The Packer Cousins Tour – Heading North

After months of planning, the Packer Cousins were together in the “motherland” for a family tour.




This picture, in front of the Hotel Adiv, has most of the family included. From left to right: sister, Gail; me; friend of cousin Joan, Marsha; daughter of cousin Joan, Michelle; cousin Joan (our beloved matriarch), cousin Louise (sister of Joan); Roberta, cousin of Joan, Louise and Buddy on the their mother’s side; Lynda Mitchell, friend of Joan, (in the back) cousin Buddy; (in the front) Sarah (daughter of Michelle and granddaughter of Joan). Missing are Buddy’s wife Lynda; Roberta’s husband Bob; and Sarah’s brother, Jacob.

In summary, these are my first cousins on my father’s side. My father, Henry and Joan, Louise and Buddy’s father, Max were brothers. Phew! That might be too much information, but I thought the little family tree was important. You might also be interested to know that Joan is the oldest of the generation and I am the youngest. There are 10 years between us. When we were younger I used to get her monogrammed “hand me downs” as there was no one else who was interested in JP embroidered clothing!

With that said, the family was introduced to Julian Resnick, our intrepid tour guide for the next 8 days. We loaded our luggage, boarded the little bus and headed north to the Kinneret, also known as the Sea of Galilee. Our destination was Nof Ginnosar, a kibbutz with a large guesthouse where we would be staying for the next three nights.
Kibbutz Ginnosar, founded in 1937 by a group of young socialists, was originally an agricultural community. Now its primary source of income is from tourism. During a severe drought in 1986 the level of lake dropped to reveal the frame of a fishing boat that has since been carbon dated to 100BCE to 70CE and is now known as the Sea of Galilee Boat.

It was foggy and rainy which make it difficult to see through the steamy windows on our little bus. Julian talked to us about Israel. Over the past 15 years, there has been a steady influx of immigrants who now account for 20% of the population. This number is comparable to the population of France. Israel is clearly as much of a melting pot as the US, on a smaller scale. The best-known immigrant is Madonna, who is known as Esther in the country.

There is a new wave of immigrants being absorbed into Israel on a regular basis. Their home countries have traumatized the immigrants; the burden for assimilation falls to Israel as the host country. Ethiopians, for example, have the challenge of color and culture, a former powerful patriarchal system and low literacy. The women, in general, are better able to acculturate. Over 25% of violence against women is present in the Ethiopian families. This is the result of changing roles.

The discussion of immigrants included the evidence of anti-semitism. Julian told us that Israel’s efforts to support the Tsunami relief effort were initially rebuffed and then accepted only when the Jewish stars were removed from the cargo containers. A tidbit that stuck with me is that Israel has too much history and not enough geography.

We arrived in the shroud of darkness, settled in and hoped that the much-needed rain would take a break when the sun rises in the morning.

And the adventure continues…