Servasing in Israel - רשמי אורחים מחו"ל

This summer I managed to visit Israel again – I was invited to The 8th Workshop for Young Polish – Israeli Scholars in Givat Haviva, organized by the University of Haifa. In the meantime, I had the opportunity to visit my beloved friends from Servas: Yael and Chaima, who I visit whenever I am in…

Spring in Israel with peaceful flowers.
Last year I was absolutely enthralled about my first voyage to Israel and my first experience as a guest of ‘Servas’ I met wonderful people who helped me discover another aspect of Israel, then what I knew from the media. Last year, I already wrote about this.

Our journey to Israel (Stefano and Giusy Carestiato, Venice, Italy) We had been thinking for a while about a journey to Israel that allowed us to explore the cultural and spiritual bonds between the western world and Israel. Eventually, we were able to organize a journey on Jesus’s footprints during our Christmas holidays, having at the same time the possibility to meet some old Servas friends again.

We have been travelling with Servas as a family a few times. The first time our son was a baby, when we visited Israel in November 2022, he was 21. Again, this miracle happened: we met and talked, we got to know more of each other, and we felt like meeting old friends.

I am now back in Denmark – it’s very Cold : minus 5 gr. A Little snow – so it’s strange to think, that I a couple of days ago went swimming in Tel Aviv – 21℃ which is sea temperature in Denmark in summer.

My 3 weeks stay started in Sde Boker, that I love very much from my first stay there, 20 years ago.

In Beersheva we had a wondergul hike starting from a bedouin school.

Travelling in Israel: maybe not on everyone’s list but it should be! 　

The journey started with a bang. Quite literally as only 500 meters away from my first Servas stay in Tel Aviv, a terrorist attack took place. Luckily, when we heard the news I was invited to go to a wedding in Ra’anana , a town outside Tel Aviv. My Servas host assured me there was nothing to worry about and the the perpetrator would be caught very soon.

Along the years, Samuel and Pnina hosted many Servas guests in their home in the Galilee.
Here are letters that some of the guests left with them.

My stay in Israel in the time of corona – Servas experience

I visited Israel for the first time seven years ago. I was alone and I hardly new anyone here. Yael and Chaim from Ramat Gan have been my first hosts here. When I saw them – I had the feeling I’m home. And on the next day, when we were hanging the laundry together, in the warm and gentle light of the November sun (in Poland the darkest and cool days usually) – I had again a strong feeling that there is no better place for me then here and now.

Nicholas is travelling around the world with his two boys, Everett (age 11), and Quinlan (age 8). They came to Israel for three weeks this November. They were looking forward to seeing the Haifa region, and Nicholas thought it would be nice for the boys to experience meeting a local family through Servas, and this is what they wrote after:

Hello! Here is Sebastiano, telling you about his great trip in Israel.

I went in Israel with a SYLE project by Servas, in the fantastic family of Ya’al (52), Irit (52) and Ori (15). They have been in Servas for a long time and are used in having hosts. They were great: they made me feel at home, they brought me in every place I was interested to see and they were really kind to me.

Mary and José traveled for 15 days in Israel. They had, as Mary puts it : “an exciting travel, profound and inspiring” experience.
They also had the opportunity to join the visit at the Arab village – Jesar A Zarka – on the International Women’s Day 8 March 2019
Voici mon ressenti sur mon voyage en Israel avec Servas

Our Trip to Israel & Greece

We have just returned from a 5-week holiday to Israel (3.5 weeks) and Greece (1.5 weeks).  We stayed with 4 different Servas couples in Israel and met 1 Servas couple (as day hosts) in Greece.