Twenty years ago, Margie and Marty Diamond saw their children off to Israel, calmly assuring them everything would be all right while surreptitiously fidgeting and wondering if that was in fact the case.
This year, it was their children’s chance to return the favor.
The 60-something Lafayette couple recently returned from their first trip to Israel.
“When my daughter, Caryn, was in Israel, she bought me a silver necklace that I’ve worn almost every day since,” said Margie Diamond. “It was awesome to wear that necklace in Israel, 20 years after she gave it to me.”
That the Diamonds waited until their seventh decade of life to travel to Israel might once have been considered unusual, but not anymore.
“There are people who never thought about it when they were younger and haven’t thought about it much lately because they are worried about safety. But more and more people are coming to understand [it is now possible] for them to go safely,” said Rabbi Allen Bennett, a leader of two past voyages to Israel and the executive director of the Board of Rabbis of Northern California. “It’s a no-brainer that [travel companies] have to make it safe for travelers. They’re just older because they waited.”
In fact, that was the case for half of the participants on a Jewish Community Relations Council tour that was co-sponsored by the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation.
All first-timers have their reasons for waiting so long.
“I was waiting for it to be safe,” admitted Harmon Michelson, 64, of San Bruno. But, that’s only part of the story explaining why he and his wife, Edith, decided to visit Israel.
Their daughter, Abby Michelson Porth, was one of the leaders of the JCRC trip. “She wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer any longer,” Michelson admitted.
Besides, the JCRC excursion would give him the opportunity to hear from top Israeli intellectuals and politicians.
He added, “I can talk to a cabdriver on my own, but I can’t very well get to the politicians and professors. When I put it together, all my excuses except for safety faded. So now it was time to go.”
While the hectic nature of Israel’s political situation is often an impediment for travelers, Judy Shaffer said that’s what finally led her to make the trip.
“Israel’s political situation is precarious enough that it’s that much more important for American Jews to know what’s going on,” said the 62-year-old Belvedere resident. “Everyone I’m close to — friends, family and children — have all been there. I felt this was long overdue.”
Reasons for postponing a trip — Marty Diamond had been thinking about going for 40 years — often go beyond safety. Some are worried about finances, or couldn’t find the time in their younger days to take a long trip.
For those now enjoying reduced workloads and increased financial security, spending a fair amount of money and time for a trip to Israel is more feasible.
In the Diamonds’ case, their free time was often spent visiting Margie’s aged parents who lived in New York. Now that her parents have passed on and their own children are full-grown, the time seemed right.
For Marty Diamond, who hopes to return to Israel often to volunteer his expertise as a healthcare management professional, his long-postponed trip wasn’t quite what he predicted.
“My wife and I have been talking about this a lot. Many people come back and say their trip was spiritually life changing. For us it wasn’t. We’ve been connected to spirituality since I was a small child,” he said. “But to be in our homeland and see the values my grandparents talked about, and would have loved to be a part of, made me feel wonderful.”
Fellow first-timer Michelson agreed. His visit to the Western Wall failed to move him — but other things he saw did.
“Going to a number of social service organizations and seeing how Israelis help each other through crises, that was terribly meaningful to me,” he said. “I would go back on an identical tour.”