Israel With Allan

Even if you don't enter Tel Aviv's Carmel Market hungry, you will sure end up that way.

Traveling around Israel, we come across many markers, monuments, historical sites and military cemeteries, reminding us of the struggles and sacrifices necessary for the birth and protection of this country. They are marked by this somber day, Memorial Day. Sirens sound around the country and people halt wherever they are. Solemn music fills the radio. I offer this poem as my own small way to try to understand this reality.

MY COUSIN
My cousin, a short, rounded hulk,
Was asked to lead Shabbat morning praying.
With prayer shawl pulled taut round his bulk,
He hummed to his own gentle swaying.
His voice lifted, resonant, strong,
As he entered the garden of psalm.
People sang softly along,
Riding his current of calm.
The Torah was brought forth to read.
Passed round, everyone kissed it.
But my cousin, with great need,
Pressed lips as if he’d deeply missed it.
In my mind that outpost returned,
Where my cousin had clutched a scroll.
Everyone’s head now turned.
Each saw him among razor rolls;
The Egyptians had pointed their rifles
At the eight soldiers who had survived.
The prisoners kept their cries stifled
As they shuffled past friends’ burnt-out lives.
In my cousin screamed soldiers and rockets.
In him swirled shell slam and smoke.
But now, from his rumpled pocket
He unfolded a paper and spoke.
He said Jacob’s ladder extended
From heaven to a scrubby stone trail.
But that ladder’s course never had ended,
And in one shaft of light reached his jail.
He finished, walked back to his chair.
The Torah was kissed and returned.
Beside him, I could not but stare
At the web where his fingers had burned.

Let's make up for lost time by stretching our legs and our minds. For those of you in and near Jerusalem, there is still room to join my tour this Friday: Trains, Graves and Prophets. Details by the Picture below. Please register using the e-mail address or WhatsApp. For those of you not here, well, you'll come back soon.

I will be guiding this tour next summer, 2020. Just open the link for information. It promises to be a great tour. Here is a great opportunity to visit Israel.

Biblical Holy Land Tour June 2020 | Bridges For Peace in the United States of America You are invited to join a 12-day, Biblical Holy Land Tour with Bridges for Peace Representative Host Jill Czelusta. Walk through the Land of the Bible and let it come alive in living color ... for a journey of a lifetime!