As Maria sang in Sound of Music, the opening words to Do Re Mi, “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start”. I thought I would start my posts about my trip to Israel at the beginning, the arrival into Ben Gurion airport.

This was my third time in Israel. On my first trip I remember talking to people and most people told me the same thing about arriving into Israel. They made comments like, ‘it feels like coming home’ or ‘you will feel like you have been there before’ or, ‘you will feel different as soon as you land’ and more than one person said, ‘don’t be surprised if you see people kissing the ground when you arrive.

Arriving this time was going to be different than the other times. If you have been to Israel, you know that once you land, you walk through this large arrivals walkway into the customs hall. This hallway is a big open space, flanked by the beautiful Jerusalem stone colours, artwork and the largest Mezuzah you have ever seen as you enter the customs hall.

After October 7th, this hallway changed. Posters of over the 250 kidnapped hostages flanked the entrance hall to the airport. They became a part of the airport terminal as a reminder to travellers of the hostages still being held in Gaza. They were often personalized with how many number of days they were being held in captivity. They were there both on arrival and departure as a reminder as the first thing you see as you enter the country and the last you will see before you leave Israel. The posters were updated over the days, with individual posters removed only when the hostages were either released, rescued or their bodies recovered.

I found out I was going to Israel in January. At that time, there was only one poster left in the entrance hall. That poster was of hostage Ran Gvili. Ran was held captive for approximately 843 days until his remains were returned to Israel. At the time, I was thinking about arriving and walking through that hallway with only one poster left.

My arrival was different, as the hallways were clear of posters and open for all who are going ‘home’ to enter with an open heart and mind. As I was walking through the hallway a friend looked back at me and said and commented about taking it all in. Yes, I was thinking about all of those thoughts that people told me on my first arrival in Israel and how true all of those statements were then and are today.

The arrivals hallway posters are not up any longer, but the memories of the hostages are not forgotten to the people of Israel. Their memories are all over the country in many different ways.

Thank you for coming along this journey with me. I look forward to sharing it with you.

Am Israel Chai