other than the posters in the arrivals hallway at the airport (which nearly everyone posts a photo of - I didn’t), and some yellow ribbons on trees, I’m finding the same Israel I’ve come to know so well. No one is being extra thoughtful or helpful (I’m not saying there isn’t great volunteering going on, just that you have to be told about it to notice it). People are going to work, the grocery stores are crowded with people buying food for Shabbat, the trains and buses and restaurants are busy and running. You can’t tell there is a war on and the spirit of nenatzaiach beyachhad (together we will prevail) seems to have evaporated some from what was reported in the winter and fall.
I was trying to get a SIM card (my host’s idea, I thought I could get by without one and I don’t really want to juggle two phones for 3 weeks - I gave up my Israeli cell phone during COVID) and we couldn’t get it to work and when we got back to the phone store, the clerk was neither able nor interested in helping us. So at least that encounter supports the kind of status quo normal I’ve been feeling.
My plans to go north are on hold. It sounds like most people without urgent business aren’t crossing the line between Tiberius and Haifa. I’ll hope to get to the lower Galil. I already have two appointments in the Jerusalem Hills region and 6 in the Negev. I talked to Arie at Bat Shlomo this morning and hope to go there after my Negev excursion.
I'm planning an surprise visit to a good friend's winery tomorrow, and a visit to an in-town winery in Jerusalem of an old friend whose wines I really enjoy on Sunday - I'm planning to introduce sofer and winemaker Avital Goldner to the Licht Family, olim who came in February. Panina was my angel when I joined the Sulam Faculty in 2021, and was very generous in showing me the ropes. Now I hope I can expand her network in her new home in Jerusalem
I hope to have time to write again before Shabbat. For now, l’hitra’ot
No comments:
Post a Comment