By David Glass
I’ve never been to Israel.
I’ve been to Iceland, Italy, Temple Israel (in both Detroit and West Bloomfield). But never Israel. Truthfully, I never thought about going, either. If I’m just sticking to the “I’s” on my bucket list: there’s India, Ireland, and Inverness (the city in Scotland not the golf course in Toledo) that all have a greater pull.
But then things started to change. I changed jobs and began working at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan of Detroit. Suddenly Israel was all around me.
I found out that, since 1994, Federation has partnered with three Israeli municipalities in a region known as the Central Galilee. This is a place where Detroit Tiger baseball hats and Tamarack sweatshirts are commonplace. This is like our home away from home, where Detroiters are always welcome and treated like family. A place where Israelis and Detroiters can make meaningful one-to-one relationships. Now that sounds interesting—and fun!
I also learned about the dizzying array of other things to see and do in our Holy Land. Floating and mud bathing in the Dead Sea, hitting the cosmopolitan nightclubs of Tel Aviv, taking in a professional soccer match. Not to mention how much I would love the amazing Israeli food!
I learned about the Law of Return, Mt. Herzl and Yad Vashem. And most importantly, I learned from every single person I talked to who’s been there, how a trip to Israel as a Jew is life changing. Mind-blowing in fact. And a profound experience like traveling nowhere else on Earth.
So, I guess this “I” has it, and has me wanting to go someday. Maybe even March 12-21, 2023, on Federation’s Motor City Mission. Because knowing what I know now about Israel can only be better by going with other people I know.
I’ve never been to Israel. But I’ve also never been more interested in going than right now. Am Yisrael Chai! Next year in Jerusalem.
Registration for Federation’s Motor City Mission is now open. Whether it’s your first time or your next time to Israel, this time it’s going to be a journey like no other. Learn more.
Two communities. One family. Discover more how Federation’s Israel & Overseas Department and Partnership2Gether are bringing Detroiters and Israelis closer together.
