Israel Part 13: The Final 24 Hours

One of the deciding factors in my doing this trip was the revelation that it would coincide with sheva brachot for Bat-Ami and Mike's son, Gavi and their new daughter-in-law, Daphna.  Sadly, covid cancelled that plan and the only visit I had had with Bat-Ami and Mike was the chat on their mirpeset (porch). 

That's not enough time to spend with the friend I've known longer than I've known anyone else in the entire country. So on my way back from Jerusalem, Bat-Ami picked me up at the train station in Modi'in and we got a few more hours in before my last night. We didn't talk much about war by now. We talked about food, about family and about education. Bat-Ami teaches English as a second language and we talked through some ideas together of how she can relay enough vocabulary to her students and have it be meaningful. I geeked out on the tiny bookstore she made (seen behind my ear in the photo) and then she took me back to the Altmans. They were out for the night but had left me a key and I went in and went straight to bed. 

Next morning I had enough time to bookend my trip by taking one last walk. I got so incredibly lost that first day in Modi'in, but this time I managed to find my way without a map or even GPS. I paid attention to the landmarks and signs and took lots of pictures. The saddest photos were of a park just a few strides from the Altman's apartment. It was a lovely place to be but has been renamed for one of the fallen soldiers. I was able to read a little bit of the monument in her memory which describes her as joyful, strong, beautiful and wise. I realize now that in this photo the triangles come together in a Magen David. 

When I got back to the Altman's Alissa and Morey and I had just enough time to debrief since their last night grilling which they did at the Erez crossing. This is one of the entry points between Israel and Gaza. Except for the removal of bodies, they saw it exactly the way it looked after October 7th. They showed me pictures in which you see bullet holes, broken windows, destroyed furniture and then someone's toothbrush or a book, or a stale slice of pizza. I don't know what else to comment about the pictures. That's Alissa's story. But what they showed me was chilling. 

I'm home now, and it's been a big adjustment back, harder than I'd thought. The two things I missed most within the first 24 hours was no longer seeing citrus hanging on trees around me, and no longer seeing Israeli flags. I appreciated the flags when I first arrived... appreciated the sense of unity. Coming back here and putting out an Israeli flag means something else in the U.S. Doing so can be a provocation. Worrying about this means I'm looking over my shoulder now and deciding when I need to lay low. Yeah... I miss the flags.