For many who are motivated to travel to the State of Israel, going there often seems to depend on timing and safety concerns. The fear factor weighs heavily, as do political and religious proclivities. But if traveling there to visit family and friends, to tour the land and the sites, and to reconnect and re-energize Jewishly, these welcome and precious purposes, among others, should transcend other considerations.
The question comes down to: When should I go? I believe the time to go is now, always now.
My motivation for scheduling a recent trip was the same as it was the previous two times I went after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in the southern part of the country on Oct. 7, 2023. It was a cataclysmic Islamist invasion and pogrom against Israel and the Jewish people. I went then solely to express loving and wholehearted support for the people of Israel—the soldiers, the bereaved families, the hostage families, the various other defenders and leaders of the land and people, and the all-encompassing community of all its faithful citizens.
I embarked on this third visit, a six-day solo solidarity mission, with overwhelming Zionist passion and a clear purpose—with no prearranged schedule or tapping any insider connections.
I set out to visit recuperating and rehabilitating soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces who were wounded over the course of Israel’s two-year war with Hamas in Gaza and on other fronts. I went to three hospitals: the Mount Scopus branch of Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem; the Shamir Medical Center (formerly Assaf Harofeh Medical Center) in Be’er Ya’akov; and Ichilov Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.
At one of these, a nurse told me that she had good news and bad news for me. The bad news? She had no one for me to visit. The good news? She had no one for me to visit!
Of course, this was wonderful to hear, as fewer wounded are coming in. Many have healed and been discharged, and others are being treated on an outpatient basis. In the other two hospitals, there were still some patients.
I was told that while in the earlier stages of the war, visits from the public were constant, over time they have slowed. As such, there was tremendous appreciation (with hugs and tears) for the time spent with individual soldiers.
Injuries ranged in type and severity; however, the indomitable spirit emanating from these patients was nothing less than inspiring. For each person I visited, I said a blessing and gave a hand-drawn card written by the children of our congregation. Although patients, families and staff thanked me, I responded: “You are the heroes.”
And I asked them to accept our profound and eternal gratitude, as each of them is a gibor Yisrael, a “hero of Israel” and the Israeli people. What an honor it was to speak with them.
I also had the good fortune to meet with Tzvika Mor, the father of former hostage Eitan Mor, a 23-year-old security guard working at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, who saved many lives before being kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists and dragged into Gaza. Eitan, who survived two years in horrific captivity, was in the very last group of 20 living hostages returned to Israel this past October. His father is chairman of the Tikva (“Hope”) Forum. He spent countless hours and endless energy during his son’s ordeal supporting Israel’s achieving total victory over Hamas as the best way to quickly and definitively end the horror inflicted upon Israel and the Jewish people, and to get all the hostages home.
I was also privileged to meet with bereaved family member Rabbi Yehoshua Shani, the father of IDF Capt. Ori Shani, who fell in battle on Oct. 7.
Ori, a 22-year-old platoon commander in the Golani Brigade, was at the Kissufim military outpost and succeeded in saving many innocent lives while eliminating many invading terrorists before he was killed on that dark day. His father is chairman of the HaGevura (“Heroism”) Forum, an organization of bereaved families who want to see Israel in total victory over Hamas, thus honoring their loved ones’ ultimate sacrifice, and fulfilling their loved ones’ mission and vision.
Interspersed with these activities, I spent the little remaining time in synagogues, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, at cemeteries, and visiting with Israeli family and friends, which put me in touch with the rhythms, circumstances, feelings and visions animating society during these challenging times. Also, with one of Israel’s superb tour guides, I had the merit of drawing nourishment from our historic roots on a special individualized tour of the newly opened Pilgrimage Road, the very stones of which Jews used to ascend to the Beit Hamikdash (“Holy Temple”) in Jerusalem more than 2,000 years ago.
In addition, timed to the Jewish calendar and land, I visited one of the oldest and largest trees in Israel—the famous sycamore in Netanya—in anticipation of the upcoming holiday of Tu B’Shevat.
To an unusual extent, this past trip, I was overcome with a sense of belonging. As antisemitism rages through the United States and the world, it felt fulfilling to be in the land that God gave to the Jewish people as an inheritance. It felt safe. It felt good to be home.
So, when is the best time to travel to Israel? Now!
Now is the time to visit our people—to support them, love them, be inspired by them. And, in the process, to simultaneously re-energize your own Jewish Zionist bona fides.
