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If we say "to see Paris and to die", then I can add -
to see Jerusalem and to live till 120 for the sake of this land!
My heart remained in narrow Jerusalem streets, in the calm fathomless
deep of the Western Wall, on the bench of Safed synagogue, and in the sound
of waves of Mediterranean Sea.
"Either you'll feel Israel with the first breath of air
on the ladder, or you'll never understand it", friends and colleagues
told me after visiting our forefathers' land.
Believe me, pictures and photos will tell you nothing about Israel.
I have seen so many albums and shots, that I thought I knew that country. But
the first hours in Erets Israel reduced my assurance to zero. That is why I
warn those who haven't seen, but already "know" Israel as well as
I did - it is impossible to perceive or understand this country. One can only
soak it up with one's eyes, ears, body, and partly with stomach, and then to
gradually digest it.
"Don't waste your time, it's only the sixteenth century,
and not the best building. Nothing interesting!", our guide Tatyana
used to reproach us ironically. I think, it made her laugh and glad to look
at us staring wide-eyed at thousand-year-old monuments,
while we used to measure the history of our towns and countries in decades of
years.
"What I like in this group is that they always know where
to go!", Tanya used to repeat when we chose opposite direction. But
we could do nothing - our feet took us along the cobblestone roads by themselves.
In Israel one forgets about time, sleep, and hunger - one can only
look, hear, and remember. Legends merge with history, and history seems to be
a fairy-tale. Bless you, endless excursions. We were ready never to return to
the hotel. Five centuries, hundred names, innumerable cities, towns, kibutses - during only one day!
And have you ever traveled from the north of the country to the
south only to have lunch? Have you ever had breakfast at the foot of great Massada?
We have. And we hope to see this vision again. Maybe, even coming there for
the thousandth time we will not believe it is real.
Ten days THERE passed as an eternal minute. I still see the white
city in a dream, its wet olives and blooming almond-trees. How can I forget
YOU?
Remain forever, Israel, and then we, your children, will be able
to live!
Galina Goldberg
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