Leaving on a jet plane

The night before we take off... a day in the air before the trip "begins"... all packed... all notes written... all errands run...

Feeling what?

Great anticipation for who knows what. Imagining a program in the mind is very different than seeing it on the ground... because there is always the unanticipated...

My first trip to Israel was in the summer of '65... 42 years ago... I arrived to start my second trip on June 14, 1967... two days after the Six Day War ended. Israel today is compelling for other reasons... not for the foundation myth of Ari Ben Canaan... but as the latest chapter in the millennial saga of competing historical narratives (see this past Shabbat's haftorah reading about Jeptha). Today there is guarded optimism as Egypt, Jordan and Israel are about to meet together later this week. But we are old enough to know that more than guarded optimism is not warranted.

I am looking forward to this trip... because of the interesting mix of people who are joining us, because of the curious juxtapositions which we will be encountering, and because of the serious issues which we will be grappling with.... about Israel and about ourselves.

More later...

Richard