In Conclusion

Back in LA, I can honestly say that it is entirely true when they say you don't appreciate Israel until you have left...

On the way home, we spent a few hours in Ben Gurion airport. The beautiful Shul there, the videos of the Rebbe playing there on a continuous loop, the Kosher Food Court, the bearded Kippahed security supervisors..it's all very special.

One word about Ben Gurion. You don't have to take off your shoes or your sweater/jackets when you go through the xray. You don't have to take you baby out of the the stroller and fight to get the carseat through the xray belt. You just have to look like you are not going to doing anything stupid and they PROFILE you, using their common sense to decide who they need to suspect. Maybe not PC but very helpful.

Some final thoughts:

Favorite site: By far the Kotel. The exuberance and the unity that was palpable there was just great.

Biggest eye-opener: The Golan Heights. After being there, it is baffling that the Syrians would think Israel would relinquish it.

Most dangerous-feeling place: Chevron by far. In general, there was a very minimal presence of uniformed soldiers on patrol in Israel. We saw many off-duty soldiers, but very, very few on duty. (The Israelis all told us that there are soldiers everywhere, but they are concealed, watching from vantage points.) But in Chevron there is a strong presence, because there the Jewish communities are tiny and dispersed in the massive Arab presence. And the fact that the Arabs have murdered Jewish children there over the last several years too. Thank G-d recently it has been "quiet", but the tension was there. G-d watch over them.

Oldest visible site: The 4,000 year-old roads in Chevron.

Hottest place: Tiberius! Hands down.

Best food: Big Apple Pizza in the Ben Yehuda Mall.

The Golan Hotel in Tiberius was great, except that we're back in Calabasas and we're still waiting for the guy with the luggage cart to come out and help us get our stuff to our room. (It was really nice to be able to wake up and eat breakfast in the hotel and not have to shlep tuna sandwiches, etc.)

Eldan Car Rental was by and large cool. Except that they warned us not to take the tollway and we did so...we're waiting for the ax to fall. And when we were returning the car, the guy who was handling us dropped us like a hot potato to go have (what looked like a planned) shouting match with a coworker. Muzar.

The GPS rental was al hapanim. The machine had a mind of its own, or no mind at all, however you want to put it. But it got us where we wanted to go, with a touch of gritted teeth.

The mikveh turnstile in Tveryeh ripped me off five sheikels. (And the water was almost clean!) To the two Yeshiva boys in Tveryeh who asked me to arrange connections for them in LA - stay home. Your people need you!

Places we missed: Dead Sea, Sderot, Rosh Hanikra, Egyptian border, Old City Wall ramparts, Kotel Tunnels, 90% of Jerusalem, 95% of Israel, many good people we intended to visit but ran out of time, 99% of Kfar Chabad, most of Tzfat, the tomb of Rabbi Meir, and much more. Next time.

To G-d, thank You for a very special Land.

To the Gabays, thanks for getting us there.

To Josh and Emma, may you grow up as proud and active Jews, mazal tov on your Bar/Bat Mitzvah, realize that Israel's Jewish identity relies squarely on yours!

May we share more Simchot together, and may we all go together to our Holy Land, with our righteous Moshiach, to a complete and peaceful, serene Holy Land, with no hostility from anyone, no need for youngsters to strap on guns and boots. May it be NOW.

POST #11

The ending of the Jewish Quarter tour. This is on the descending plaza leading to the Western Wall.

A quiet Western Wall on Tuesday morning. This is quite a contrast to the first time we got to the Wall which was Friday night. Before you even get there, you can hear the roar of the Shabbos prayers and songs coming from the Wall. And when you actually get there...incredible. There are thousands are Jews there, thousands. And of every kind you can imagine. There are older Jews making their way through the crowd, children running all over the place, tourists standing in place in wonderment, Chassidim of every stripe in their Minyans, singing their own versions of Kabbalas Shabbos, and young people dancing everywhere. There was a large circle of what looked like seminary girls sitting on the floor in middle of it all, seemingly oblivious to everything, looking for all the world like they were around a campfire.

It was something else. But obviously, no pictures.

This is the men's section of the Wall area. You can see the Mechitza on the right. There is also a Mechitza behind the worshipers, to separate between those praying and those who are not, creating a shul in front and a plaza in the back.

The Chabad Tefillin booth at the Wall. My British friend Shmuli Weiss is usually there running the booth and greeting anything that moves in the vicinity of the Shul, but this morning he hadn't gotten there yet, and the sight of the no-nonsense, fiery Israeli Chabadniks trying to communicate with completely uncomprehending Canadian teenagers who don't understand why and how they ended up wearing Tefillin...it was very funny. Quote: "Tagid Veahavta, tagid Veahavta!" "We're just here as part of the tour, we don't need to do this!"

These are the tens of podiums and bimahs that are available for the Bar Mitzvahs and other celebrations constantly going on. To the right you see the white barrier separating the Shul area from the plaza.

The peacefulness of the photo is so sweet, no sign at all of the diaper distress we have just experienced in the ancient Kotel Tunnels...an unforgettable tour :).

POST #10

As we continue our tour of the Jewish quarter of the Old City...behind the guide you see the brand renewed Churba Synagogue. It was built it the 1700's by R' Yehuda Hachassid to prepare for Moshiach. It was then destroyed by the Muslims.

It was rebuilt in the 1867's (?) by the Jerusalem community.

It was then destroyed by the Arabs in the 1948 war.

It was rebuilt a few months ago.

A 10-week-old baby in a 104,000-week-old neighborhood.

At the memorial to the "soldiers" who fell defending the old city in the 1948 war of independence. They were men, women and children and they were buried here until the Jordanians let them be reburied on Mount Olives, with full military honors.

We're standing in front of the Tzemach Tzedek shul, one of the oldest functioning Shuls in Yerushalayim and one of the oldest Chabad institutions anywhere.

It was established long-distance by the Tzemach Tzedek (third Chabad Rebbe) and was the only Shul not destroyed by the arabs in 1948. No one knows why, according to our guide.

Habad Street! (one of the longest streets in the old city.)

POST #9

In the City of David, overlooking what may be the ruins of King David's palace, though it is certainly very, very old stones.

What may have been officers quarters right outside the palace.

Descending into an ancient tunnel under the City of David, dug by the Yevusim about 3,000 years ago.

This is one of King Chizkiya's tunnels. After Sancherev, the King of Ashur (Assyria) conquered and exiled the north of Israel and its Ten Tribes of Israel (i.e. The Ten Lost Tribes), the Jewish King of the southern three tribes (Yehudah, Levi, Binyamin) dug these tunnels to provide a water source to defend Jerusalem from the Ashurim. As it turned out, no need; Hashem made a miracle and the Ashurim perished.

POST #8

No comment.

This is the bakery which stands in the place where the Sbarros restaurant was. The Sbarros was destroyed by a suicide bomber, remember?

In an act of solidarity, we went inside and downed these heavenly chocolate mousse somethings, very delicious.

This is the view from inside the bakery of the busy intersection outside.

POST #7: Chevron and Beit Lechem

One of the more emotional visits in Israel was to Kever Rachel, Rachel's Tomb. Really, Rachel should have been buried with the other Matriarchs in Chevron, but she was buried here to provide the future exiles of Israel with a spot to pour out their hearts on their way into exile.

The prophets speak about how "Mama" Rachel cries and prays to G-d for the welfare of her children Israel.

This is th tomb, inside the building. The original building, with the famous dome, is entirely enclosed with a shelter, bullet-proof and windowless. All this since Beit Lechem, like Chevron, is in the "West Bank", Judah and Samariah.

In this photo you can see the original building and the surrounding shelter.

POST #7: Chevron and Beit Lechem

A plaque in a hundreds-year-old Chabad Shul in Chevron dedicating the library to my grandfather, Zaide Gordon, a"h.

Under the plaque and the Rebbe's picture.

4,000 year old street, where Avraham may very well have walked.

A donkey wandering around a military installation in Chevron.

A glimpse of the 4,000 year old street under a brand new apt. building dedicated to the Rebbe.

Davening Mincha in the Mearas Hamachpela, the burial site of of our matriarchs and patriarchs. (It was a loong Mincha. :)

The view of Chevron from the steps of Mearas Hamachpela, and behind us, the lookout for the army.

On the steps up to the Mearas Hamachpela.

There are the UN inspectors, dining in the Arab cafe in Chevron. They are in charge of drinking coffee and making sure everyone is behaving.

A grumpy old Arab woman not cooperating with the soldiers in Chevron. The barrier you see is to prevent Jews from entering the Arab section of the city.

"Here lies Sarah our Mother."

"Here lies our Father Jacob."

"Here lies our Father Abraham."

Dedicated to Isaac and Rebeccah (they are in the Arab section of the building, off limits to Jews. Go know.)

POST #7: Continued.

Soldiers patroling the Cave of the Patriarchs. The soldier facing the camera is enjoying some snacks, sponsored by Chabad of Calabasas. You feel such a debt of gratitude to these kids...you don't know what to do, just saying thanks don't cut it. He was buying snacks when we were, so we footed the bill. Big deal. But you gotta do something.

The steps up to the Cave. This structure was completed by Herod.

The lady in the bottom right of the picture is Davening at the closest possible spot to the actual cave where Adam, Chavah, Avraham, Sarah, Yitzchak, Rivkah, Yaakov and Leah are buried. She is also at the only spot where Jews were permitted to stand prior to the 67 War. There were steps there that were available for the Jews to stand on, and when the Israeli soldiers took over Chevron in the war they destroyed the hated symbol of the Arabs' denigration of the Jews.

Our guide was so interesting. He even found interesting places to keep is Coke.

Shainy and Malka in a moment of quiet reflection inside the onsite Shul.

POST #7: Continued.

I did it again. OK.

1. As soon as you pass that checkpoint, you see the separation wall. Here is the first part of the wall.

2. Then it changes to this style.

3. This settlement is called "Elazar" after Judah Maccabbee's brother Elazar, who was killed during the war with the Greeks. He killed a war elephant that crushed him when it fell. This war (the Chanukah story) took place in this area.

4. As we traveled down the winding roads of the Arab section of Hebron, we saw the residences that were never rebuilt by the Arabs following the Six Day War. You can see scrawlings on the war, different colors from different terrorist groups.

5. Another ruin. I am not sure whether or not people live in these ruins.