Warren’s thoughts about day 1

Flying Jews

My concept of the wandering Jew is of a nomadic tribe of people cameling their way across an arid patch of wilderness, endlessly toiling with the tent set up and tear down, feet washing, and sheep herding and the like. As I boarded the plane in San Diego bound for NYC, and eventually Israel, there wee no Camels, tents, or sheep. Instead, we crawled out of bed at the crack of dawn….actually, it was still dark….packed up the car and drove over to Dan and Lee’s house. Dan then took us to the Airport. (thanks Daniel!!!).

Let me tangent for a moment and say that my son is an amazing kid! First, I will shamelessly brag that he got four As and two Bs on his final report card for last semester and has thereby earned a reward of an Air Brush machine which he has wanted and worked hard to get for a year. Ben is spending the next two weeks working in Tupelo Mississippi. He has already started working there, and is having a blast. He is being mentored by my friend Giovanna who is the Executive Chef/Owner of the place. I spoke with him the other night, and she had him making hand rolled pasta. Yum! Keep up the good work Ben! The reason for this tangent is that we took Ben to catch his plane on the way to ours. He left about an hour before us bound for Mississippi and we found out that he had arrived when we landed in NYC.

I can’t talk about Ben without mentioning how amazing Melissa is too….humor me….Melissa graduated in White (meaning she had a great over a 4.0) and has recently found out that she passed all three of her advanced placement tests from last year. She will be attending SDSU in the Fall. She is working two jobs. She works for Foster Freeze and is a Camp Counselor at The Kroc Center. Keep up the good work Melissa!!!

OK, back to business!

On the plane, as we taxied to the JFK terminal, the flight attendant requested that everyone who had NY as their final destination to please stay seated so that the people who had international connections could get out quickly and not miss their flight. We arrived at the gate, and of course, everyone got up and pushed into the isles of the plane. There was no irony in this….it’s New York!

We arrived late into NYC and had to take a train to the El Al Terminal. Lee was very nervous that we may miss the El Al flight, and if we did, we would have to wait until Saturday afternoon for the next flight. We were scheduled to take the last flight before Shabbat. While Lee fretted about it, I was considering which show we should see and which restaurant we should try in NYC. (Don’t misunderstand. I was sympathetic to Lee’s nervousness, and I was quite confident in the airline. However, I do like a backup plan, and there are lots of shows and restaurants I’d like to try in NYC.

We went back through security and several more lines, and then waited for the flight. It looked like they were letting us on….so much for the good grub and a Broadway show! As I sat waiting, I amused myself by people watching, which I love to do. There was my initial scan for generally interesting looking people. I first noticed the Hasidic Jews dressed in black suits and hats with tzittzit falling from their waists and the curled locks hanging from their sideburns. (OK, this is not completely accurate. I first noticed several pretty young women, assessed their figures and their outfits, and then casually passed on to notice the other interesting people.) The Hasidic gentlemen were not all dark haired, but rather, there was an assortment of grey, blonde and dusty haired Jews waiting for the plane. I imagined Fruma Barbi doll and the Dovening Ken…or Moishie…and their six infant dolls. There would be no end to the fun of dressing up the Moishie doll in his black suit and the Barbi doll in her various frocks. I laughed at the idea of putting the big black hat on one of the kid dolls….then I really did notice a kid dressed in the Hasidic garb….he must have been over 13, but not much. I also noticed that there were people simply wearing yarmulkes who appeared observant, but not dressed in the Hasidic outfit. I made a mental note to try to find out why the Hasidic men wear the black suits, hats and the like when I get back.

I also noticed that other religions were represented in the crowd. There were nuns, but I didn’t notice any priests. I did not observe any traditionally clothed Muslims. I would guess that it was a pretty eclectic crowd.

They called our flight and we all got up. We were in about the middle of the line. Then, as if on cue, half the crowd completely ignored the line and rushed the four ticket takers, thereby putting Lee and I near the back of the line. Lee led a charge up to the front by going around the mass of pushing people. (We had assigned seats, and there were about 40 open seats, so it all seemed a little goofy!) We sat down, and waited for a couple hours for the flight to take off. It was very hot while we sat on the runway, and then cold once we were finally in the air. Ahhhh well…..we were in the air. We flew East over the Atlantic, across some unknown stretch of land, across the Mediterranean and landed in Tel Aviv. We spotted a few Islands in the Mediterranean, which Lee guessed were Greece….mental note to study the flight path later.

After we took off, they slopped us. I would comment about the airline food, but it was just as typically unappetizing as one would anticipate of Kosher airline food. “Would you like the bad chicken of the bad beef,” asked the very pleasant flight attendant. Trying to make the best decision I could, I asked, “which is less bad” The flight attendant paused reflecting on this question and politely said, “have the chicken.” The plane was loud with talk, and the sound of a woman screaming (yes screaming) at one of the flight attendants, another passenger, and then the managing flight attendant...never Thorazine around when you need it. Some 12 year old apparently got to a set of open seats before she did and was therefore able to lay down instead of her. She reacted by yelling and throwing water on the horrified girl. They eventually calmed the woman down.

As we flew through the night they dimmed the lights and everyone slept, with the exception of the child behind me who amused himself by playing a game of soccer with the back of my seat. He was told 437 times to not do it by his mother, me and several people around him. He also liked chewing loudly on a plastic cup which he was also told not to do by several people until the lady sitting next to him took it from him. I am proud to say that I did not murder the lad.

As people awoke on the plane, people donned their Tefilan and Talit and dovened. I had the passing notion to go pray with them…..passing notion…it passed. They slopped us again and we landed.

We got our rental car. El Dan rental cars provided us a micro car. It is a car that one would expect if one considered the infant offspring of a Ugo and a Pinto mating. Our drove to our hotel in Tel Aviv, got cleaned up and went to the Gelpe’s family Shabbat dinner near Jerusalem. It was an hour drive. Pretty scenery. We stopped on the way and delivered some items to Paula and Walter. (Zip Lock bags and other items that are are either difficult to obtain or expensive in Israel) Walter made us a cup of coffee which we gulped down and rushed out to get to dinner on time. The Gelpes and their family were very sweet and the dinner was excellent. I stuck to vegetarian food. Their were stuffed grape leaves, hummus, assorted Challahs and breads, and lots of other good things. I was delighted at the shredded Halavah for dessert. We also got to saw their son Joey who is a delightful young man that I had met in San Diego. The Gelpes keep kosher, so we talked about some of the rules of keeping kosher. I will report about this more another time, but I find it all very interesting. We said goodbye and returned to the hotel in Tel Aviv.

We awoke this morning and realized that we have a beautiful view of the Mediterranean from our hotel room. We sunned on the beach, met some nice people, had some delicious breakfast. I swam for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea. The water was salty and the sand was fine. There were waves, but not as large as in San Diego.

We heard from Dan. Lee and Dan’s dog Baby died. I loved Baby…the sort of dog that was universally loved and admired….Danny’s best friend. I am so sorry for their loss. Shabbat will not be the same without her wandering around for Challah scraps. Lee has been crying off and on since. We will miss Baby.

I will report more later.