by NECHAMA (MARY) RETTING

I can’t believe it!

I have finally been to Israel! What an amazing experience! All those ancient places we read about in the Torah exist, and all of you can visit and experience them too!

I am part of a wonderful program, created and funded by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s Israel in DC initiative and The Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning (PJLL), called Israel in our Heart, Mind, Soul and Gan (school). This program’s goal is to create and establish ties with Israel starting with our youngest learners, preschoolers! I spent 10 wonderful days traveling, learning and experiencing Israel with a group of preschool teachers and directors from Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia.

We floated in the Dead Sea. Did you know that the Dead Sea is shrinking? If you don’t go to Israel soon, you may not get to experience this amazing place! There is so much salt in the water that nothing can live there (hence the name), but you can float, no matter what you weigh! (That was worth the trip right there!)

We went to Masada (I’d like to say I climbed up, but I had a fever of 102 that day, so I took the cable car). There is such an amazing view! We could see all that King Herod built. As our guide put it, he was the CEO. He created palaces, saunas and beautiful bath houses. After traveling in the desert, all you want to do is take a bath! After Herod “entertained” his guests, he could ply them for whatever he wanted! He also had a great place to run to when his enemies were after him.

We went to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. We were able to see the caves and envision what it must have been like to find them. With this discovery, an additional 1,000 years of Jewish history was created! Did you know that the Parliament voted for Israel to become a state on the same date that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found? November 29. Hmmmm.

Words cannot describe the beauty of Jerusalem. The whole city is incredible—the buildings, the people, the children walking home alone from school (even little kids without parents!!), the shuk (market), the jewelry, the history! Inspiring! We visited the Kotel, which was the last remaining wall (on the west) surrounding the holy Temple. A few years ago, the southern wall was discovered and exposed. For me, going to the southern wall was so moving. We sat on the same steps that the Jewish pilgrims traveled to three times a year (Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuot) to give gift offerings for the Kohain Gadol to offer to God. They steps were created in a pattern, (small steps, then a big step, small steps, then a big step) leading to three doors. The layout makes it easy for people to arrive and more challenging for people to leave—there were only two doors, and the steps were big and wide, harder to walk down). My second-grade class wrote notes that I placed into the Kotel, I also put a few of the notes into the southern wall.

We visited a few ganim (schools) in Beit Shemesh. That was an interesting experience: 35 preschoolers with one teacher and one aide! The children all shared one drinking cup by the water fountain! The playground looked like my garage (old broken microwaves, toasters, you name it!). The children played outside by themselves. There was a lot of incredible creativity (and no fear of lawsuits)!

We also went to Neot Kedumim, a Biblical Landscape garden. We experienced all seven species in amazing ways. Since we were there before Shavuot, we were able to see the ripe wheat ready for harvest. We witnessed the whole process from stalk to bread. Now I know what threshing and winnowing are! It was so cool to see this process and imagine that this is what the Jewish people used to do when the Holy Temple existed. Before Shavuot, they would gather the wheat to bring to Jerusalem to give to the Kohanim. We also saw the other six species of Israel, as described in Deuteronomy 8:8: “a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey”—grapes, olives, dates, figs and pomegranates, each in their various stages of ripeness. Everything is so beautiful!

I would like to thank the PJLL for offering this wonderful class, Jewish Federation’s Israel in DC initiative for sponsoring it, Marian Gorman for helping to send me, Sharon Sherry for making sure I was able to go and making sure my classes ran smoothly, and my husband for his support and for taking care of everything while I was gone. If you have never been to Israel, then go, now. If you have been, it is time to go again. Call the Rabbi and a travel agent to book the trip! The experience that will change your life!

(Reprinted from the July 2007 Contemporary.)