2024-03 Israel

Israel 41,

April 27, 2024

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday was somewhat cool with temperatures in the mid 20s and cloudy so I decided to do some touring by car. I took towels and a bathing suit just in case, but the weather was really not nice enough for my usual swim in the Med. I drove to Natanya a medium size city north of Tel Aviv. The city seems nice to live in but less interesting to visit than Tel Aviv. There is a central market place/plaza with stores and restaurants which I drove around but didn’t stop as I could not find a parking spot. I then drove along the coast to observe the beach. The beach is at the bottom of a cliff that has a beautiful point of view. You could either park for free and walk down, which was quite a hike or drive down and pay for parking. I chose the later but drove through the parking lot to get a good view of the beach. It was windy so there were a lot of surfers out. I love to watch surfers. It seems like a sport that I should try once, with lessons of course, before I get too old to do these activities.

I then drove to a Caesarea, another town north of Natanya. Israel is a tiny country so the distances from one place to another are not far. All of the land in between the towns is exploited one way or another with agriculture or industry. They don’t have the endless forests here like in Canada. You can’t really get lost as you can always see civilization. Caesarea, as the name implies was built by the Romans. Herod the king got a bad rap in the bible for certain deeds. However, he was quite the builder. Masada was built by him as a summer palace. After the Romans, there were numerous conquests by the Arabs, the Crusaders and the Ottomans to name a few. The city was an important port and has an aqueduct. The ruins, as the name implies were quite ruined. However some vestiges remain which are worth seeing. To top things off and to enjoy the view, I had a capuccino and a gelato.

I then drove to Herzliya which is another town just north of Tel Aviv. The town is very pretty with numerous parks. There is a lot of wealth here and the houses in the town are grandiose. Unlike North America where the front lawn is very important, these houses as in much of Europe are protected by high walls making viewing somewhat difficult.

Last evening I was invited to Vickie’s for a Passover Shabbat dinner. Vickie was very influential in getting me my place with MDA. Vickie is originally from Turkey but made Aliyah many years ago. She always invites young students to her house when I am invited. Yesterday I made the acquaintance of 2 young fellows from Turkey who were spending several months here learning Hebrew and doing internships in their respective fields of interest. It was interesting talking to them about their lives as Jews in Turkey. Turkey is a Muslim country which has had a checkered relationship with Israel. I must say that having lived in Canada for 74 years, up until Oct 7, I have never directly or indirectly had an antisemitism incident towards me. The 2 fellows gave me the impression that as Jews, they had to be cautious living in Turkey. Outward displays of Judaism would not be dangerous but could possibly not be welcome. Seeing the demonstrations in Canada, the US and Europe, I can only hope that we are not moving towards this problem.

Love,

Brian

Natanya