Well, I'm back. And Lucy and I are still on speaking terms! In fact, it was a great trip. I spent a lot of time helping my oldest son get his apartment set up in Tel Aviv. He has a lovely apartment--a fifth floor walk-up just three blocks from the beach--and a nice roommate, plus I met and liked quite a few of the friends he's made there: Israelis, other Americans, an African guy from Cameroon, some Russians, an assortment of other types, male and female. He's working by day for a film company and by night as a bartender, and the whole experience has been a very good one for us. He's happy. He's living, at least temporarily, in the Jewish State. He looked good. His Hebrew has improved considerably. It was basically all as I had hoped it would be and I came home content. (Lucy also had a great time. We both did.)

I plan to write in more detail about my trip in the next bulletin, but I just want to say one thing to you even more efficiently by writing about it here. I can't imagine a more energizing, or more satisfying, way to spend a week than by wandering around Tel Aviv, then spending Shabbat in Jerusalem. The prices (both airfare and hotel) were excellent, especially the latter. The energy in the streets is, as always, astounding. The shopping was great. The food was terrific. The whole thing was worth every penny. I felt totally safe every minute I was there--safe and at peace and wholly unworried about my own security--and I encourage you all, and especially those of you who haven't been, to see what Israel is all about in the only truly effective way there is: by travelling there in person, by eating with Israelis in their restaurants, travelling with Israelis in shared cabs or on the bus, shopping with Israelis in the shuk or along the great shopping streets of Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, and by spending a week or two in their space and on their turf. Believe me, you'll have a good time!

Israelis like to talk. I found myself striking up conversations with strangers easily and, in some ways, those were the most interesting encounters I had. The mood I encountered was the traditional combination of upbeat, stubborn and realistic. They all know that there are powerful enemies out there who want no good for Israel, and that some of those enemies have no bottom line when it comes to making their point clearly. But, even so, I came home feeling hopeful about the future and more committed than ever to making Israel an ongoing part of my life and the life of my family. Really, it was just a fabulous week and I just wish I could have taken all of you along with me. I lost my phone on Sunday (by leaving it on a bus!), then phoned my own number and met the woman who found it. She was from Rishon Letziyon, but her brother was travelling to Tel Aviv Sunday evening to open their store on Rechov Ha'avodah. So found the store, met the brother, then met their business partner and ended up hearing all about their parents' aliyah to Israel from the former Soviet Union and how things have gone for them since they arrived. It's always like that in Israel: one thing seems naturally just to lead to another....

Cordially,

Rabbi Martin S. Cohen