Traveling Solo in Israel: You’re Never Alone
From Thanksgiving turkey with hummus to historic holy sites, why traveling independently in Israel always connects you to something bigger.
If you read my Sept. 29 post, Getting Ready for the Holy Land—With Excitement, you already know how thrilled I am about my upcoming trip to Israel for a destination wedding. I have been there many times, but it is never enough. You can simply never travel to Israel enough.
That being said, except for one trip with my mom, I have always traveled there by myself. The very first time, I joined a tour group. I wasn’t the only solo person there; there was one other solo traveler, for the most part, I stuck with the group.
On my later trips, I often made it a point to spend time working with ELEM/Youth in Distress in Israel—the country’s leading nonprofit supporting at-risk and increasingly vulnerable youth. For many years, I was involved with its US fundraising arm, American Friends of ELEM, which allowed me to work directly with youth in Eilat, Herzliya, and Tel Aviv.
I will never forget being with the youth in Tel Aviv on Thanksgiving Day. We were at a small park near a broken-down building that was being refurbished into an ELEM center. When they served dinner, guess what? They served turkey sandwiches. I was thrilled to be having a Thanksgiving dinner in the Holy Land. In my broken Hebrew, I asked for cranberry sauce and tried to explain the American holiday. In their broken English, they told me to use hummus instead. I spread it on my sandwich, and all was well.
I have also shared wonderful Shabbat dinners in the Old City with a rabbi who recently passed away. I am going to miss attending those.
Looking back at these moments, was I alone? Yes and no. These events only lasted a few hours out of a two-week trip. On paper, the reality is that I was by myself. But in my heart, that is so far from the truth.
As soon as you land at Ben Gurion Airport, you are drawn into something soothing that pulls you right in. As you approach the Kotel (the Western Wall), you can truly feel the spirit of our founding mothers and fathers, and of those who fought to keep us together. There is nothing quite like seeing the soldiers praying there on Friday night and Saturday morning. When you walk through the Old City, you are never truly alone—and I don’t just mean the people who approach you to join their minyan (prayer group), ask for help, or start up a conversation.
If you jump over to Hebron, Safed, and Tiberias—the other holy cities—the connection is just as deep. I remember visiting the graves of our founders. I stopped in Bethlehem to pray at Rachel’s grave before heading to the Tomb of the Patriarchs. In Safed, I visited the Ari Mikva, the center of Kabbalah, and traveled northeast to Amuka. In Tiberias, I had the honor of taking part in mincha services at the Rambam’s grave and visiting the tombs of Rabbis Akiva and Yohanan ben Zakkai. I even cajoled my way down the Jordan River in a canoe.
Of course, Eilat and Tel Aviv are not official holy cities, but there is still so much there that connects you with the greater good of Israel. You feel it in the stunning beaches, the opportunity to SCUBA dive with dolphins, and in meeting the wonderful people who keep the nation together.
The bottom line is this: if you are there on your own, you are never alone. There is too much power in Israel to keep you believing, and you will never be isolated.
