Travel: What We Discovered in Israel

The summer before our daughter's November 2007 bat mitzvah, my husband and I fulfilled a long-held dream by taking the family to Israel. We were long overdue. Our eldest son was grown and married; the second had already finished two years in college. It was a great time for our family to travel together and, especially to travel to Israel.

I can never describe everything we saw and did and experienced there. It goes so far beyond what travel guides can tell. How moving it was. At times, how exciting and inspirational. The sacred sites are breathtaking and profound. The sense of history is everywhere. The customs of daily life are such compelling reminders of what it is to live Jewishly. It's an awesome place where deserts bloom and people toil heroically with little concern for their personal safety or the minutia Americans obsess about.

Since I can't describe it all, I asked the family to list their favorite things we did there and here it is:

1. Seeing the roaring waters of Tel Dan.
2. Swimming under the waterfalls of Ein Gedi
3. Scuba diving in the ruins of the port of Caesarea
4. Shooting Uzi's near the Sea of Galilee
5. Digging at the Beit Guvrin archeological site
6. Jerusalem, of course. The Wall, the Kotel tunnel, walking the Stations of the Cross, Hezekiah's Water Tunnel in the City of David, a festival at Sultan's Pool, watching Orthodox weddings every weeknight at the hotel - except Friday, of course
7. Going to the rooftop to hear the church bells ringing along with the muslim call to prayer
8. Hiking up Masada and watching the sun rise over the Dead Sea
9. Discovering Tzefat
10. All the mysterious tunnels
11. The slippery old Dead Sea
12. Eating seafood while watching the lit-up boats at night in Tiberias

Considering that it's a rigorous trip and - in summer certainly - it can be quite hot, this is not a relaxing vacation. But if you think of it as an experience, you're unlikely to find another that will stir your blood like this one.

We highly recommend our guide, Itay Y'aari. See his site at http://www.i-tour.co.il