Final day/Benzi Lederfein

It's my final day and I'm packing up my apartment, re-reading my journal, putting things aside to give to my niece, Dani, and itching to go for a final walk on the beach. These 6 weeks were beyond what I expected. I knew I wanted to "just be here". To live, work remotely, continue studying Hebrew, and see friends, and make new friends. Many of my friends became day to day friends and I saw or spoke to them many times while I was here. My Hebrew went further than I thought- the last 4 mornings I've woken up and realized that I'm thinking in Hebrew! I've already booked my apartment again for next year for 8 weeks and can't wait to get back.

My final "My Faces of Israel" is about my friend Benzi Lederfein. He's one of my favorite people that I've met here in Israel in the last 5 years. Benzi was the tour guide assigned to my family of origin when my Dad and Deborah took us to Israel and Petra in November of 2018. He navigated our family beautifully throughout the week understanding the nuances of Michael, Jody, and Jami (plus 1 kid and another kid of a cousin of mine). He and I kept in touch and saw each other on subsequent trips for a meal or a visit.

Benzi represents all aspects of Israel society to me. He was born in Australia and came to Israel as a child so his English is terrific. He was religious for a time growing up and attended yeshiva for middle and high school. He was pretty right-wing at the time and helped to organize protests against then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who was negotiating peace with the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization).When Rabin was assassinated by a fellow Jew, the world was rocked with sadness, and our community was devastated that such a thing could happen. Benzi's friends were celebrating with happiness, and he realized that those friends and that community were no longer his place.

He switched schools and was "outed" as gay to his parents by the Rosh Yeshiva (headmaster). This turned out to be a blessing for him and his parents were happy that he was happy. He served in the army in a tank unit. He shared with me that in 2002 he was a first responder to a suicide bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanya. It happened at a Passover seder and he resuscitated a victim. After the army he did his Bachelors of Philosophy in Australia and his Masters of Philosophy at Tel Aviv University. As a tour guide, he is a literal encyclopedia, and no question is too challenging. He covers religion, geo-politics, Israel society, etc. And he always says "Catholics believe/Muslims believe" instead of "they believe..." so as not to call anyone "other".

In 2021, we began planning a trip together for my neighborhood friends for Passover/Easter in 2022. A group of 9 couples mostly from our neighborhood, Woodcrest Acres, in Framingham, MA came for 10 days and Benzi was our incredible guide. Our group was mostly Jewish with 4 Catholic friends. Benzi and I worked together on an appropriate itinerary traveling at such a holy time for all of us. I was the on the ground planner and Community Organizer in Framingham. One of our committees organized monthly meetings to learn more about Israel history, Israel as a Start-up nation of innovation, our religious beliefs, and of course to eat yummy Israeli food. We had a Fun committee to bring levity to the bus with prizes and swag, a Bus Captain to make sure everyone was on time, a group journal coordinator, 2 photographers, and a Passover Seder planning committee. Benzi was in charge of logistics in Israel: hotel and bus reservations, and of course the education. We celebrated Passover in an Arab Village with our Christian friends, Muslim Bus driver and restaurant staff. The night ended with a dance party! Benzi said this evening helped him have closure from the Passover attack 20 years before.

Our group of friends is very diverse in knowledge, touring style, and learning style. Benzi took each of of us at face value, respected our needs, and with Sela, our fabulous bus driver, became one of the Woodcrest Acres gang. We have all recommended him far and wide to other friends traveling. Information to book him here.

I spent 2 afternoons with Benzi recently and he showed me some of his favorite places. One day we started with a drive north to the only Arab Village in Israel that's on the coast, Jisr A Zraka, where we had a yummy fish lunch. (Yes, I ate the whole fish although I had to cover it's head at one point!)

We visited the Ralli Museum in Ceasaria which is in a former Italian family home and houses tons of Italian art including many Salvador Dali original sculptures. We ended the afternoon visiting his neighborhood Arsuf Kedem. As we drove in, he pointed out the many sculptures and said, "We also have horses", as we passed a beautiful horse grazing by the road. We did a nice hike walking down the cliffs to the beach which he told me is a nude beach in season- one gay and one straight side by side. When we came back up we saw a guy with 3 dogs and he asked if we had seen a horse! Benzi invited him into the car, the dogs ran beside us, and we went 4-wheeling all over the neighborhood asking everyone "Ra-it Soos?" - "Have you seen a horse?". Most people though we were playing a prank and in the end we brought him back to his campsite and left his phone number in the neighborhood whatsapp group. Neighbor helping neighbor, brother helping brother, even though we'd never met him.

I saw Benzi one more time for a farewell drink last night. He marveled at my Hebrew and asked why I put a "hay" at the end of so many words (Israelis love to correct people!) I told him that Mike and the girls make fun of me for pluralizing everything in English (for some reason I say Barnes and Nobles, Victoria Secrets....not sure why?) I have to be my authentic self in both languages, right?

Big news! You're hearing it here first! We're planning a trip together for the end of March 2024- open to all (limited spaces). Let me know if you're interested in coming with me!