Aramaic Word of the Day:

Vacation- Rest - Lahna - ܠܗܢܐ

The Western word “vacation” comes from Latin vacare — “to be empty, free.” In the Western world, vacation often means:"Stopping work so I can rest, escape, or entertain myself."

But in the Eastern (Semitic) mindset, the concept of “vacation” is not absence of duty, but presence of restoration, purpose, and inner stillness. As a guide from the Judean hills and the alleyways of Jerusalem, I’ve walked with many pilgrims well, they call themselves “tourists.” They come with cameras and checklists, ready to “see the Holy Land,” but often miss something far holier: rest.

In Aramaic, we don’t say “vacation.” That’s a modern word, born from the idea of escape—escaping work, escaping responsibility, escaping noise. But in our tongue, the word is (Lahna). It means rest, yes—but not the way the West imagines it. Lahna is soul-rest. It’s not absence of work. It’s the presence of stillness. Not a schedule-free week, but a heart returned to rhythm.

You see, Westerners plan their “vacations” like military operations: flights, hotels, bucket lists. When they arrive in Israel, they’re still running only now through the Via Dolorosa instead of an office hallway. They miss what our ancestors knew: real rest begins inside. Lahna is what God did on the seventh day not because He was tired, but because He was satisfied.

I’ve watched travelers rush through the Garden of Gethsemane, take a photo, and say, “Done!” But did they ever sit under the olive trees and breathe? Did they let the silence speak? That silence is Lahna. It’s what Elijah found on Mount Horeb—not in the wind or the earthquake, but in the still, small voice.

Lahna is restoration, not recreation. It’s when your insides are aligned again. That’s why Yeshua said, “Come to me, all who are weary and I will give you rest. Not a sabbatical from your job. A homecoming to your purpose. This is not simply about physical exhaustion it’s about being weary in your being, tired from the weight of life, expectations, and performance. Yeshua wasn’t offering a Mediterranean cruise. Yeshua was offering Lahna a rest that reorders the soul and returns you to the rhythm of Eden.

I live in Texas now, in a small space with no office but back home in Jerusalem, even our stones breathe history. Even our desert has rhythm. I take the train sometimes just to write, to slow my soul down, to remember that Lahna is not about location. It’s about intention.

So next time you think of coming to Israel not for a vacation, but for something deeper remember Lahna. Come not just to see the land, but to let the land see you. Come not just to hear the stories, but to let your story be rewritten by sacred stillness.

Because the Holy Land doesn’t just want your footsteps.

It wants your quiet. It wants your quiet. It wants your confession. It wants your transformation. So next time you think of coming to Israel don’t think of it as a vacation. Think of it as a Lahna moment. A pause not of emptiness, but of presence where the land doesn’t just receive you, but recognizes you.

You don’t come here merely to see ruins or landscapes. You come to be seen by olive trees that have outlived empires, by waters that have heard the whispers of prophets, by hills that still hold the echo of Yeshua’s footsteps.

In the West, we “go on vacation” to escape. But in the East, we withdraw to return.To withdraw, like Elijah to the cave. Like Yeshua to the wilderness. Like monks to the Judean cliffs where the silence isn’t empty, it’s full of God.

So come not to walk where Jesus walked but to walk with Him again, in your own inner desert. Let the stories of Scripture stop being museum pieces and start becoming mirrors where your soul sees what it forgot.

Finally my prayers to you let Lahna not vacation be your guide. Not rest from work, but return and rest Lahna to what you were made. The Land is waiting for you in 2026, and i pray i will be your guide.