EXPLORING ISRAEL
We moved to the Upper Galilee area 
of Israel, to visit our partnership region, 
and learned that, in Israel, there is 
no such thing as the Central Galilee 
area. That’s a Detroit-only designa-
tion. Regardless of nomenclature, we 
received a most warm welcome, a great 
dinner and friendship.
By the way, our primary Bus No. 3 
guide was Zalman Spivak, the “Z-man.” It 
is an understatement to say that he was 
one knowledgeable person. And, he did 
like to talk. This was all to our benefit. 
It was like having a professor of Israeli 
history on board. We learned a lot from 
Zalman, who was also a good guy.
I might also mention we ate well 
— really well. Not that I relished the 
superb meals or the outstanding morn-
ing buffets with the great Israeli fruit, or 
the fine Israeli tomatoes and salads, or 
the pastries or anything like that. 
At one very tasty lunch at the winery 
at Moshav Yesud HaMa’ala, we also 
met some of our favorite people on 
the mission. Jacob and Jonathan, and 
Shira and Brooke, from JARC. It was a 
real pleasure to meet them and see the 
unbridled joy of Jonathan and Brooke. 
I thought one of the great moments 
of the mission occurred during our 
evening at Kibbutz Sarid. The smile on 
Jonathan’s face when Jacob took him 
to dance with the members of the kib-
butz was something to remember. We 

all agreed that we never saw a bigger 
smile in our lives.
I’m still in awe of the tremendous 
Middle Eastern spread provided for us at 
the Tzidkiyahu Restaurant in Jerusalem. 
This was, perhaps, the best meal I’ve 
ever had … Ever. This was a bona fide 
feast by any standards. I speak for Bus 
No. 3 when I say we left there stuffed to 
the gills, but happy and content.
I found the excursion to the Golan and 
Israel’s border with Lebanon most inter-
esting. It was sobering to be so close to 
a potential area of conflict, knowing that 
we were being watched by hostile forc-
es from Hezbollah and/or Iran. But, after 
listening to Col. Ilan Lavi, and meeting 
his son who was about to enter the IDF, 
we felt secure.
This leads to my most moving 
moment. As we moved to Jerusalem, 
our first stop was Mt. Herzl and the new 
Soldiers Memorial. It is a spectacular 
work of architecture, but most moving 
was the wall of bricks, each with the 
name of a fallen soldier. 
I noticed that one of our superb 
guides, Itzik Yzanai, was staring at the 
wall and having an emotional moment. 
He was looking at bricks with names 
and the date of Feb. 4, 1997. Itzik lost 
many comrades that day when two IAF 
helicopters crashed killing all 73 soldiers 
on board. Having served in the Marines, 
I understood the comradery he felt in the 
IDF and the deep loss.

CELEBRATING SHABBAT 
This was a Shabbat to remember. As 
sundown approached, our rabbis sang 
to us as we sat on the Hemerlin Steps, 
with a panoramic view of Jerusalem 
behind them. We then moved to the Wall 
and saw the Davidson Center. In short, 
in the midst of the Holy City, one sees 
Detroit connections.
Finally, the walking tour of the Old 
City was special. The feeling one has 
while walking on the same path as Jews, 
Christians and Muslims from thousands 
of years ago cannot be described. 
My trip ended a bit like it began, with a 
new friend. When I arrived at Ben-Gurion 
for the flight home, I traveled with Bus 
No. 3 Rabbi Mike Moskowitz. We lucked 
out and went through security and bag 
check in about 15 minutes (Sorry to men-
tion this because I know the previous 
day it took 4-5 hours to clear security for 
some Mission folks). This meant Rabbi 
Mike and I had a leisurely coffee before 
our flight, and some really great conver-
sation. 
BTW: Debbie and Robert Simon. You 
asked me if the JN was going to write 
about the trip. Well, here it is! It was 
good traveling with you. 
I will always be grateful to the lead-
ers of the DJN Foundation who sent 
Jackie and me to the fantastic land of 
Israel. 

APRIL 6 • 2023 | 19

The cemetery at Mt. Herzl
A typical buffet on the trip. We were not allowed to go hungry!

JOHN HARDWICK/FEDERATION

MIKE’S MEMORIES continued from page 17

