If you are my Facebook friend you know that I am in Israel with my family.  After dreaming about this trip for years, saving miles for a long time and planning this trip for a few years, it actually took about 8 hours longer to get here.

But indeed that is the story of Israel.

It all started after we settled in to the Atlanta airport, on time, well prepared and with 2 hours to go until the flight.  The announcement came over the speaker system that the boarding would be delayed a little bit, which turned out to be 2 hours.  Despite traveling with 6 children (the big 2 traveled on their own from NY) we were in good spirits.  But, our connecting flight in France was gone by the time we landed.  Now this was going to be fun, because the next flight wasn’t going to leave for 6 hours!

Nu. It was meant to be.  We enjoyed the Parisian airport beds for two hours and then decided to make our way to our gate and see what kind of Kosher food we could pick up with the vouchers – small compensation for the long delays.

So we went to the security line and as we were waiting on line, Dena spots a young couple we know from Atlanta rushing past us. We call them in and they join us on line.

The young man’s father had passed away and they were rushing to England to catch the funeral.  In the five minutes we spent on line we were able to bring a little bit of comfort to the young couple.

Could it be that our extra 8 hours were all about this “chance” encounter in the airport?

Being in Israel, one can’t help but sense that everything is Divinely infused, Divinely intended and waiting for us to uncover it’s Divine energy.  Nothing here is by chance.  Nothing here is just because.  Every breath is a gift, every stone is a gift, every member of the Jewish family is a gift.

This is true outside of Israel too of course, but here it is that much easier to feel it and sense it.  I believe that on our way into the Land we were given a foretaste of what Israel is all about – Eretz Yisroel – a holy land.

Gather your family a little closer on this Thanksgiving weekend and appreciate the love and Divinity that is in each one!

Shabbat Shalom, Good Shabbos!