Recent Hadassah Trip To Israel Allays Fears For One Newtown Resident

By Nancy K. Crevier

Like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Rita Frost believes “‘There is nothing to fear but fear itself.’

“If everyone lives in fear,” she said, “no one will do anything.”

And despite concerns that caused her pause in planning a visit to Israel earlier this year, when Ms Frost heard about the unity mission sponsored by Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization of America, the largest volunteer organization in America, she set aside any worries she had and boarded a plane for Tel Aviv on October 24.

Ms Frost, a local artist and writer, returned in November from the mission. It was, for her, “a life-changing visit” to Israel. As part of a 60-member mission, Ms Frost had the opportunity to visit that country in what was the first mission by Hadassah following the Second Lebanon War, as it is known in Israel, that began July 12 and formally ended on September 8 of this year. While Israel had been subjected to periodic bombings by Hezbollah for months, the war was ignited by the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah forces. Retaliation by Israel resulted in bombing in both countries and a state of unsettlement.

Most of the fighting was on the northern border of Israel near Lebanon, explained Ms Frost, with the central regions essentially undisturbed. Hadassah’s concern, however, is that a global misunderstanding of the safety of the region will affect Israel’s tourism trade. In 2005, Israel hosted 1.9 million visitors and would like to push that number up to 4 million in 2010, according to Ms Frost.

The October Hadassah mission was to show a sense of solidarity with Israel, and also included visits to the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Hadassah is active in promoting progressive health care, education, youth institutions, volunteerism, and land reclamation in Israel.

“The hospital is Hadassah’s main jewel,” said Ms Frost. The group toured the emergency room and state-of-the-art trauma center of the hospital that treats terrorist and Israeli Defense Force soldiers alike. People are treated there based on need, not political issues, explained Ms Frost. The Hadassah mission also visited orphanages and bomb shelters, where they distributed rag dolls made by Ms Frost’s elderly mother, and stuffed animals collected by Newtown resident Bernice Ullmann, also a member of the local Hadassah chapter. “It gave me such a big thrill to deliver these items,” Ms Frost said.

People in the areas unaffected by the war took in those who were displaced, and few people remain housed in the bomb shelters presently. The visit to Israel provided her with a vision of a country that has quickly rebounded from the effects of that war, said Ms Frost. “The resiliency of the people there is incredible. Seeing Haifa, [a city located in northern Israel], which had been bombed, you would never have known it. Life was back to normal.”

The people themselves convey an attitude of confidence, Ms Frost said. “You know that [the war and bombings] are at the back of their minds — everyone has a son or daughter in the army — but life goes on.” What people do not see on television is the beauty of Israel, said Ms Frost. “You see the bloodshed and the violence, but it’s really not like that.”

Picnicking just 20 miles from Gaza in Sderot, where bombs had dropped just the day before despite the cease-fire, or walking through the open-air markets, Ms Frost said she did not worry about any instability in the region. “I didn’t even think about the past problems. There were Israelis waiting for the buses and they weren’t afraid, so I even took local buses in Jerusalem. I ate at cafes, I never was afraid.”

The craft markets near the Carmel Food Market in Tel Aviv are some of the best in the world, according to Ms Frost, a former tour guide who has traveled to 48 other countries. Even during the war, crafters continued to create and sell their wares, which are available at bargain prices. “Jewelry is an amazing deal,” she said. “Everything is very high quality, but you can buy silk scarves for $2 or $3. Even the eyeglass frames sold are fabulous. We’re so conservative here,” she said, pointing out the artistic details and color on a pair of frames she had purchased on her trip.

The country is a mecca for food lovers, too, said Ms Frost. “You just can’t believe it. I ate schwarma from street vendors, which is grilled lamb or chicken, and falafel. That’s a spiced, fried bean patty, and burekas, which are strudel or some type of thin dough with various fillings — meat, vegetables. Then there’s baba ganouj, a roasted eggplant and tahini dip, and the breads are incredible. You just go bananas with the food,” recollected Ms Frost. “There are cuisines from all over the world in Jerusalem, and its all very affordable.”

Although the trip did include plenty of sightseeing, for Ms Frost, the recent visit differed from previous visits. “The trip definitely made me feel more spiritual. My other trips, you go here and there, you swim in the Dead Sea, that sort of thing. This was different. To meet people who had been in bomb shelters, people who had lost family members, yet who go on with their lives, unafraid. One does not feel the war, yet there is a story behind every face. We met a woman who had moved there 30 years ago from England. She had been in a bomb shelter. Despite it all, she said she would never live anywhere else. That typifies the Israeli attitude.”

Other experiences deepened her connection to the land, said Ms Frost. In Zefat, an ancient cedar forest was torched by bombs and fires and half of the acreage was lost. “We were given trees by Hadassah to plant there and special prayers for planting trees. And do you know, in an area where rain rarely falls, it rained that night?” she recalled.

Another day, her group stood at twilight holding lit candles in a parking lot where 12 Israeli soldiers had been killed. They left bouquets of flowers and said prayers in memory of the young fighters. It was an emotional moment that remains with her.

And for the families of the three kidnapped Israeli soldiers, life does not go on as usual, Ms Frost learned. “The treaty [at the end of the war] promised the return of the three soldiers during this cease-fire. That did not happen, though, so there is a feeling among Israelites that this war is not really completed,” Ms Frost said. In the city of Netanya, they met with Shlomo and Miki Goldwasser, the parents of kidnapped soldier Ehud Goldwasser. They have not heard from their son since he was kidnapped in July, and even the Red Cross has not been able to ascertain his whereabouts. “I don’t know if my son is alive or dead,” Miki Goldwasser told members of the mission.

The meeting was heart-rending, said Ms Frost. “The Goldwassers spoke of how important it is to be able to talk to groups like ours and of keeping alive the issue of their son and other sons of Israel.”

There is a history that draws people to Israel, and despite the pain experienced by people like the Goldwassers and the recent upheaval, there remains a beauty that cannot be surpassed, said Ms Frost. “It is one of the most beautiful places you can go. For every religion, there is so much history there, the ancient and the modern.”

It is a shame, she said, that people in other countries are by and large unaware of how modern the cities of Israel are, or of the options for vacationing there. “You have the Dead Sea, you have the desert. The terrain is so varied and spectacular,” she said, offering selling points for making Israel a vacation destination. “There are bargain air fares now and the weather in Israel is more moderate than here in New England. Everybody speaks English, so there is no language problem. It is probably one of the safest times to be in Israel, too,” she noted, “because of the cease-fire. I can’t wait to go back again.”