I had a wonderful time with my family the past few weeks. I was blessed with a visit from two daughters who live way too far away, added to my four sons and their families who live near, and then a short visit from my two sisters. It was two weeks full of a lot of talking and seeing my most loved sites of Kansas City, and lots of preparation for an event on both weekends. I was blessed to be quite healthy through most of that time, so I could enjoy it thoroughly.

The big event that closed both weeks with my family was to celebrate a Jewish holiday called Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) that Bill and I observed with some of our Israeli friends while we were in Israel last year in early October. We wanted to do our best to recreate the holiday and share it with our loved ones in tribute of our new Jewish friends and in solidarity with them and their country.

This blog post is definitely taking a different direction than all the others, but my experience has been so formative and intertwined in every part of my life in the past year, that I wanted to share it. 

We spent our first 5 days in Israel with our tour guide, Yoav, who gave us experiences and views and information that has changed our lives forever. He helped us understand the dynamics of sharing a country with so many cultures melted together. He showed us the diverse religious ideologies (Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Druze, etc) and how they influence neighborhoods and industries and politics. He inspired us with the ambition and ingenuity of the people of Israel, which reminded us of the early settlers of Nauvoo and Utah in taking the worst of the land the country had to offer, and making it thrive. And he answered some tough questions I had about the current conflict and societal issues that plague the region.

On Friday, October 6, we had a beautiful celebration with Ariel, (a business associate of Bill’s and our friend) and his family. We learned that Sukkot follows Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), where the Jews fast and focus on mastering the relationship between themselves and God. A week or so later, for an entire week, they observe Sukkot, which is a time to remind us of our collective dependence on God (with family, communities, church, and nation). Each family or group makes a shelter that blocks them from the wind and sun, but is open enough to the sky to see the stars (and let in rain if they’re lucky-and unlucky enough to get any rain during that week). They try to eat many meals during that week in the Sukka (shelter) and even sleep there some, to remember what the children of Israel experienced during the 40 years in the wilderness, and how completely dependent they were on God.

We spent the evening of Sukkot Shabbat experiencing the traditions of the holiday, learning about the history of the Jewish people in Israel, including their return from all the lands they had been scattered to over the millennia. Israel is the most diverse country in the world because of this and the many Arab people who are citizens of Israel, and most Israelis have an exceptional sense of tolerance and respect for differences in culture, ideals, religion and ways of being. We learned about the developing nation of Israel adopting Hebrew as their national language, as a step to uniting all the people from the different countries that immigrated there. It was a great equalizer, as only the religious scholars spoke Hebrew in that time period, so every newcomer was on the same footing. I asked some very difficult questions and received intelligent and balanced answers. It was one of the most impactful evenings of my life, and continues to influence me.

The morning after Sukkot with our friends (October 7, 2023), we woke up to bombs overhead from Gaza (we were staying in Jaffa) and news of the attack by the terror group Hamas on the Jewish kibbutz (farming communities) and a music festival just an hour south of where we were staying. We found that our friend, with whom we had spent such a wonderful evening the night before, would say goodbye to his family that day to join the IDF as a reservist, to help his country in their fight for peace and survival.

We made it home after four very tense days, because of countless prayers in our behalf, many miracles, and the extraordinary help of our friends (and a few strangers) there. Ariel guided us through our escape process during breaks from the military training and duties he was thrown into.  Our tour guide, Yoav , who took his son to his military post just a few hours before he picked us up, took us to his home further north, away from the bombs in Tel Aviv, then connected us with a Christian guide in Jordan a day later. Suggestions from a well-connected and experienced tour guide from the US (who amazingly left with his tour group the night before the attack) opened our eyes to the possibility of traveling through Jordan to fly out of Amman, instead of Tel Aviv, where all flights were cancelled for more than a week. And finally, the guide in Jordan who knew how to get us through security at the border and got us safely to Amman. Thirty-six hours later, we were finally home in peace and security.

Our new friends and the nation of Israel were mourning the loss of thousands of loved ones, being attacked daily from the south, north and east, and preparing for war.

Before we went to Israel, I knew very little beyond my Bible and Holocaust knowledge about the nation and people of Israel, and even less about the Middle East region. In preparation for the trip, I had read 4 books about the Jews and Arabs and their ancient and modern histories and conflict, but I was still quite confused. I think it is difficult for the Western/Christian/Judeo psyche and experience to really understand Middle Eastern ideals and religion. In addition, there is so much information and misinformation floating around from the media that it is often hard to know what to believe.

I came home understanding more, impressed with Israel, shocked to see the poverty their neighbors live in, and hungry to understand all of it in depth. In the next several months, I read 12 more books from all sides of the conflict and studied countless articles and documents trying to see things clearly. So many different accounts and opinions on the same events and conflicts took enormous effort to sort through. It took months, but I gradually came to better understand the complex histories and relationship of these clashing cultures and was comfortable forming a firm opinion.

Everyone has to form their own opinions about things, but my conclusion came down to this: “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt 7:15-20).