A Mom’s Perspective

As I sit here and reflect on day 6 of this amazing journey through Israel, I keep coming back to the same conclusion that this trip has surpassed my expectations in ways I can’t begin to articulate. Prior to coming I thought to myself, “how is it going to be studying the bible all day every day for 7 days?” Without hesitation, I can say it has been fulfilling to a level I had never thought possible. As a mother, I am forever grateful to be able to share this experience with my daughter. Friendships have blossomed for the both of us, in as much as our relationship has been solidified and made stronger.

We made our first stop today in Jerusalem at the Rabbinic Tunnels and the Western Wall. Hearing the history of how the wall became to be such an iconic measure of faith for the Jewish people and how they were not even allowed to pray near it until 1967 was such a testament to the sincerity of the culture and their faith. As our group entered the tunnels and was able to touch part of the wall for the first time, I could tell that we all were affected by its presence and its meaning to not just the people of Israel but to believers around the world. I am not Jewish but I understood the wall instantly because of what we were privileged to witness. To fully understand the importance of this landmark, one must see it. We were also able to see the wall from the outside and prayed and left our own notes to be eventually buried for our future generations as it is written to be in the scripture and so beautifully upheld here.

With a short walk we were able to see sites such as Cardo and the Southern Steps where Jesus took his disciples and actually walked the grounds we were on. We then traveled into underground water storage “caves” and were able to witness the true genius behind the architectural work of thousands of years ago.

We then traveled to the Holocaust museum. Our tour guide, Ronen told a story of a Jewish family named the Kaufmans who found refuge in Romania. It was a husband, wife and two children. They all survived the Holocaust but I could see the story meant something to Ronen. He spoke differently about these people. He went on to describe how one of the Kaufman daughters eventually married and had a daughter of her own. That daughter later became Ronen’s wife. Her grandfather was Mr. Kaufman. This story for myself was a reminder of truly how recent this horrific event occurred and its tragedy must never be repeated. The museum was numbing. Several times throughout the tour I was rendered speechless. The photos, descriptions, video interviews of survivors and personal items of the all those who died, will forever be embedded in my mind. I was watching my daughter and her friend’s reactions to what I have described above and I saw tears, bewilderment, anger and sheer sadness in their faces. The burning questions in the end was: “how can human beings do this to each other?” There is simply no answer to that.

Our last stop was further into the town of Bethlehem. We had the great privilege of having a Christian souvenir shop all to ourselves. All items in the shop were handmade of various types of aged olive wood and the proceeds all went into the Christian community of Bethlehem. From here we had the most incredible, surreal experience of actually viewing the birthplace and manger location of Jesus. Never in a million years would I have thought that this is something I would ever get to see. Again, I’m at a loss of words to describe the feelings except to say I am blessed and would do this trip again because I KNOW there are things I missed and there is so much more to learn.