Saying Goodbye

We identified our luggage for the last time as it was loaded onto the bus. Then we drove to Har Adar (Radar Hill) for a final look at Jerusalem and a Havdalah service from this vantage point.

Har Adar is a high spot about 10 miles outside Jerusalem. It sits right on the Green Line, that winding road that separates Israel and what will be Palestine eventually. It was controlled by the Jordanians until 1967. The kibbutzim below suffered untold casualties during the time when the Jordanians were in control because the spot is so strategic.

Today there are old tanks atop Har Adar that remind us of the War of Independence. We climbed up the 50-foot tower to get an unbelievable view of the country of Israel – being able to see the Mediterranean Sea and the outskirts of Ramallah at the same time, showing just how narrow the country is.

As we lit the candle for Havdalah and poured the wine, the sun began to set. We sang and swayed in the semi-light while the lights of Jerusalem came on. With Meryl we sang Samachti B’Omri Li, Jerusalem of Gold, and Hatikvah. Danny gave brief remarks which so nicely summed up our last 10 days.

After leaving Har Adar and our last glimpse of Jerusalem, we stopped off for one last supper on the way to the airport. And what a feast it was! People made teary goodbye speeches to our guide and driver and presented them with small tokens of our appreciation.

Our bus driver Shlomi gave us a “blessing for travellers” as we boarded the bus for the last time. This was one of the few times we had heard him speak in the 10 days. Then we sang songs about Israel and specifically Jerusalem and clapped all the way to the airport.

One more round of profiling questions and vigorous security checks. We spent our last shekels in the duty-free area and sit here now waiting to board El Al to come home.

Goodbye Israel!