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After his first trip to Israel, Tyler resident Jon Ledlie said the experience made his Christian faith more real and gave him a deeper appreciation of the political situation there.

“I don’t think any of us will ever read the Bible the same way we did before,” Ledlie, 66, a member of Tyler’s First Presbyterian Church, said. “It’s far more personal now.”

Ledlie and his wife, Andi, were among a group of East Texans from the First Presbyterian Church in Tyler and Congregation Beth El to participate in an interfaith trip to Israel in March.

During the 10-day trip, the group visited many places important to Christians and Jews.

The purpose is to help them better understand their own as well as each other’s faiths, and to develop a greater understanding of the political situation in the country and surrounding area.

“I feel like people leave my trips smarter and more informed about what’s going on over there,” said Rabbi Neal Katz of Congregation Beth El, a Reform Jewish congregation in Tyler.

This is the second trip Katz and the Rev. Dr. Stuart Baskin, pastor of Tyler’s First Presbyterian Church, have organized. The first was in 2014. In 2012, the men went on a trip to Israel as part of a group of rabbis and Christian ministers who were learning how to conduct an interfaith trip.

“Because we’re an interfaith group, part of it is to see the sights from the perspective of someone from another faith,” Baskin said. “It’s fascinating for the Christians in the group to hear the Jewish history and traditions related to a variety of things.”

Some of the stops on the trip included the Mount of Olives; the Western Wall, which is all that remains of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and is the holiest site for Jews; the ruins of Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found; Tel Aviv’s Independence Hall, where Israel’s Declaration of Independence was signed; and the Church of the Nativity, built on the site traditionally thought of as Jesus’ birthplace.

In addition to the visits to historical and archaeological sites, the travelers also met with and heard from people in the country and participated in traditional aspects of Jewish life.

For example, the visitors experienced a Jewish Sabbath worship service and ate Sabbath dinner with a Jewish family.

They also spoke with different people about the political situation in Israel. These included an American-born Israeli citizen who is heavily involved in advocating for peace between Israeli Jews and Palestinians; the founder of an organization that puts groups of Israelis and Palestinians together for learning and growth; and the mayor of the Israeli settlement of Efrat.

When travelers are able to meet with people who are peace builders and people from settlements, it’s a much more dynamic and confusing reality, Katz said.

These visits often leave people very confused and that’s OK, Katz said. In fact, he’s glad when that happens.

“People who come back from … these trips should come back with a better vocabulary and better literacy of Israel and its reality,” Katz said.

Dr. Gary Gross, 66, a Tyler oncologist and member of Congregation Beth El who went on the trip with his wife, Lisa, said he most enjoyed trying to understand the major Christian events that took place there and seeing Katz and Baskin contemplate faith and ask questions such as, “Did this really happen? Did it really happen here? Should we accept it on faith?”

“It was really just neat,” said Gross, who had been to Israel twice before, but never on an interfaith trip. “I think all of us just learned from the others.”

 

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