I just got back from a week in Israel. The folks who went on the trip with me were local Cleveland business and education leaders. Our goal was to understand the environmentally friendly new technologies that were being developed and deployed in Israel, with an intention of potentially bringing some of them home for deployment in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. We billed the trip as the “Clean and Green Tour,” and it proved to be a great success.
This was my second trip to Israel and on both occasions I have come away impressed by the ingenuity and spirit of the people and the volume of things they share…not just in faith, but in culture, outlook and spirit. Visiting Israel is a life changing experience. There is history everywhere and also clashes, contrasts and dichotomies. Before we left, everyone advised us to “be safe.” In reality, I have never felt safer than when I have been in Tel Aviv or Haifa. The conflicts are real there, but somehow they seem isolated. They are also way too complex for me to try to describe here or even for me to fully understand. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of opinions as to how to address them.
Normally, I would use this blog space to talk about customer service or information technology. This time, however, I thought I might just list some highlights, in random order, of the trip.
- We were visiting a windmill farm in the Golan Heights (still disputed territory). When we arrived, we knew we were only meters from the Syrian Border. What was surprising was that we were surrounded by a huge mine field!
- We visited the Dead Sea and it is.
- The Sea of Galilee is beautiful but is only a small lake. I had biblical proportions on my mind and was really surprised.
- The Jordan River was equally surprising. To have its “waters rush over you,” you would need to lie in it and then roll over.
- Capernaum was the site of the selection of the apostles. The place where Jesus walked on the water, distributed the loaves and fishes and did the Sermon on the Mount are also within 200 yards of there. Again, I was the victim of biblical proportion blindness.
- In the Golan, our Israeli host described the 1973 war with Syria and Egypt. During his description, he stopped to gather himself and looking out over the area he said, “A lot of guys died here.” It was the most moving part of the trip for me.
- We visited two Kibbutzim. Very different, and surviving because they have adapted. At one we learned a lot about organic farming. The other, En Geti, near Masada, we found a desert oasis and a great lunch. We also found a Kibbutz which had transformed itself from agriculture to tourism/hospitality. Pretty cool.
- In Tel Aviv, we spent the last day on the beach. In one visual sweep of the beach I saw a young woman in the skimpiest thong bikini I have ever seen. I then saw a family of ultra orthodox Jews out for a Sabbath stroll. No bikinis there. It is a land of contrasts.
- We spent a day at the Technion, Israel’s technical university and the alma mater of 70% of Israel’s engineering degreed folks. Very impressive research and tech transfer. Why not, it was founded by Albert Einstein!
- Haifa turned out to be delightful. I had always pictured it as an industrial town.
- We visited a lot of historical sites. Masada, Caesarea, Capernaum, Jerusalem, Skitopolis (very cool Roman ruins). All mind bending!
- Israeli wine is great. Classic “New World” wines. Don’t miss them.
- I loved restaurants that were classified as “kosher, but good!”
- “The people of Beet Shean have experienced hell.” A quotation by one of our hosts because the summertime temperature can reach 130F.
Not much else to say, other than go if you can.
