Clever Magazine, Vol IV, #1, "Israel, the enduring Land" (www.clevermag.com)

Wanna read the latest from Clever Magazine?
Click here and return to the coverpage!

Jerusalem

Israel: the enduring land

by T. Sue Akerson

I was sitting in my home office with the radio on when I heard the news flash of another suicide bombing in Israel. "Oh no, not again!"

Why was I so upset about a place thousands of mile away? I am not Jewish, nor do I have Jewish relatives. But I have deep feelings for Israel and the Jewish people. I became interested when I was a teenager and was reading Exodus by Leon Uris. This book opened up a world that I found both exciting and intriguing. In the following years, I read many books on the Jewish people and their history and my yearning to visit Israel never left. I never thought there would be a time when I would go to Israel because I was a young mother raising a family and there was no thought of going to far away places.

Now, some 43 years after I had read Exodus, my children were grown, my husband was retired, and there is time and money to travel. We started to see the world. Still the thought going to the Middle East was remote.

When the year 2000 came, it was very special to Catholics. Many people were planning trips to Rome or the Holy Land. Our church had a group going to The Holy Land. Several people asked, “Are you going, Sue”? My husband showed no interest. The trip would be in late summer and it would too hot for me. All that changed one evening. My friend Brother Charles was visiting and he started talking about the trip. That's when I realized this may be my only chance to see this far away place. Why not? There was no reason not to go.

Before I knew it, there we were in the Tel Aviv airport, and then it hit me, my God we are in Israel. It was the start of a wonderful adventure. We stayed in Jerusalem, a place I thought it would be very small, but it is a large modern city. It was built all around the Old City of Jerusalem. We traveled up and down Israel for twelve days. Almost everywhere you go in Israel, the very old and the new are side by side, just like Jerusalem.

A hillside in Israel

The trees were fabulous. We were told that two thousand year ago when the Jews were driven out of Israel there were many trees. As the years passed, the Bedouin tribes roamed the country. These people are wanders, they do not cultivate the land and over the centuries, they exhausted all the trees. Early in the last century, the Jewish pioneers came and started planting many trees.

We were showed an area that was dedicated to the Holocaust victims. There are six million trees in this area. Can you picture six million trees? It was an awesome sight. Israel is very dry and desert-like. The people are passionate about their trees. We found that they plant trees as often as possible. Many people who live elsewhere send money for trees.

We asked if we could donate some trees, and our guide was quite happy to take us to a place where we purchased a tree. It was just ten dollars including maintenance. We had a small ceremony when we planted our trees, and it was quite touching. The guide showed us where all the other trees would be planted. It was a good feeling to think of leaving behind something beautiful and living, like a little part of yourself.

Sue and Sam planting their tree.

We were told our names would be recorded in a book and that all of the statistics would be carefully documented. Both Sam and I had just recently lost our mothers so we dedicated our trees in their names.

We saw all the ancient places from Jerusalem to Jericho and the Dead Sea, and everywhere we went, we were reminded of bible stories, and all those great Cecil B. Demille movies. Israel is a hard land. It made me wonder how the people could have love for such a harsh place. We saw so many Jews from all over the world. It was not just a place for a vacation. It lived in them, it was so a part of their being. These people are so intense and devoted to this land and to God. The people who live in Israel have a great pride and love for their land and it is very deeply felt. I felt that they were the caretakers of this ancient place for all people everywhere.

Was it hot? Yes, it was, but when I was in these very sacred places, it did not matter. It has been hard to write this because it was such an intense experience that it is difficult to express my feeling in words. It just stays in my heart and I was right, it was my only chance to see Israel, and I am so glad I took it.