We Beat the Snow in Leaving the US, and We Arrive in Tel-Aviv

Greetings from Tel Aviv!

We all arrived here tonight, and we are overjoyed and privileged to be here, all together. Twenty of us landed at 4:10 PM local time today, two more arrived at 6:30 PM, and four of us arrived last Thursday to take in some special sites. But tonight in the banquet hall of the Dan Panorama Hotel in Tel Aviv, the twenty-six of us travelers, our guide Miri, and our tour arranger Ari met to dine and to orient ourselves to our days of seeing the land of Israel. Here we are after our ten-hour flight in Tel-Aviv:

Our flights to Israel were smooth and easy. The majority of us came through Newark, NJ last night, just before the snow that apparently fell all up and down the eastern seaboard. Those who came through Atlanta late last night were late leaving the airport, but arrived here safe and sound. It was just in the six hours after our departure from the states that a major snowfall hit the East – we got out just in time.

Above here is an image from the Continental flight out of Newark, which contained Jews from all across the spectrum: Orthodox, Reform, and even Black Hebrews (who are not really Jewish, but seem to claim some ancestry that connects them with us). Some travelers to Israel know that as soon as dawn is on the horizon, those who worship each morning rise to "daven" (pray) alone, or in a minyan, even on a plane.

As we said earlier, we arrived here without incident, though getting through passport control took an extraordinarily long time. After meeting Miri Lowenberg, our guide, in the baggage hall, we took our bags to the bus and loaded up for the twenty minute drive to the hotel in Tel-Aviv.

Our dinner in the hotel, after the airline meals we had on board, was a sumptuous feast of vegetables, meats, pastas, and sweets. And after supper, we took a walk across the street to the beach on the Mediterranean, where we posed for this picture:

Then some took a walk for ice cream and sodas on the beach and in nearby Jaffa, others retired to the hotel for a well-deserved night’s rest, before we have to rise for our 8:15 AM call to the bus for Monday’s itinerary of learning about Tel-Aviv as the first modern Jewish city in Israel, as well as about the history of the Jewish Diaspora where we all live.

There will be more photos tomorrow, but for now we say good night and prepare for a great day in the morning.