Rabbi's Israel trip Post 12

We are at Ben Gurion Airport awaiting our flight home (actually most of the ladies are doing duty free shopping).

Our final day in Israel was bittersweet: we enjoyed another great day, but are sad to be leaving Israel. We began our day with a tour of Acco, including the British prison where Palmach, Irgun, and Stern Gang memebrs were incarerated, the prison which also witnessed a darin escape organized by the underground, and where those captured were hanged by the British. We also visited part of the massive Crusader complex of building underneath the prison.

Next we passed through Haifa and hada glorious panoramic view of the entire city from above the Bahai Gardens. Then it was on to one of the most uplifting places in Israel, the Yemin Orde Youth Village, which is a "must see" place for me to take our memebrs because of the wonderful work that is done at Yemin Orde. Five hundred children, mostly teenagers, most of whom are either new immigrants to Israel (many without parents) or "at risk" children are raised, educated, and molded to become leaders. We learned about Yemin Orde's program for educating and raising these teens -- the work that is done at Yemin Orde is light years ahead of anything we have in the US. We ate lunch there, and had a tour of the village given to us by a young Ethipian woman. As I said, an uplifting and awesome experience.

Next we visited the Atlit prison complex where the British warehoused captured illegl immigrants during the 1940s when the hated British White Paper that restricted Jewish immigration to Palestine precisely when it was needed most. This is where the illegal immigrants were kept until the British could ship them to Cyprus.

Then it was on to Tel Aviv for our final banquet at whch we shared our thoughts and spoke about how the visit to Israel has changed our lives and impacted us. We said good-bye and expressed our appreciation to our outstanding guide, Itzik, and our excellent driver, Moti. And here we are at the airport, 1 1/4 hours before our departure.

All of us have been profoundly moved by our trip to Israel. Plan to join me on our next Israel adventure!

The 2009 Israel group hopes to see all of you in shul this coming Shabbos!

Rabbi Androphy