Israel journey of couple Hoffmann
Review
At the turn of the year, we were invited by our daughter Judith to travel to Israel for six weeks. We enjoyed spending time with the Stern family and Ron's relatives. We were able to strengthen Judith through prayer. We celebrated Hanukkah and Christmas Eve with our grandchildren. Jeshua had a Jewish mother, Miriam, and grew up in a Jewish family. At the Bezalel Cafe in Jerusalem, we met Josef Aron, who, at over 90 years of age, is the last survivor of the Shoah from our film. He is still in good health. We also celebrated Shabbat with Ron's mother, Leah, and his father, Moni.
We then took the train to Haifa to visit our friends Avishay, Chava and Ileni. With them, we explored Haifa, decorated for Hanukkah and Christmas, where Jews, Christians and Muslims live peacefully side by side. With Ileni, we strolled through the beautiful Bahai Gardens and the German colony, which was founded around 1900 by German Templers. We also visited Dan Chamitzer in En Chod, a well-known artist with a quiz show on the radio. His grandfather Raphael was a renowned doctor and artist in Leipzig.
Like Avishay, Menachem and Miriam are descendants of Holocaust survivors. They were wonderful hosts in their home in Ein Yakov in Upper Galilee. Miriam's grandparents lived in the same house as Avishay's grandparents in Leipzig. Menachem's ancestors came from Belarus, and many of them were murdered by an SS task force. Others fled to the east to fight against the German Wehrmacht. There was no bitterness on their part, but the Holocaust is an obstacle for them to open their hearts to God and Yeshua. With them, we visited an Arab Christian in the neighbouring village. His father had discovered that his house was built on the site of a Byzantine monastery. We sensed the good spirit of God in the old man.
In between, we visited the Stern family's moshav and visited Messianic friends of Judith's nearby. So now she has a German friend and a women's Bible study group. During a brief meeting with the headmaster of the school centre in the Gezer region, where our grandchildren are taught, we discussed a student exchange with Grimma. During a brief meeting with the headmaster of the school centre in the Gezer region, where our grandchildren are taught, we discussed a student exchange with Grimma. From there, we visited our soup kitchen project in Sderot for two days. With mostly Orthodox women, we prepared lunch from what was available, which was very tasty and varied. I also helped prepare a large delivery of food to those in need. The clothing store is also very well stocked and well frequented. The clothing is given out for a small fee. We were grateful to be able to use Ron's car for this.
From Ein Yakov, we drove a rental car to the Golan Heights to visit the Assaf vineyard and meet Stefan Lepp, the manager of the mill/vineyard, and Jase, the winemaker. They are looking for a site where a vineyard with a small settlement can be established. For the first time, we stood at the foot of the snow-covered Mount Hermon at about 1000 metres above sea level at 0°C in a Druze village. From there, we descended into the Huletal valley to Kfar Blum to visit Yvtach Dahadi. We enjoyed spending time with them. Yvtach has spent most of the last 18 months organising the defence of the kibbutz. He is the grandson of Steffi, formerly Bamberger, from our film. The plans for ‘Steffi's Kitchen’ in Leipzig have been put on hold for the time being.
After a detour to Tel Aviv and our family, we then travelled to the Negev desert to Ben Gurion College. There we celebrated Shabbat with Messianic brothers and sisters at the Glik family's home, a service with Baruch Maayan and international students. We met with our friends Avner and Rachel Boskey from Omer and their son Daniel and discussed another teaching assignment in Germany. We were invited to participate in a musical evening organised by Boskeys for senior citizens in Omer. In addition we drove to Rick und Dafna Wienecke and "Fountain of Tears" in Arat. After a stop at the Glik family's food truck, we visited the Nova Festival site. The site and the memorial with shot-up and burnt-out cars burned the terrible fate of so many young people into our hearts. At the same time, we were overwhelmed by the heroism of Israelis who gave their lives without hesitation to save others. With Baruch Maayan and his daughter Shoshanna, her husband Kyle and their two children, who recently moved there from South Africa, we visited Anitani near Ovdad. The Negev Desert is also a good place for a vineyard. We took Stefan and Jase to their flight home.
We continued on to Kfar Saba, where we met Doron Seifert with Shula and Michael with Naomi. They are descendants of former Leipzig Jews. Maria had researched a lot about their family history. In Jerusalem, I was able to participate in a teaching and prayer session organised by Tikkun Global with Pastor Ariel Blumenthal at the City Tower. They began a 40-day intercession for the people of Iran, whose fate became a burden to me in prayer.
We then spent two days at Kibbutz Magen, where Liraz and Sharon welcomed us. We felt as if we were part of the family. They showed us a new house that will be used for psychotherapeutic treatment. They told us that all the residents are traumatised by 7 October 2023. The children will be treated first, followed by the adults and seniors. A visit to Baruch Cohen and his wife Nina made us realise how important he has been to the entire kibbutz in the past and on 7 October 2023. He is one of the heroes who has shaped children from broken families into independent personalities in the past (Liraz is proof of this). His heroism and leadership on 7 October 2023 were important for the miracle of preserving the kibbutz. He was so badly wounded that he had to be resuscitated twice and had a leg amputated. Juval has now taken over his position as head of security. He said that although he does not believe in God, he likes to have monks in Cyprus explain the Bible and the New Testament to him. Sharon's English husband Scott showed us the kibbutz's extensive fields, which yield such good crops that agriculture has become the kibbutz's main source of income. He fell in love with Sharon and this region. Ivat then showed us the Magen Zoo, which is looked after by schoolchildren. Of course, we also met some of the teenagers who were in Grimma in 2024 – Tamar, Eyal, Adam and others, who spoke with great appreciation about their time in Germany. Eyal is now learning German because of this!
Deeply moved by the love, hospitality and openness to talk about trauma, we ended our time with the Stern family on Palmachin Beach on the Mediterranean Sea.
