Been to Israel twice, first time was October 26, 1971. I was in the US Army stationed in Germany, my time in Germany will end in 6 months, always wanted to go to Israel, and thought that would be a good time to go before I went back to the US.
I was a young man of 21 years old.
Traveled all over Israel, even ascended the Temple mount.
It is my dream to go back to Israel and make it my home. I did apply to make Aliyah while I was in Egypt, and was approved for the Go-North Program, very good program. This occurred just after Mohamed Morsi became president of Egypt during the during the Egyptian revolution, he didn’t like Jews, and after the Egyptian officer I was working with discovered I’m Jewish as a result of my trip to Israel, I was kicked out of Egypt. So many things were happening in my life, I never made Aliyah, and now due to terrorism in Israel, my family refuses to make Aliyah.
That pull is there, I can feel it, like Hashem is saying, come home Julius. Now I’m old and sick, and wonder will I ever go home before I die? A sad thought.