Journey Home to Israel

Daily Journal for Sunday, November 9, 2008

The final day for two-thirds of The Fellowship's 2008 Journey Home Tour began at Beit Canada Absorption Center in Jerusalem, a project for new immigrants to Israel funded by IFCJ in conjunction with the Jewish Agency.

There, new immigrants live in small, sparse apartments while they learn Hebrew and participate in employment workshops and counseling, lectures, field trips, and other cultural and social activities developed to ease their transition to life in Israel.

Newcomers who introduced themselves to Journey Home visitors included a mathematics professor from Russia who has been in Israel five months; a meteorologist from the Ukraine, in Israel two months; an artist from Argentina, in Israel two months; a couple and their 18-month-old baby rescued from the war in Georgia, in Israel one month; and a film director from Serbia, in Israel for three months.

A former resident of Russia told the attentive audience that he had visited Israel 10 times before making aliyah (immigrating) three months ago. "It was hard for Jews to be Jews" in Russia, he explained, adding that leaving his job, family and friends for a better life in Israel was difficult. "It's been a struggle," he admitted.

Fellowship visitors were particularly touched when they were invited into one couple's compact apartment and were graciously offered hospitality treats of lollipops and cookies.

From the absorption center - one of 32 in Israel - the Journey Home Tour headed to the Western Wall, a sacred site for Jews. Yael Eckstein Farkas, daughter of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, IFCJ founder/president, explained the significance of the holy site which is part of the original wall surrounding the Temple Mount. Farkas said when she is asked what people can do for Israel, she replies, "Pray."

"Prayer is the weapon of mass destruction," Farkas added to a chorus of "amens" from Fellowship participants who joined her at the wall, in separate areas designated for men and women, to pray over hundreds of requests sent by Fellowship partners.

Following lunch and last-minute shopping in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, the majority of tour members returned to the Regency Hotel to pack for their return flights home. As they boarded buses for Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, there were many tears and vows of returning to Israel.

EXTENDED STAY BEGINS MONDAY: One-third of the Journey Home Tour participants are staying on in Jerusalem for an extended three days of study with Rabbi Eckstein. The studies will be filmed as part of upcoming "Journey to Zion" programming. Monday's three two-hour sessions will be filmed in the garden at the Garden Tomb, on the promenade overlooking the Holy City, and, at night, in the Israel Museum and Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls are kept.