Israel

SCRATCHING JUST THE SURFACE OF A STORIED LAND LEAVES GANDHARV KAMALA ENTHRALLED

- Gandharv Kamala

As we deboarded our Boeing 777-200 at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel’s Central District, among the first things that struck me were two synagogues—one at the Duty-Free hall, the other at the Greeters Hall at terminal three. Like many other Indians, I had heard a lot of conflicting stories about Israel, especially how often orthodoxy and strife coincided. Nevertheless, as any new traveller, I had to keep an open mind about tradition. As luck would have it, the representative of the Ministry of Tourism, the first official introduction to the country for our group of travellers, was donning traditional Hasidic attire. Complete with the traditional payot, or long sideburns, he welcomed us with a warm smile and a ‘Shalom’. Just a week before we arrived, Israeli forces and Hamas had exchanged rocket fire, with the latter landing towards a southern town. Contrary to all the unrest, Ben Gurion Airport, thankfully, was anything but abnormal.

Once we got past customs, our guide, Graeme Stone, was waiting for us at the arrival. An Australian by birth, the sixtysomething Graeme was married to a Jewish lady, had moved to Jerusalem and later become a practising Jew. Exiting the airport, we were met with an eight-seater car, waiting to take us to our first stop, which lay 45 kilometres away in Jerusalem.