Israel - Unique in every sense

Another country to explore…………..WOW. I must say thanks to my organization for sending me to such a country, which otherwise I might not have thought of visiting. First impression of the country given to me by Israelis was a nice and warm welcome. I never got this kind of welcome from any country till now.

This is a country which is unique in many things especially people being so unique that they know, how to turn around the things when things are not favorable. This uniqueness has made them pioneer in irrigation technologies as they know nature has not given them enough water for agriculture. Another uniqueness of Israel is the Dead Sea, which is 422 m below the mean sea level and very rich in salt and minerals. Dead Sea is also known as Salt Sea because of high density of salt content and high salinity creates harsh environment for any kind of life to survive. Visitors come to float on the Dead Sea and they use mud from Dead Sea for curing many diseases. Last but not the least is a place called Jerusalem, which a major religious centre for three major religions i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam. No other location or place on this earth possesses such uniqueness.

Tel Aviv is the financial capital of Israel and Jerusalem is the administrative capital. Ben Gurion International Airport serves both the cities. Hebrew is the main language which connects Israelis; but still people speak Arabic, English and Russian. But Most of the conversations and signage’s on roads are in local language (Hebrew) only. English speaking people will find it bit difficult for initial days, as you might find almost everything written in Hebrew only. You might be unable to communicate even at most common places such as Super markets, Railway Stations, Bus Stations and Restaurants etc. So it’s better to come prepared with some basic understanding or knowledge of Hebrew. Otherwise you need friends like me in Israel, who can help you, when you are in tough situations.

As of now, I have spent 15 days in Israel and have already started getting a feel of rich heritage and natural wonders of this country. I am based at a small town of South Israel called Be’er Sheva, with population about 200,000. But even with less population, this town has all the facilities of any big city. I made a self organized tour of Be’er Sheva’s old city with the help of a well defined map and this tour gave me fairly good understanding of rich history of Be’er Sheva. During this tour only, I found many Indians playing Cricket on streets of old city of Be’er Sheva and they helped me in understanding specific things required for an Indian in Israel such as India calling cards, availability of Indian food etc. I am now planning to explore other interesting places like the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Haifa and few others places in Israel.

The most unique thing that occurred to me was the exposure to Jewish traditions and culture. For e.g. everything is closed from Friday afternoon until Saturday evening including basic services such as trains, buses, petrol pumps, grocery shops, restaurants etc. You will find hardly anybody on roads. I was very curious to know why everything is closed for the weekend as it is the time to enjoy on streets and restaurants. But actually Saturday is called ‘Shabbat’ in Israel and it is the Jewish holy day of the week. Shabbat starts on Friday afternoon/evening and ends on Saturday evening. After spending a few days here, I have learnt to organize myself according to local customs and now I am aware of the places which can be visited even on Friday evening and Saturday morning. But it is highly recommended to check in advance if you are planning to visit a specific place/city in Israel on weekend. Even after coming to Israel, there is small change to my office work timings as well, as I have to work from Sunday to Thursday instead of Monday to Friday. Other basic differences between Israel and India are:

1.Hebrew is written from right to left like Urdu and Arabic (unlike Hindi/English)

2.Left hand driving like USA (unlike India/England)

Israel is surrounded by Egypt on southwest side, Jordon on east side, Lebanon on north side and Syria on northeast side. Yes of course Gaza Strip is on the southwest side and West bank (Palestinian territories) on east side. Back in India, my friends and family ask me this question frequently: Is Israel safe? And my answer to them is YES, very much safe on all sides. It is a beautiful country with such great human beings. It is a “must see” country for its rich history, culture, traditions and natural wonders.

My plan is to stay in this country for a bit longer to be able to explore most part of this country and write more about it.