Israel Trip

We read in the book of Ecclesiastes: “A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven… A time for war and a time for peace.” 

Though we didn’t know it when we scheduled our trip, and though we wish it were not the case, this is a time of war in Israel. It is not the peaceful setting for the trip we had planned. And though no one knows the future, many of our trip participants are concerned that conditions will not have significantly improved by March. 

So, with a heavy heart, I contacted Makor Educational Journeys, our tour operator, to tell them that we must cancel our trip. Given the circumstances, they were not surprised.  

My hope is to reschedule for 2025, but it is too soon to choose dates or determine any other details. 

I am sad for this cancellation, but much sadder about the death and destruction that this war has brought to our brothers and sisters in Israel and many innocent civilians in Gaza. I know you join with me in praying for peace in Israel, that—in the words of the prophet Micah—all may sit under their vine and fig tree, and none shall make them afraid. 

With prayers for peace, 

--Rabbi Steven Sirbu