Category Archives: Holy Land

Expert Guides Enrich Experiences

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Igal Zeevi

BY CHRIS MEYER

“I am Igal. I love my country. I love the stories. And I love to share with visitors.”

With that, my whirlwind tour of Israel began. Igal Zeevi proved each of those declarations over the next three days. His passion, his expert story telling, his careful pacing of facts, and his sense of humor made the Holy Land shine even brighter.

How you experience a destination matters, and the value of a great guide can not be understated. In Wyoming, our guide, who had both Native American and European blood, explained the complexities of conflict and reconciliation in the American West personally and authentically. In Tuscany, our guide related the charm and quirks of Italians with affectionate humor. “We may not rule the world like the Romans, but we make a great espresso and nice pasta. Carpe diem!” 

After a serpentine uphill drive through a Jerusalem neighborhood, Igal pointed to structures across the valley. “You are standing on the Mount of Olives and there is the Old City of Jerusalem. Welcome to your spiritual home!” The entire group was elated. Hearts skipped a few beats. We were really there! 

ISRAEL BY LAND AND SEA

Whatever the structure of your trip to Israel (or Italy, Ireland or Indonesia), securing the right guides is critical to making the experience all that it can be. Pre-trip research lays the foundation, but there is no substitute for a local expert who can provide the story behind the landmark and explain the psyche of the people. Great guides entertain, enlighten, inspire and even challenge.

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Our guide explained how this ancient amphitheater unearthed in Caesaria retains excellent acoustics.

Cruise itineraries also stop in the Greek Isles and Ephesus, so you can combine a pilgrimage with some rest and relaxation. And you can do it at cruise prices, which include food, onboard entertainment and transportation around the Mediterranean Sea.

If you’re like me, your introduction to Israel will whet your appetite for further exploration, and you will have a clearer picture of what you seek upon your return.

For a deeper dive, fly directly to Tel Aviv and take a guided 7- 10-day tour for the most economical and satisfying experience.

For first-timers, we recommend Globus Religious Vacations. We can arrange these for individuals, families and church groups. Pastors can even work hand-in-hand with the expert guides to customize the experience, arrange for baptisms, services, communion, etc. Imagine teaching about the Beatitudes and the site of the Sermon on the Mount.

Repeat visitors might want to dig deeper into certain aspects, and custom tour operators can design unique explorations. Many fascinating possibilities exist: walking the Gospel in Galilee, staying in a kibbutz, volunteering at an archaeologic dig or restoration project, embarking on a multi-day Biblical history exploration.

STIMULATING MIND, SOUL AND TASTE BUDS

Whichever way you choose to visit, you will find Israel more accessible, safer and less expensive than you might have thought. Taking the guided route will stir your soul and stimulate your mind — and taste buds.

“Try all of the different types of food,” Igal advised. “We love to eat. We love to gather around the table to share a meal. Sometimes there is a formal prayer.” A wry smile appeared. “Other times it’s  ‘They tried to kill us, but they didn’t. So let’s eat.’ ”

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Making pita in Nazareth.

We visited open-air markets with a plethora of fresh produce, Mideast treats such as baklava and stands selling falafel and shawarma (meat roasted on a rotisserie and served in pita similar to Greek gyros). Fresh seafood is plentiful, as you might expect from a coastal nation that produced the world’s most famous fishermen, who became Apostles of Jesus.

Igal waxed philosophical. “Israel is a small place with many walls. Walls around the old city of Jaffa. Walls around Jerusalem. Walls separating us from the Palestinians.” He points to his head. “The walls in our minds are the most difficult to break down.

“But I believe we are on the verge of a breakthrough. The Internet has changed everything. When I can Skype with a Palestinian in Ramallah, lines of communication open. Things are so much better for Israelis and Palestinians when the land is peaceful. Someday, I believe the entire nation will be like the blended ancient city of Jaffa, where Jews, Arabs and Christians live together.”

I remembered those words a couple days later, when I was with a Jewish dentist from New Orleans purchasing falafel from and conversing with two young Palestinians in the blended city of Nazareth, just down the road from the Church of the Annunciation, which commemorates the angel Gabriel informing Mary that she would give birth to God’s son.

GETTING UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

Jane

Expedia travel consultants like Jane Shobe make sure your travels are spectacular and expertly guided.

Yes, the Internet is a powerful tool for accessing information and opening lines of communication. But there is nothing like being there, walking where Jesus walked, experiencing the bustle of the place, taking in the smells and the tastes, and having fascinating personal encounters with people in a faraway place. That’s where change really happens — in us and in the world.

Chris Meyer is president of Expedia CruiseShipCenters of Orange County, a full-service travel agency. He can be reached at (800) 745-4015.

Israel: Nothing Like Being There

By Chris Meyer

I did not know how much I needed to go to Israel until I stood on the Mount of Olives and looked out at the walled Old City of Jerusalem. In some ways, this land felt quite foreign to this Californian, despite familiar landscape and climate.

Placing my prayer into a niche in the Wailing Wall.

Placing my prayer into a niche in the Wailing Wall.

At the same time it was like had come to my spiritual home. I have heard about these places my entire life — remember, Jesus wept for Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives — and the people were so warm and welcoming. It is a life-changing experience I want you to have, too. And it is a mission of my travel business to help you.

THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called God’s children” are words that reverberate over 2,000 years in challenge and truth. Stand on the peaceful Mount of the Beatitudes and look over the beautiful Sea of Galilee. Picture Jesus launching his ministry with revolutionary ideas of love and forgiveness.

A fresco depicting the Sermon on the Mount at the Church of the Beatitudes, built where the famous teaching is thought to have occurred

A fresco depicting the Sermon on the Mount at the Church of the Beatitudes, built where the famous teaching is thought to have occurred

 A boat found nearby and dated to the first century evokes images of Andrew and Peter at work when they heard, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Gaze at the wonderful, historic and broken Old City from the Mount of Olives and ponder Jesus’ weeping over his beloved Jerusalem. Contemplate the agony of the Crucifixion in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Then look up through the skylight dome and reflect on the wonder of the Resurrection.

The power of place amplifies the message and stirs the soul. You feel at the center of history because you are. And it is more accessible than you might think. 

HOW TO DO IT

Until January 2014, I had a distant notion of going to Israel…someday. Then I received an invitation from the nation’s Ministry of Tourism to join a travel trade show and tour — in three weeks. Now it was urgent. This was an offer I could not pass up.

Overlooking the Old (forward) and new Jerusalem from the Mount of Oilves.

Overlooking the Old (forward) and new Jerusalem from the Mount of Oilves.

 

Upon return, I’m telling everyone with that “someday” notion I once had, that they should move Israel up on the urgency scale. Certainly not to three weeks like me, but this place is too magnificent to put off indefinitely.

At my Expedia travel center, we have the connections and clout to arrange a first-rate, cost-effective journey anywhere on Earth — from a relaxing cruise to an intense pilgrimage. I already worked with the major tour companies with great Holy Land itineraries.

A visit to Israel is like going through an ancient passage to another time, place and consciousness.

A visit to Israel is like going through an ancient passage to another time, place and consciousness.

Now I have scouted exactly where you should go and got to know excellent operators and guides who can sculpt a custom trip to fulfill your exact dreams. Do you want to go as a family? With friends from your church? Would you like to stay in a kibbutz? Walk the 40-mile Jesus trail? Visit Nazareth Village, the re-creation of the place Jesus grew up? Be baptized in the Jordan River? The possibilities are broad, deep and inspiring.

My foggy “someday”  was punctuated with “when things settle down over there.” Now I have two key thoughts about that:

1. Things will never settle down over there. If the Bible doesn’t detail enough history of war and conquest, the last 2,000 years piles on more evidence of the Holy Land – and the rest of this broken world – not ever really settling down.

2. But is it safe? I never felt anything but. Millions visit each year without incident each year.

THE PROMISED LAND OF CONTRASTS

Contrasts are everywhere in this land. Death and renewal. Pain and hope. Crucifixion and Resurrection. Good and evil. You stand upon 4,000 years of history, with archaeological digs and new finds seemingly around every corner, and you feel like you are at the center of God’s creation of beauty and complexity.

This Tel Aviv museum is symbolic of Israel, a modern nation built on a historic foundation.

This Tel Aviv museum is symbolic of Israel, a modern nation built on a historic foundation.

 

Of course, you can feel God’s presence anywhere. In meditation on Scripture. In green pastures and beside still waters. As you hold your grandchild for the first time.

Still, there is something uniquely powerful about approaching the Western (or Wailing) Wall, the only remaining vestige of the Great Temple. Walking the Via Dolorosa (Way of Grief) emotionally provides perspective to Jesus’ torturous path to crucifixion. Baptisms in the Jordan River connect you to another place and time while following a 2,000-year-old practice.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is built on a hill believed to be the site of Jesus' Crucifixion.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is built on a hill believed to be the site of Jesus’ Crucifixion.

Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum takes you through a dark tunnel tracing how 2,000 years later a “modern” nation outdid the crucifying Romans in depravity with the mass murder of innocents. It climaxes in a rotunda designed to help you comprehend the enormity of 6 million victims.

Like everything in the Promised Land, hope mingles with sadness. The rotunda’s skylight looks heavenward and you emerge to view a reborn and thriving Jerusalem under this verse from Ezekiel:  “I will put my spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land.” Trees are planted in honor of “The Righteous Among the Nations,” gentiles who risked, and in some cases gave, their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. An exhibit titled “I Am My Brother’s Keeper” displays pictures of their reunions, offering heartwarming displays of good on the backdrop of evil. It is a powerful place to ponder our God-given role as forces for good.

 

Yad Vashem: Glimmers of good on a dark backdrop of evil.

Yad Vashem: Glimmers of good on a dark backdrop of evil.

As I rode this spiritual and emotional roller coaster, I was drawn to this land and its people, past and present, as if it is my spiritual homeland. I need to return and peel some more layers of this wonderful onion and find truth in its colors, contrasts and complexities. In so doing, my soul is enriched and my walk strengthened.

And I need to help make it possible for you to experience this amazing place.

LET’S TO START PLANNING YOUR PIGRIMMAGE

As a full-service travel agency with Expedia Prices and Concierge Service, we can make your travel more enriching, more enjoyable and more economical. And we promise to abide by the Golden Rule in all of our dealings. We want to demonstrate excellent value and caring customer service so that you will continue to entrust us with your travel dreams and refer your family and friends.

Let us help you make the most of your family vacation, romantic getaway or spiritual pilgrimage.

How you experience Israel makes all the difference. Enthusiastic, engaging and well-trained Igal Zeevi brought 4,000 years of history to life.

How you experience Israel makes all the difference. Enthusiastic, engaging and well-trained Igal Zeevi brought 4,000 years of history to life.

CALL: (800) 745-4015

CLICK: cmeyer@ocglobetrotter.com

COME IN: 24321 Avenida de la Carlota, Suite H-3, Laguna Hills, CA 92653

BLOG: octravelblog.com

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Call: (800) 745-4015

Click: cmeyer@ocglobetrotter.com

Blog: octravelblog.com

Come in: 24321 Avenida de la Carlota, Suite H-3

Laguna Hills, CA 92630