As we delve into the pinnacle of Jewish observance with the Day of Atonement soon upon us, for some it is a day of conflict even before it envelopes us with its true meaning. 

Yom Kippur falls on a Wednesday this year. Midweek.  For those who work in Jewish communal work or with Jewish clientele like Amazing Journeys, taking the day off to pray is a non-issue.  For many, however, the necessity of taking a day off can be lost due to the responsibilities of work, the pressures of school, or the non-compliance of a boss or administration recognizing the significance that this day is to our heritage.

Interestingly, the contrast between how society treats Christmas, for example, and how it treats the Jewish High Holy Days is apparent to some. Jewish law requires a halt to work on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana, which are not legal days off. Religious strictures on working are generally looser for Christians on Christmas. Yet Christmas is a legal holiday.

Under federal law, employers in businesses of more than 15 workers must ”reasonably accommodate” religious needs unless they can demonstrate ”undue hardship.” A religious need includes taking a holiday off. An accommodation can include allowing a holiday swap.

This doesn’t mean that other veins comply with the need.  The sporting world, for example doesn’t pause their schedule.

Hall of Famer baseball players Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax, both Jewish, were faced with the dilemmas of playing important games during the high holidays. Greenberg was quoted:  “The team was fighting for first place, and I was probably the only batter in the lineup who was not in a slump. But in the Jewish religion, it is traditional that one observe the holiday solemnly, with prayer. One should not engage in work or play. And I wasn’t sure what to do.” –

In 1934, Hank Greenberg of the Detroit Tigers decided not to play in a game during a tight pennant race because it fell on Yom Kippur. In 1965, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax missed a World Series game in observance of Yom Kippur.

In some industries, it can be a simple matter of tit for tat.  For many Jews, working on Christmas is payback to gentile colleagues who fill in on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana. Other Jews view working on Christmas as a way to fulfill tenets of the faith. Many Jews speak of working on Christmas as obeying an unwritten rule, or upholding a social contract… or just being a mensch.

The topic is often not discussed but is rather part of the social grease that keeps society working smoothly. The practice tends to keep everyone happy and adds an underscore the words ”happy holidays.”

On Yom Kippur, may you, your family, Israel and its people be sealed in the Book of Life for a year of life and peace.

Summertime conjures up an innate desire in all of us to do something different than we do during the three other seasons. Likely this premise dates back to our youth when summer vacation was the end result…the reward…the yearning of every student each and every school year. As adults we never really shed that urge; to “vacate” somewhere during the summer.

For many of our Amazing Journeys friends who live in New York, that means buying into a share at Fire Island for weekends of beach time, party time and time with friends. For teachers, it means that the job breaks for 2 months and its time to get out of dodge (our friend Bob C from Toronto and Maris J from New York–both teachers–actually spend more of their time in foreign countries than at home during their summer breaks. “School’s out, pack my bags and see ya at Labor Day!” are their summer time mottos). For others, its simply that the weather is nice and the desire to get out of the house–way out of the house–is what they’ve been waiting for. The “summer vacation” impression is so deeply rooted in our souls from days gone by in our youth, we almost have no choice but to succumb to that urge and take that break.

Knowing that the summer is an important travel season to so many people, Amazing Journeys plans 2-3 impressive, destination-oriented and very well attended vacations annually at this time. After a very successful and mesmerizing tour of the Canadian Rockies in July, we just returned home from an amazingly fun and memorable tour through England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France. 98 passengers from 20 cities and 6 countries shared some special times throughout the British Isles, partaking in their choice of 24 different private tours throughout the two weeks around the towns and scores of relaxing enjoyable activities aboard our Princess Cruises floating hotel.

The town of Edinburgh, Scotland was a favorite of many as we joined the locals in celebrating the annual Fringe Festival and Royal Military Tattoo performance. With hundreds of festive street entertainers, musical performances, local fare, medieval castles and the absolutely incredible theatrical concert of the Military Tattoo celebrating the Scottish heritage, our time in Edinburgh is a memory never to be forgotten.

A few of the other many highlights throughout our tour of the British Isles included:

 * A tour of the Guinness Storehouse factory in Dublin

 * Entrance into the Eiffel Tower in Paris

 * A visit to the Royal Suites in Buckingham Palace in London (where Kate’s wedding dress was on display),

 * A speed boat ride on Loch Ness (with many claims of seeing glimpses of Nessie),

 * A tour to the Beaches of Normandy and commentary on the incredible story of D-Day,

 * Tours of ancient medieval castles dating back to the 12^th century-including the fortress and surrounding land that inspired the film Braveheart and a most meaningful “Political Tour” of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Our two-part journey took us on a guided tour through the Protestant neighborhood with commentary on that point of view, followed by a separate guide leading us through the Catholic neighborhood sharing that viewpoint. Each neighborhood was separated by a wall that, while not monitoring who could cross, was a clear divide between who was welcome where.

Ahh…summer. Its been a great season of travel at Amazing Journeys. And, we’re not done yet. In just over a week we have one last summer getaway with over 40 eager travelers joining us on our 5-night cruise to Bermuda.

Its been a summer of amazingly fun times here at Amazing Journeys, with much more to come. Even though summer is a popular travel season, any season is travel season at Amazing Journeys. Travel in the fall with us to French Polynesia or the Music Cities of the south. Travel in the winter with us on a New Year’s Caribbean cruise or to India. Travel with us in the spring to China or Spain. Or…if you are the quintessential summer traveler, join us in 2012 in Alaska or on a cruise in the Black Sea to Turkey, the Ukraine, Romania and Greece.

Wherever and whenever you want to go, Amazing Journeys will be there for you with a great group of Jewish single travelers, value-added vacation packages, exclusive touring, carefree travel planning and the greatest team of group leaders in the industry.

Make some plans today!

Are you ready for a trip around the world?  Are you?  Really??

Sadly, the majority of Americans will rarely see any geography beyond their own borders.  The Office of Travel and Tourism Industries published a finding that only about 10% of of US residents have ever traveled to overseas destinations (Canada and Mexico excluded – they’re not overseas. )  Leisure travel is more than a vacation. Its an activity that makes you more worldly, knowledgeable and tolerant of the differences in cultures that make our planet so special.  Its an adventure.  Its a means to experience “Life” with a capital “L” – a chance to break from the routine…the norm…the grind…the familiararity…the common.  Its a purpose, not just an experience.  Humans are born to travel; we’ve been given the mobility and dexterity to do so and as Americans we’ve also been given the “land of opportunity’; a means to earn, spend and have plentiful of what most other nations around the world don’t.

Get Out There, America! Whether you’re single or married…Jewish or Christian….in your 30s or in your 60s; don’t do what the regretful elderly do when they say for decades “I’ll travel when I retire” or “I’ll get there someday”.  Go now, while you’re able-bodied, healthy and capable! You never know when you might not be, and denying yourself the greatest of life’s givings is a regret of unfathomable proportions.  Trust me, the world is an incredible place.  America is wonderful…but the world is, well, an Amazing Journey for all to see.

IF NOT NOW….WHEN?

For thousands of years since successive waves of invaders chased the Israelites from their ancestral home, Jews have carried their religion with them wherever they have gone. Living in the Diaspora, Jews maintained their way of life, gathering in communities to share their traditions. Others were touched by the faith of the Jews scattered among them, or by the words of the Torah, and bound their lives to this enduring heritage.

There are scarcely more than thirteen million Jews in the world today; most of them live in established Jewish centers like Israel and large cities in North America and Western Europe. But what many do not know is that there are Jewish communities in Africa, Asia, South America, even parts of Europe and the Former Soviet Union, in which the Jewish populations do not have white skin or do not live fast-paced, modern lives. Some of these communities exist in places so geographically and culturally distant from other Jews that they must struggle daily to maintain the religion of their ancestors.

These often tiny Jewish communities are fascinating. Some of them are ancient such as in Tunisia where the first Jews arrived 2600 years ago during the Babylonian Exile. Others are brand new such as the the Inca Jews of Peru who started practicing Judaism just a few decades ago. The small communities are recognizably Jewish with many of them observing Shabbat and kosher laws in the familiar ways one would find everywhere. However, each have customs reflecting their own “flavor” of Judaism. For example, in the tiny Jewish communities of Uganda and Zimbabwe songs written in Hebrew are set to African melodies; in India the Benei Menashe still practice ritual sacrifice of animals while the Bene Israel have their “Malida” ceremony which offers prayers, songs and bowls of fruits and flowers to the Prophet Elijah.

Amazing Journeys has toured 7 continents and save for Antarctica, have explored and enjoyed points of Jewish interest in places like Peru, St. Petersburg, Sydney, Buenos Aires and even San Jose, Costa Rica.  Yours truly was actually an invited guest on my extended “tour of duty” in Costa Rica back in 2003, to join a family—a big “machar” at the local synagogue—for Pesach Seder.  A totally unexpected experience; so amazingly different…yet so amazingly familiar.  Jews are Jews no matter where in the world they are, no matter what language their native tongue, no matter how mainstream or remote their neighborhood.

See below for some snapshots showing our fellow Jewish kinship from places you probably never thought of around the world:

Ugandan Jews are called the Abayudaya and here are some congregants and their Shule. They are found in the town of Mbale which is in the Eastern part of Uganda.

There are five rabbis in Tunisia; and even several kosher restaurants. Yacov B’Chiri is a cantor of the Djerba, Tunisia Jewish community. B’Chiri has been playing lute, or ud, and singing Arabic and Hebrew songs since he was young, and has become a legendary voice of the Djerban Jewish community.

Over five decades ago, in the northern Peruvian city of Cajamarca, two brothers began a spiritual journey that would reshape their own lives and those of hundreds of others. After Alvaro and Segundo Villanueva Correa read the Torah, they eventually decided to embrace Judaism, forming a community in 1958 whose members strictly observed the Sabbath and the Festivals and kept kosher.

The group, which came to be known as the “Bnei Moshe” (or Children of Moses), makes no claim of Jewish ancestry. Rather, it consists of like-minded families and individuals who found their spiritual truth in Judaism and decided out of deep sincerity to join the Jewish people. They continued to practice Judaism faithfully over several decades, expanding to the city of Trujillo as well, and growing in number to more than 500 people.  Subsequently, nearly all of the Inca Jews underwent conversion by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate and made aliyah, thanks in part to Shavei Israel.

The Jewish experience in Berlin, Germany.  Very Powerful.  Click here:  Berlin_Jewish_Journey

Having just returned from a truly “Amazing” Journey with 130 passengers throughout Scandinavia, Russia and even Germany, I am in a reflective mood.  In the hustle and bustle of leading groups around the world, I sometimes don’t have the opportunity to actual absorb the essenses of where I am.  Now that I am seizing that opportunity, I am reminded of a stop that meant a lot to me.

Our first port of call was one that I was a little unsure of.  Historically, Berlin has been a city in flux and I felt similar feelings about visitin g a place with such a harsh history. Turns out it was an eye opening experience and a very memorable one, in more good ways than I imagined. I learned that Berlin is trying to reinvent itself and that the dedication to a Jewish cause is currently respectable at the very least.

There is a noticeable vibe in the city as it works to earn the respect of the world, and as a Jew, I felt a sense of passion and change for the better.  Our guide was very poignant as he described Berlin of yesterday compared to Berlin today saying that after decades of hate, it is now a city aimed at youth, peace and resistance to becoming again what it once was.

Seeing the remnants of the Berlin Wall and the landmarks such as the Brandenburg Gate (pictured here), as well has hearing some of the stories of survival, escape…war and peace, were powerful features and definite highlights of our tour.  I think I share the same sentiment as most of my group in stating that time in Berlin was memorable and hopeful, but not without pain.

In the end, I felt that Berlin is on its way back. I felt good about my visit and about the future of the Jewish people in that part of the world.  I spent an hour and a half in the Jewish Museum and I spent time with an Israeli guide who made “Aliyah” to Germany…and those few moments-in-time showed me promise.  Berlin has been a bad place; a very bad place for so long. But now its on its way to being a good place and lets all hope it continues to reinvent itself in the years ahead.