Tuesday, November 4th
Day 2:
In my initial post about our journey to Israel, I neglected to explain how we were led to go there. Earlier in the fall, friends had told us about their plans to participate in a tour of Israel with Jonathan Cahn, and invited us to pray about joining them. They also let us know that Becky, a widowed friend and neighbor of theirs was planning to go. After praying, and receiving no red flags from God, we began the process of registering and preparing for the “Jonathan Cahn 2025 Israel Super Tour.”
Shortly before the tour started, our friends experienced a family crisis which prevented them from going on the trip. We then introduced ourselves to Becky via a telephone call. On our day of departure, we met her at the airport in Detroit. The three of us traveled to, and through Israel together. This would be Shelley’s and my first time in Israel, and Becky’s sixth.
Jonathan Cahn had been guiding two such tours each year prior to the October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel by Hamas. Our tour was his first since that terrible event. There were 150+ of us on this journey. That was far less than the average number of guests on his earlier tours. Thus it was, that on our very first travel day, we sensed that we were part of a special God-ordained adventure. That feeling grew stronger each day of the trip!
We were vetted by Israeli security at JFK before boarding our El Al flight. I expect that is why after our tour guide met us inside the Ben Gurion airport, he was allowed to rather quickly usher us through customs and immigration. We had to walk perhaps 150 yards from the terminal to the bus. I recall the moment that I first stepped outside the building to see and feel the sun. I sensed the blessings awaiting us! Soon, we filed onto a bus with other tour guests who had arrived around the same time as us.
Our bus passed Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, where the state of Israel was born on May 14, 1948, by the declaration of David Ben-Gurion. Harry S. Truman, then president of the United States. recognized the new nation of Israel that same day. Our journey continued, heading north along the Mediterranean Sea. We were driven to the city of Jaffa (Joppa) for a walking tour of the town from which Jonah had sailed for Tarshish (Jonah 1:1-3), where Peter had raised Tabitha/Dorcas (Acts 9:40), and where his vision from God revealed that the Gospel was to be offered to the Gentile world (Acts 10:11-28).
We spent our first night at the Ramada Netanya Hotel. Although we were tired after a very long day, we enjoyed a buffet banquet for dinner in the hotel dining room before collapsing into bed. In fact, each day of the tour would be long, and would begin and end with a delicious buffet meal. Sneak peek ahead: each day typically started with breakfast, followed by a bus ride to a designated location for teaching and worship. Then, the tour would proceed to more locations. At the end of each day’s activities, we would again meet for more teaching, praise, and worship before heading to our hotel for the next dinner buffet.
House of Simon the Tanner
Let the tour begin!
Copyright 2025 Rich O’Brien
Israel Journey – Day 2
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Posted: November 29, 2025 by OBrien Rich
Tuesday, November 4th
Day 2:
In my initial post about our journey to Israel, I neglected to explain how we were led to go there. Earlier in the fall, friends had told us about their plans to participate in a tour of Israel with Jonathan Cahn, and invited us to pray about joining them. They also let us know that Becky, a widowed friend and neighbor of theirs was planning to go. After praying, and receiving no red flags from God, we began the process of registering and preparing for the “Jonathan Cahn 2025 Israel Super Tour.”
Shortly before the tour started, our friends experienced a family crisis which prevented them from going on the trip. We then introduced ourselves to Becky via a telephone call. On our day of departure, we met her at the airport in Detroit. The three of us traveled to, and through Israel together. This would be Shelley’s and my first time in Israel, and Becky’s sixth.
Jonathan Cahn had been guiding two such tours each year prior to the October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel by Hamas. Our tour was his first since that terrible event. There were 150+ of us on this journey. That was far less than the average number of guests on his earlier tours. Thus it was, that on our very first travel day, we sensed that we were part of a special God-ordained adventure. That feeling grew stronger each day of the trip!
We were vetted by Israeli security at JFK before boarding our El Al flight. I expect that is why after our tour guide met us inside the Ben Gurion airport, he was allowed to rather quickly usher us through customs and immigration. We had to walk perhaps 150 yards from the terminal to the bus. I recall the moment that I first stepped outside the building to see and feel the sun. I sensed the blessings awaiting us! Soon, we filed onto a bus with other tour guests who had arrived around the same time as us.
Our bus passed Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, where the state of Israel was born on May 14, 1948, by the declaration of David Ben-Gurion. Harry S. Truman, then president of the United States. recognized the new nation of Israel that same day. Our journey continued, heading north along the Mediterranean Sea. We were driven to the city of Jaffa (Joppa) for a walking tour of the town from which Jonah had sailed for Tarshish (Jonah 1:1-3), where Peter had raised Tabitha/Dorcas (Acts 9:40), and where his vision from God revealed that the Gospel was to be offered to the Gentile world (Acts 10:11-28).
We spent our first night at the Ramada Netanya Hotel. Although we were tired after a very long day, we enjoyed a buffet banquet for dinner in the hotel dining room before collapsing into bed. In fact, each day of the tour would be long, and would begin and end with a delicious buffet meal. Sneak peek ahead: each day typically started with breakfast, followed by a bus ride to a designated location for teaching and worship. Then, the tour would proceed to more locations. At the end of each day’s activities, we would again meet for more teaching, praise, and worship before heading to our hotel for the next dinner buffet.
House of Simon the Tanner
Let the tour begin!
Copyright 2025 Rich O’Brien
Category: Blog