28 October, 2017, on the way home

“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” T. S. Eliot

While waiting in Newark for our connecting flight, I need to write about our final day in Israel. It began with our visit to the amazing Church of the Sermon on the Mount on the Mar Elias campus in Ibillin where we digested the extraordinary symbolism of the icons, and our day ended with several hours in Jaffa and our “last supper” in Ramlah (Arabic phonetics).

The long awaited day came for us to visit Costy’s birthplace. I told Joan that I wanted that “ahah” moment for him. And it did happen. After touring Old Jaffa without recognizing much, when our guide Ramy began on the street of churches and schools that had been initiated by religious groups pre-Israel, he mentioned Terra Santa, and Costy perked up. Ramy, himself, is a history teacher there currently. I do not believe it was a coincidence that he was our guide!

When we walked up to the gate and stone wall that surrounded the school, Costy stopped and said, “I remember.”  Jerry, one of our group, asked if we could go in, and Ramy pulled out his keys, unlocked the gate and in we walked. Memories washed over Costy, as we continued into the building itself. He wept. It was emotional for all of us. My heart was full.

Then on our way to the Port of Jaffa, we stopped by Simon the Tanner’s House.

It was all too much for me. I had heard about these places almost all our married life, now I was there and he was at the first home he knew before his family fled. He had not seen Jaffa since 1948.

~ Beth Saba