Editor’s note: John Gedalya Persky, a member of the Lewiston High School Class of 1970, wrote a short letter from the Holy Land to his classmates at the time of their 40th reunion this summer. We asked him to expand on it for Perspective.

I grew up in Lewiston and graduated from LHS. Now, I live in Beit Shemesh, Israel, a city about the size of Lewiston, between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. From my terrace I can see the hill where Samson is buried, the Monastery of Beit Jamal looking like Tuscany, and the valley going down to the Mediterranean. Beit Shemesh has not received snow in 20 years, but the Gush Etzion Hills behind us will get a dusting every year for a day or two.

Most of my time, I run a wine shop in the Old City of Jerusalem. It’s located in the Cardo, the ancient Roman shopping street of the Old City. Some Roman was selling something in this very shop 2,000 years ago.  

Israel is an immigrant country, and my Hebrew classes had people from France, Russia, Ethiopia, Panama, and Columbia. At work I sit next to an Arab, who I joke around with. I interact with Jews every day from Morocco, Iran, India, and all around the world.

I have been living in Israel and Beit Shemesh for 7 1/2 years. One of the first things I noticed here was the swing set in the neighborhood park. In America, there are long, straight rows of swings. Here the swings are in a circle, with the children swinging towards one another. This really represents the difference in the culture here. We are a small country where people of divergent backgrounds bump up against one another and have to learn to get along.

Most Israelis do not have much money. They are struggling to survive in a down-turned economic world. But, at the same time, theft and even violent crime are at very low levels here. Contrary to everyone’s assumptions, the murder rate in Israel is way below the rate in the states.

There are a lot of cars, but not at the percentages of Europe and the states. So, the two malls in Jerusalem are at mass transit centers, one at the Central Bus Station , and the other at the train station. A light rail system throughout the city may some day be operational and allow an old city like Jerusalem to move people through town without massive traffic stoppages.

A walk in the fields near my house brings you past Bedouin grain fields to dozens of carved stone wine presses from the time of Rome and the Holy Temple. A ride into Jerusalem brings you to the Old City with its many religious sites, the Arab Shuk/market, and a walk through history. Another ride, and you’re at the Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth. Or in Modiin, the home of the Maccabees of Chanukah. I always tell people that it’s not whose footsteps have you walked in but rather whose haven’t you walked in? The country is physically beautiful and historically colossal. And, yes, just slightly politically complicated. And, we haven’t even mentioned the Druse, the Bahais, the Samaritans, and so many others.

Come visit Israel, and see for yourself. Speak to all the different peoples and hear their different viewpoints. Then, you’d have a more realistic opinion of what goes on here. Let me know you’re coming, and you can even visit with a Lewiston boy here in the Holy Land.

John Gedalya Persky is a long-time educator in the field of autism.