Late Sunday, we arrived, just in time to join our Israeli friends, the Adlers, and 5 others who took them up on the invitation to see Israel through their eyes. We will travel to 5 places in 10 days, with special tours and speakers and not so much time to sleep.
This view from our window is of Tel Aviv's Mediterranean coast. This is NOT the city of Karen's visit 25 years ago, but since then the city has more than quadrupled in size.
Today, Monday, has been Holocaust Remembrance Day. A country wide minute of silence was observed. This panel was developed by a local middle school we visited.
Today there are very few Holocaust survivors, and the majority of today's Israeli families did not come as a direct result of the Holocaust, but all people here know that it was a time which came closer than any other to wiping out the Jewish population. And now, 75 years later, it is first time there are more Jewish people living since before the Holocaust.
With a country that is 70% Jewish and huge divides between those that consider themselves Orthodox, Practicing and Secular, it will be an interesting week of teasing out the domestic aspects of the Israeli story. However, one thing is clear - there is a strong sense of pride and optimism across all generations which is contagious.
