Why 5787 should begin in Israel

I arrived in Britain with my family in the summer of 2023, full of the optimism that comes with a new posting. Since then, I have stood alongside the British Jewish community as it navigated one of its most challenging chapters, while the tourism industry in Israel that I represent endured one of the hardest periods in its own history.

But British Jewry have never stopped travelling to Israel, through thick and thin, and for this I thank you all. This July, UK arrivals were up 46% on last year, and despite the disruption over 40,000 people have travelled to Israel from the UK in the first seven months of the year. The recovery is nascent and UK visitor numbers are still well below their 2019 highs, but the direction is promising, and Israel is building for what comes next, with the Ministry of Tourism backing 58 new tourism projects totalling over NIS 360 million, from the Galilee to the Negev.

Rosh Hashanah is the season of teshuvah, a word usually translated as repentance, but which literally means return. And when better to think about returning once again to Israel. I could appeal to you as Jews, as supporters of Israel, and encourage a visit as an act of solidarity. All of that is true, and your visits are critical to the recovery. But I would argue you should do it for yourself, and for those around you.

Because no other travel experience offers what Israel has. It is the complete destination: something for the mind, the body and the soul.

Mind. Nowhere does history sit this close to the surface. Walk the Pilgrimage Road beneath the City of David, on street levels last walked two thousand years ago. Lose an afternoon in the Israel Museum, where the Great Isaiah Scroll, the most complete of the Dead Sea Scrolls, is displayed in its entirety for the first time. And in Tel Aviv, a city with far more than beaches, give a morning to ANU, the Museum of the Jewish People, where our story is told in one extraordinary sweep, and where you will, quite literally, find yourself. This is a country that feeds the culturally curious.

Body. The Mediterranean in the morning, a float in the Dead Sea by afternoon, the Golan trails or exploring the reefs in Eilat’s Red Sea. Cycle all over the country across our radically varied terrains, or maybe a hike with the most majestic sunrise over the Negev. For those who like to treat their body more gently, there is more comfort than ever to come back to with plenty of breathtaking luxury hotel openings offering a collection of rooftop pools and sumptuous spas, all part of a new generation of world class hotels built for proper indulgence to complement all the adventure on tap.

Soul. It begins with the land itself, the physical fact of standing in the Galilee or the Judean hills and knowing that your story happened here. It continues with the people, a whole world compressed into one small country, arguing and celebrating in a dozen accents, and somehow all of it family. You feel it at the Shabbat table you get invited to by people you met on Tuesday. In the Friday afternoon when an entire city exhales at once. And you taste it, everywhere: at the Carmel Market before lunch, at the new tables of Israel’s celebrated chefs, and above all at the meals where guests become family, because what is better for the Jewish soul than sharing wonderful food!

The Israeli phrase is “dugma ishit” – personal example. Not duty but leadership. Someone always goes first, and this community, which stood by Israel through its hardest years, is best placed to lead its recovery too, not just as the right thing to do, but because for mind, body and soul, there is simply no holiday like it. Book that trip and make it a highlight of your 5787.

Wishing you all a good and sweet new year.

Michael Ben Baruch is Director of the Israel Government Tourism Office UK and Ireland