As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I am traveling here to Israel as part of a trip with the Israel Collective. There are about 25 or so of us on this trip, plus a few of our guides, Josh and Raj.
We boarded the plane for Israel at the JFK airport on Monday night. The first experience was going through the El Al airline security, which begins with a pretty intense interrogation before you even get your boarding pass. They take a long time asking each passenger a lot of questions, such as: What is your name? What’s the purpose of your travels? Do you know anyone there? Is this your first time? Do you have family or friends in any other Middle East countries? Did you pack your own bag? Where are you from? It doesn’t seem to end. It’s like a game of 21 questions. Don’t trip up. The young woman with the airline who helped me was friendly, but lots of questions. She looked at my passport, walked away two times, came back with more questions. Finally, she let me through.
Once I had my boarding pass and checked my bag, I went through the regular TSA security line, as other members of our group were ahead and some behind, in the ticketing and TSA lines. We were at the airport with plenty of time to spare, thankfully. I was also given an appointment for a specific time (10:30pm) for our 11:45pm flight. That appointment was so that El Al airlines could go through a separate security screening with me. They took me in a back room near the gate, took my bags, searched and screened them, while I waited in a waiting room with a few other passengers going through a similar process. This airline doesn’t play around. And while this seems intensive, I respect the fact that they are well trained professionals doing everything they can to keep their airline safe and the people of their country safe. After all, Israel has a history of planes getting hijacked and attacked and it is hated by many around the world, especially Islamic terrorists. But because of these security measures, El Al Airlines is now the safest airline in the world.
We were pleased to also be able to fly on one of their new 787 Dreamliner planes. It was nice! Once I got seated in my window seat, I noticed two young American adults in my row. They both looked familiar. We had just quickly met the other 25 or so people in our group, so I thought they were both with our Israel Collective group, so I introduced myself to Rob and Jared.
That’s when Rob informed me that Jared was not with us, but just happened to be sitting next to he and I. Jared then proceeded to tell us that he is with an organization called Our Soldiers Speak. His organization is also bringing a group to Israel this week. The group left two days earlier, but he embarrassingly forgot to update his passport and he didn’t realize it until he arrived to the JFK airport. Ten years went by quicker then he could imagine. So, he couldn’t board the flight that night, but had the passport updated and expedited to him and was able to rebook for the flight we were on.
Jared kept Rob and I entertained for quite a while. Very talkative (in a good way) and very interesting. This is his sixth trip to Israel and he had lots of knowledge to impart on us. He also showed me a photo of his very large collection of books on Israel and gave me some top recommendations. Yes, another person to talk books with. Jared said he has an Israel obsession. He is ethnically Jewish, grew up in New York, and came on the trip with some family some years back. He was hooked and kept coming back. He then joined Our Soldiers Speak, which primarily brings officers with the Israeli Defense Force to college campuses throughout the United States to share their fascinating stories and experiences. You can read more about them here. Jared also blogs for the Israel Times and you can check out his writings here.
Jared and I exchanged information and I have a feeling we’re going to be connected for quite some time. As you know, I love meeting people doing great things and who are passionate about their work and Jared is one of those people – not to mention his passion for reading, writing, and traveling. We viewed each other’s itineraries and he believes we’ll be crossing over a few times throughout our group’s trips. We almost were going to give him a ride to Tiberias after we landed on our group’s bus, since he was also headed that way, but he found another way, and needed to get there earlier than we would be arriving, since we had one stop before we made it to Tiberias.
Once we landed, it was about 6:00 PM Israel time. We went through passport control and grabbed our luggage, and our group gathered together and got on a chartered bus to head to Caesarea. It was about an hour bus ride and we arrived in Caesarea around 8:00 PM. It had just gotten dark outside. The site we went to included shops and restaurants, which are usually quiet, but there was a concert going on in the amphitheater next door, so there was some loud music blaring throughout the grounds. This all overlooks the Mediterranean Sea.
Everything on this spot is on a very historical location. We walked through some of the ruins here to get to our very modern restaurant, where we feasted on some excellent Mediterranean food. After dinner, Josh and Raj, and our Israel tour guide, Johav, gave us some explanation about this area.
This exact spot in Caesarea is where Herod built his great temple. He named this port city Caesarea after the Roman emperor August Caesar. It was the second largest port in the Roman emperor, second only to Athens. Herod is the same Herod of the New Testament. He’s the same King Herod who was first informed of the birth of a “King of the Jews” by the Magi. He’s the same King Herod who slaughtered all the recently born infants because he was trying to kill Christ, the newborn child. Caesarea is also the area that Pontius Pilate once had his residence. Yes, this is the same Pontius Pilate who sentenced Jesus to death on a cross
While this area included the residences of Herod and Pilate, two men who tried to eradicate the beginnings of what became Christianity, Caesarea is also part of the early Christian Church’s history. This was the spot where the Apostle Peter first baptized the pagans (extending the faith to non-Jews). It’s where he baptized Paul, a Gentile, who ultimately became a great saint and one of the greatest evangelizers of the faith. Without Paul, perhaps Christianity would not have grown and spread the way it did. And that’s the point that Josh, Raj, and Johav wanted to make to us. While this city was built and contained two powerful earthly rulers who tried to kill Christ and put an end to Christianity, it was also from this city that Christianity began to spread. It would not be defeated, for it was not of this world.
We left Caesarea and got back on the bus around 11pm. We drove about an hour over to Tiberias, where we stayed at the Leonardo Plaza Hotel, which is situated right on the Sea of Galilee. When I got to my room and opened my window from the 10th floor, I could see we were right there on the Sea (which is essentially a very large lake) with some mountains surrounding it. I knew that when I awoke the next morning, I was going to have quite a view. But for now, it was time to get some sleep after a very long day. I am so grateful to have made it to the Holy Land, finding new friends and having helpful guides along the way. This week has some promise and it’s only just begun.