The Birmingham Jewish Federation enjoys hearing from those who have visited Israel. The BJF offers travelers to Israel a crimson t-shirt that says Alabama in Hebrew in exchange for a picture of them wearing it in Israel and written impressions about their experiences for Update.

Today's "shirt story" comes from Suzanne Payne, one of The BJF's many Christian friends, who traveled to Israel earlier this year. She was part of a group coordinated by Canterbury United Methodist Church as the culmination to their Scripture study. Suzanne, who has close friends in our Jewish community, has been involved in an array of civic, religious and charitable activities.

Suzanne is pictured here in her shirt at the Via Dolorosa, the path Jesus was said to have taken while carrying the cross. Upon returning from Israel, Suzanne shared the following:

My trip to Israel was truly a spiritual journey, and I am forever changed by it. It meant so much to actually walk the ancient Roman roads that Jesus walked, to take Holy Communion in the Garden of Gethsemane and at the Garden Tomb, and to renew our baptism in the Jordan River.

Our group was amazed at the enormity of the Temple Mount and its unparalleled beauty, awed to stand in the place of Solomon's Temple, humbled as we prayed at the Western Wall with people from so many nations, sorrowed to see Masada and hear its story, thrilled to see the ancient Scrolls, delighted to swim in the Dead Sea, and were so thankful to see for ourselves how incredible this precious land is! I have fallen in love with Israel!

I have always felt connected to Israel, but never like I do now! I have come home with a desire to study the Scriptures in a new way, and especially to include more of the Old Testament. Our guide told us that if we wanted to truly follow Jesus, we should be spending more time in His Bible, and especially the Torah! It is, after all, the root of our faith.

It is impossible to understand how close Israel is to its enemies without actually seeing it. I came away with a respect for Israel's military restraint in the face of such danger. I left Yad Vashem (Israel's Holocaust memorial) with renewed determination that, with the remembrance of this horror, we must insure for the generations to come that no people should ever suffer in that way again.

May our country always support this precious land -- may we all pray for the wisdom of Israel's leaders, the peace of Jerusalem, and freedom and peace for all peoples of the world.

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The BJF can help enhance your trip to Israel by arranging visits to Birmingham's Sister City, Rosh Ha'ayin, where you will be met and welcomed with a warmth that will remind you of our own Southern hospitality. (Rosh Ha'ayin is near Tel Aviv and easy to get to.)

We also can arrange visits to programs funded by The BJF which will help you learn more about the remarkable saga of the ingathering of the exiles -- the continued immigration to Israel by Jews from all over the world. We can arrange for you to meet new immigrants and hear their stories.

To arrange these visits, contact BJF Director of Overseas Programs Joyce Spielberger at joyces@bjf.org or 205-879-0416. And, of course, we want to give you a crimson t-shirt that says Alabama in Hebrew as a gift for you to wear while you are there. To get your shirt, please contact Donna Berry at The BJF at donnab@bjf.org or 205-879-0416.