Honouring my late son, Israel & tourism.

Peter was the first child born to Helen & Joseph; first grandchild to Thelma & Les in Melbourne, and to Chaya & Yehuda in Sydney; and first great grandchild to Sarah and Peter. He was conceived in Israel, born in Brit­ain in 1972, went to pre-school in Perth and arrived in Melbourne ready for school. He had already been able to read by the time he was aged 3.5, so the biggest issue was to find the right way to st­im­ul­ate his intellect while quietening his excitement. 

Peter helping tourists

in his Tel Aviv office 

He later went to Mount Scopus College Melbourne with his brother Aron, the school that his mother, two uncles and all 5 of his maternal cousins had gone to. He loved English literature, Hebrew, history, pol­itics and ec­on­­om­ics, but less thrilled with physics, chemistry and biol­ogy. On Shabbat he went to a youth movement, and on Sun­d­ays he played sports and music. Carlton was his AFL football pass­ion, deb­ated in detail with his beloved Blues-supporting grand­father Les.

After school he couldn’t wait to do business studies at RMIT, graduating Bachelor of Business (Property) and maintaining his interest in politics by becoming the president of a Young Liberals branch. He was a brave rebel, considering his family had been devoted Labourites for 3 generations.

In 2001 Peter made Aliya to Israel because, he said, the girls were the prettiest in the world, half his family lived there and business opportunities for a young man were wond­erful. He married a beautiful, clever wife, improved his Hebrew from "accept­able" to "fluent", and had a precious son Ben.

He opened a travel agency called Peter Tours and became a tour operator centred in Tel Aviv. The agency provided land arr­an­g­e­ments in Israel, Jordan and Egypt, so Peter travelled yearly to plan tours for specialist groups eg Jewish travellers and Ch­ris­t­ian pil­grims from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Belgium, China and South Korea. Only when Covid caused tourists to stay in their own countr­ies did the travel industry suffer terribly.

Peter and his son lead a group to the Golan Heights

 

Here was one of Naftali’s favourite Israel Short Tours:

1. Go to Jerusalem hotel and visit the city. 
2. Explore the biblical and cultural high­lights of Old and New Jerus­al­em. Sights include Mount Zion, Old City and Western Wall, Stat­ions of the Cross and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. On Saturdays instead of Yad Vashem, go to Ein Karem, the birthplace of John the Baptist. Stroll in the narrow lanes of the picturesque neighbourhood, stop­ping by Mary’s spring and visit the remark­able Church of Saint John the Baptist.
3. Descend from Jerusalem to the lowest place on earth. Drive along the shores of the Dead Sea to the rock fortress of Masada. Visit Herod’s palace, 2000 years old. Discuss the zealots who defied the Roman Empire. Float in the Dead Sea; the water is rich in salts and miner­als! 
4. Leave north to Na­zar­eth, Joseph and Mary’s town. Visit Church of the An­nunciat­ion. Continue to Sea of Galilee via Canna to visit Capern­aum ruins & visit Tabgha re the Miracle of the Fishes and Loaves. Return via Yardenit baptisms. 
5. Caesarea and the Coastal Plain In Caesarea visit the Crusader Fortress, with its unique dry moat, and the Roman Theatre. Then go to the port city of Haifa to view the magnificent Bahai Gardens from atop Mount Carmel. Go north to Acre to explore the Knig­hts’ Halls and the secret escape tunnel dug by the Crusaders. Visit­ Rosh Hanikra, most northern coastal point & walk via beaut­iful grottos. 
6. Farewell group & guides. Visit Tel Aviv at your leisure

The best tour Peter organised for our family was Jordan:

1. Drive to Sheik Hussein Bridge to cross into Jordan. Explore Jerash, ancient Roman city of the Decapolis. Visit the Cit­adel and Roman Amphitheatre on an Amman city tour. 
2. Eat early, leave the hotel and travel along the Desert Highway on the road to Petra. Enjoy a spectacular full day tour in the rose-red city of Petra. Enjoy a short horse ride, and then travel on foot through the awesome SIQ valley. Visit the Treasury, and explore hundreds of buildings, tombs, temples and C1st AD 3,000-seat theatre.
3. See the complex ancient Mosaic map of the Holy Land at Madaba. Visit Mt Nebo where Moses viewed the Promised Land be­fore his passing. Explore remains of the Byzantine Church with a mo­saic floor, and from a platform in front of the church enjoy awesome views across Jordan Valley and Dead Sea. In the after­noon cross the border, to Tel Aviv. 
4. Farewell the group & guides. Visit Tel Aviv at your leisure

The Uri Geller Museum Tel Aviv was another of his much loved tours, feat­ur­ing Geller’s Peace Cadillac, 2000+ spoons, his 1963 Vespa, Sal­vador Dali sculptures, items from John Lennon, Picasso, Andy Warhol, Alb­ert Einstein and Sigmund Freud. The museum also features an incredible discovery found during the rest­oration of the 1000 year old building, a well preserved Ottoman era soap factory! A beaut­iful terrace under the gigantic arches over­looks the Mediterranean.

Leading a group around Old Jerusalem

He trained his tour operators and guides well. Toon Van Rompay wrote: Today, I lost my mentor, my boss, but most import­antly, my good friend Peter. I came to Israel for my wife. Peter gave me all the opportunities to make sure I could stay in the coun­try. He gave my job as a tour operator when I first arrived, and trained me. He let me do the tour guide course and I developed myself prof­es­sionally thanks to him. I will be forever in his debt. And he will be missed very hard. Peter, thank you for everything.

In all his travels, Peter never forgot Australia. In March 2017 in Euroa Victoria, the Israel Travel Centre hosted a luncheon to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Charge of Beersheba. The ev­ent was attended by notable dignitaries representing Ballarat, Sey­mour, Shepparton and Wangaratta RSL Sub-branches. Also there were MPs, senior committee members from Legacy Group, religious leaders and military historians. Attendees were privil­eg­ed to hear from Peter from the Israel Travel Centre. He recounted the miraculous and audacious Charge of Beersheba to commemorate the Charge. Then there was a dis­cussion on ways that the miraculous ANZAC legacy can be kept alive.

When my very fit son passed away at his gym class in April 2024 aged 51, it was a painful loss and a terrible shock. He was buried amongst the beautiful gum trees in Yarkon Cemetery Tel Aviv, a place where his heartbroken son can say mourner's Kaddish.