 Hello and welcome to this edition of Abledon on Air, the one and only program that focuses on the needs, concerns, and achievements, so it's a different label. I'm Lauren Seiler. I'm Maureen Seiler. And on this edition of Abledon on Air, we go into the world of food, special needs, and birthright trips to Israel, yes, Israel. So with us to discuss this topic, he went to Israel, Emery, from Orca Media. Thank you for joining us on Abledon on Air. And tell us about the birthright trip to Israel and what you did, how you did it, and how people can do it after they watch this program. Usually you have to apply to get in, but I think you usually get in as long as you can directly link a grandparent to being Jewish. And it's basically for people ages 17 to 32 now to go basically on a free trip to Israel if you're Jewish. And so I went with my older sister, and we were there for 10 days. And there's lots of specialized trips that focus on, there's a trip that specializes on the culinary stuff of Israel, or if they want to do more hiking or more stuff in the wilderness. But we went on the general Israel trip, so we visited a lot of the more famous sites and different places all over the country. Obviously, special needs are not, or challenged are not, you went away far, right? So there were certain, I should say boundaries, or certain things that you had to abide by, right? You couldn't call people because it's seven hours ahead. How did you deal with some of those situations, the money, so on and so forth? The money was tricky because they had an exchange person when they landed there, but my sister and I both missed it because we had some phone issues. And we ended up not really having a working phone for a lot of the trip, which was unfortunate, but we managed to deal with it. There wasn't really a very reliable internet connections anywhere or anything like that. So when we were in the airport, I downloaded a lot of Netflix shows on my phone. But for the most part, by the end of each day, we didn't get back until 9 or 9.30, or even 10, sometimes later each night, and we had done so much that day that I was pretty exhausted anyways. So it wasn't like I needed to connect to anything really, for the most part. So you dealt with losing your luggage, pros and cons to everything. How did you end up losing your luggage and situation? We're not sure, yeah. Most of the, a majority of the people on our ship lost their luggage for at least a few days. I was lucky and got my back after only two days. Which airline did they find? We flew from Boston. We flew from Newark, the New Jersey airport. I forget what the name of the airline was. LL? Yeah, it was LL. I'm surprised. How was the food? Because some of your pictures reflected of that. Well, the food on the airline was better than American airline food. That's for sure. For breakfast, because the flight is about 12 hours, so for breakfast you had an option of either eggs or you could get some crepe type things that came with it, like a nice cheese spread, because everything was kosher, so you couldn't have eggs with the dairy or whatever. No, no. I know that. I flew. Yeah, like for example falafel and other pictures. There was lots of great food in Israel. I think the best example of when we went to the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. The food court there is divided in two, because you can either have meat with your food or you can have animal products like dairy and that kind of stuff, but you can't have any of those together. No, you can't mix it together. So it's basically segregated, which is really interesting how on one whole half of the food court is all people who are eating meat and then it's divided by one of those, like a fence basically. So I'm like, what happened in the Holocaust? You were divided by fences and ghettos and that type of thing. Because did they want to picture that as far as? I don't think so. I think it was more just they're being extremely careful about being kosher, which every single place we went to in Israel was kosher. It was just because it's so focused around the Jewish faith. Now as far as you've visited certain parts of Israel, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, now explain about the Bedouin situation, the Bedouin people. We spent a night with the Bedouin people, which are like, I believe they're Muslim and they are a nomadic group of people that travel across the Israeli desert and so they have big tents that they set up and they travel around. And so we spent a night with them and it was more like a Bedouin tourist hotel where you got to sleep in a tent and they made you food and there were camels and that was pretty cool. A hotel for Bedouins? A hotel that the Bedouins, it was like a touristy hotel that the Bedouins ran and since it's all based on tents and stuff, they could really set it up anywhere, which is cool. And it seems that the birthright trips really latched onto that and that was a cool experience. It says that the Bedouins, because the Bedouins came from Arabic, they originally were nomadic people. So you dealt with being in a desert, you dealt with being in a tent, probably no running water, right? No, not really. Oh, you had water? They had facilities on bathrooms and showers for their guests. It was a much more modernized dwelling, but everything was still intense and based around that. So what are some advice, is someone special needs or dealing with challenges? Because I know that airports now, when you board a flight anywhere, doesn't necessarily have to be Israel. Don't forget, Israel is a 12-hour flight, okay? Can, in your opinion, with the proper preparation, can a person whose dealing with a special need take that long flight? So these are certain things that have to go into account. How did you deal with the long flight? Have you ever been on a long flight like that before? No, before this, the longest flight I'd been on was probably to California. So I really hadn't ever been on a flight that was longer than like three or four hours before. How did you end up dealing with the flight? You slept a lot, right? I had a lot of trouble sleeping actually. I'm not sure why, but I slept for maybe like two or three hours at the max, just on and off. And I just couldn't stay asleep for longer than an hour or so. You don't like airplane food? How was the food? The food was fine. It was better than American airplane food, like I said. I'm not sure why I couldn't get to bed. Maybe it was just the constant motion or something. But it just relaxed and kept hydrated, watched some of the movies they had. What advice can you give someone who wants to do this type of trip? You know, obviously you had to prepare ahead of time. You had to make phone calls to the age. So do you have to prove that you're Jewish in order to go to a trip like this? Yeah, there's always some people who slip through the cracks and say they're Jewish, but they're actually not. But for the most part, you just have to show documentation that your grandmother or grandfather or somebody related to you is Jewish. When you get to the airport, they interview, LL Airlines is pretty crazy, because they interview every single person one-on-one. So why are you going? They want only 50 pounds in a suitcase. Yeah, 50 pounds max in a suitcase. What were some of the questions they asked you? They asked me if I ever went to synagogue, how often what the name of my rabbi was, who else in my family goes to synagogue, etc. They got kind of freaked out because I told them about the structure at Beth Jacob synagogue. They were like, wow, you're definitely reformed Jewish then, just because they have the rotate. They don't have one specific rabbi there. They have a few. Yeah, so they weren't going to let you on it first? They let me and my sister through fine. There was a few people, they stopped and looked through their bags and that kind of thing, because they're really paranoid about people smuggling stuff in and rightly so. The culture and stuff that's not allowed in Israel is much different than America. Yeah, and they also have rules that a religious person can't sit next to a woman on an airplane. Going to Israel, they have certain specific rules. So you went to some synagogues, right? Yeah. Since you were raised reform, was it a little difficult for you to take in some of the rules and regulations of Israel, like keeping your head covered or certain things that you had to deal with? Not really, because I had prepared for it and I knew that lots of places I was going to have to wear, wear some sort of head covering. That's why I brought this hat with me. But lots of the synagogues provided free kippas to wear while you were there, which was cool. And it's really just more about being polite and just making sure you understand what the rules are more than anything else. Were there some of the things that, I mean, were you afraid of doing things there? Sometimes. We visited, what are they called? We went to the city, Sfad. Yes, Sfad is very nice. It's very artistic. Oh, it's beautiful in there. Yeah, it was a very beautiful city. Did it take you to that synagogue there? Yeah, we went to a few synagogues there. The city got beautiful. It has all different kind of art. Different things. And we went to, I forget what they're called, but they're like the water, it's like the bathing thing. Oh, Miqvah. Yeah, we went to the Miqvah. Miqvah, yeah, separate women, separate men, two days. You went into a Miqvah? How did you feel, how did you like the experience of it? Well, it was kind of crazy because the men and the women separated into different groups. So how did you like the experience? Well, we went to the world's oldest Miqvah in Sfad that's like over 500 years old. So how did you like it? The water runs off the mountain. It's like rain water, rain water. So how did you like it? I wasn't going to go in at first, but I was like, hey, I'm probably never going to be here again. No, you might get experience. Yeah, so how did you like the experience? It was cold, but it was really cool. It was very interesting. It was Israel, a lot of the stuff I did there, I was just, stuff I wouldn't normally do. I was just like, did you like the experience? Yeah, she didn't, the woman didn't get to go into any Miqvahs because they didn't have time. It takes a lot longer for a woman to prepare, I guess. Yeah, yeah. Than for men. So they went for the men, so the women stayed outside again. Did you see any celebrations in Israel? Because I know now Israel is celebrating, or a couple of days ago was Israel's 70th birthday, being their independence day. So did you see any celebrations? We went to parades. We didn't see any official celebrations at parades, but we went out on the town a few nights, and we saw some people at a concert where people were playing music, or some people at a dance club and stuff like that. Yeah. Is there any, like, you talk about the food for a minute, any food that you didn't want to try? You were like, you know, because I know Israel food is really strange to some. Did it take you to Burger King and Jerusalem? Burger King and McDonald's, they have kosher McDonald's. The only kosher Burger King in Jerusalem, did they take you there? No, we didn't. We tried to stick to more, like, local stuff. They took you to the best dishes, good falafel there. I don't know. Most of the stuff there was pretty good, but I don't think there was anything that I was too. Well, I guess the gefilte fish. Yeah, that's a little strange for anyone, disability or not. I love gefilte fish. I had some at Passover a few weeks ago, and it was better because my grandmother made it, whereas this gefilte fish was off of a hotel. Most of the food we ate at our breakfasts and dinners were at the hotel catered, so it wasn't like the best Israeli food, but it was pretty solid. Yeah, well, I mean, we don't have a jar here, but gefilte fish is actually, it's a Jewish dish made from poached and ground deboned fish. My aunt used to do that for me. Yeah, but I mean, the jar stuff has the jelly. But to have one now, you could boil with carrots, you leave it in the wrapper, and you put it in a pot. Did you have traditional masalbalsu? Oh, I did, yeah, on Shabbat. Yeah, because the way some people make it, you know. Go to Israel to get real Jewish food. I think the worst or weirdest thing I ate there was they had kosher sushi at, like, the night so tall it wasn't good. Really? It was not good. I mean, I forget, but it was in Jerusalem. I think they accidentally booked us a really nice hotel, and they didn't realize it. It was like, I think it was like five-star, like, one of the best hotels in Jerusalem. They just hadn't realized. They had all these options. I had sushi and it was, my nephew's wedding was delicious. Kosher sushi can be kosher, but it must fish in terms of being kosher. Because obviously, when you go to any place, you're not going to get, that's kosher, you're not going to have shrimp, or you're not going to have lobster, or you're not going to have certain things that don't have fins. So the fish that they must have used, probably flounder or whatever. Did you have a St. Peter's fish? They put it on the grill? No, I don't think we did that. Okay, well, we're getting hungry at the moment. Let's get back to the show. You brought your good walking shoes out here, I presume. Oh, absolutely. We did a lot of picking. Where did you walk to? They took you to the Western Wall. Yeah, we went to the wall. We went there on Shabbat, and then we went there a few days later. So it could be a little less busy. Did you end it up? I'm talking about religion for a minute. To fill it, you saw a lot of people with that. Did you end up doing that? Well, we were given the option to all the men in the group, and at first I didn't. But then as I was leaving the wall, the second time we were there, which was a few days after Shabbat, there was somebody, there was a rabbi there, and he came up to me, and he was like, are you Jewish? And I was like, yeah, he was like, were you ever, were you ever Bar Mitzvah, did you ever have a Bar Mitzvah? And I actually didn't have a Bar Mitzvah when I turned 13. And I said, no, I didn't. And so he just like wrapped, he put that on me, told me to refuse. It's basically the Torah wrapped around. But if you drop the other part, you have to fast that whole, you know, you have to fast I think 24 hours or something. But yeah, the first five books of the Torah is in that. And they painstakingly write it. It's not printed, it's written. So yeah, there's a lot of strange customs that people are not used to being Jewish. I mean, you know, food, the people, so on and so forth. But Israel, you know, if you can take that trip, you know, recommendations go with the group like getting a free trip, because it is very expensive. Yeah, I'm glad I went because it was free. And I don't think I would have went otherwise. But I think that if I were to go back again, which I would like to, I would definitely like to go without a big group just so I could like explore it on my own because it was very regulated. It was very boxed off. And a lot of stuff meaning how? A lot of stuff was like censored or like they didn't, they didn't bring us to certain places or they didn't let us talk to certain people. And it was all very with the parameters. I'm not sure they, it's, I mean, it's funded by like a majority of it is funded by the Israeli government that pays for this. So it might be something, a lot of time, anything, anything that might be. But they brought you to the good parts of Israel. They didn't bring you to the Palestinian people. Not at all. There's a lot of security. Like you had mentioned with the Bedouins that you saw the Israeli army there. Yeah. How was that experience? Did you end up speaking to some of them? Well, we had five soldiers stay with us for about half of the trip from the Israeli army. I think that was the best experience because they had different political views and different outlooks on stuff relating to the army. And there were several times when they argued about like ethics of things and stuff relating to the army. And that was really interesting to see because we didn't really get to see that anywhere else. There was a real people who were working in the army and they had like different thoughts about... Because you know the Israeli army now, I mean for non combative maneuvers, matter of fact, because the IDF... the IDF employs people with disabilities. Yeah. Actually, I think we learned while we were there, the Israeli government, they'll find employment for... they'll look at somebody's like skills, even if they have a disability or not, and they'll place them in the... Some of them are working in books. Yeah. We saw a play that was a one-woman play with a woman who was blind and deaf in the lead role. And that was very cool. Did they take you to see the books? Yes. Which one? Not sure. There's so much... We packed like eight or nine things into every day. It's hard to remember exactly. Yeah, because according to the Jerusalem Post... There's a lot of... According to the Jerusalem Post it says that disabled Israelis must also serve in the IDF. Well, it depends on what they can do. Yeah. If you wouldn't make a good... If you can't walk very well or something like that, they might not put you in a combat role. Well, I wouldn't want to go combat. No. Now, is there anything you didn't like being there? Like, didn't know there's pros and cons to everything. Well, our tour guide was a little... If he... A lot of this stuff... He just... He... He... He talked about lots of things, it seemed to be very one single-minded one viewpoint and a lot of stuff was small or seemed like not very significant. And we could have... I felt we could have been doing a lot more of their time than spending five hours in like less than like a one mile radius. Did they take you to Meir Shireen? Yeah, we did. Oh, yeah, I know that. I've been there. Did you... No. You weren't allowed to... Did you end up taking to any relatives while you were in Israel? Because I know it was hard not having a phone. I don't think we... I managed to contact my mom once or twice. We don't have any relatives that live over there as far as I know. No, but I'm saying being far away from home. Oh, okay. Yeah. We contacted my mom once or twice. But other than that, not really, no. Yeah. So was that really hard being away from like your mom being scared that you're away, that type of thing? I guess so. I think my mom didn't really realize what Israel was. She was imagining like the Middle East, like the stereotypical like in the movies, like all the houses are made out of clay and it's all dusty. No. There's a lot of thieves and no, it's like a very modernized country. And I think she was more scared than she should have been. Did you buy any souvenirs? Oh, absolutely. I got my mom a menorah that was made over there and she asked for some olive oil from Israel. Oh, yeah, olive oil. And they let me bring that back. And I brought her and her fiance some liquor as well. I brought my younger sister. We went to a farm, like a winery. You went to a shuk, which is a market, right? Yeah, a shuk. But we went to a very, like apparently a very famous winery that won a bunch of awards. That was near the Sea of David, I think. But of course, you're going to be showing us some pictures while this runs. So, well, we'd like to thank you for joining us on Ableton on Air. Absolutely. And when you make another trip, let us know. Sure. For more information on, as a matter of fact, I'm going to pull up the number. I know it's, hold on one second. It's going to be going to edit this. You have to stamp the passport, right? Hold on, hold on. Let me see if I can pull up. I just want to, there's a number here for Israel. Oh, there we go. For more information on the birthright trips to Israel, you can log on to, hold on one second. Hold on. I know, wait, hold on. I'm looking for the website. Oh, there we go. For more information on the birthright trips to Israel, you can log on to www.taglit.taglit.com. Again, you can log on to www.taglit.com, where the birthright is real. While that puts an end to this edition of Ableton on Air, I'm Lauren Seiler. I'm Arlene Seiler. See you next time.