There was a collective "Whew!" when Gloria Brown finished describing her recent visit to Israel.

Speaking to an audience at her home on Nov. 14, Brown described the whirlwind of activities as a member of a national mission from the National Council of Jewish Women.

As the sole representative of the Union County NCJW Section, as well as being an NCJW national commissioner, Brown wanted her local colleagues to share in the wonder. To that end, at the section's annual fund-raising dinner last week for its Yad B'Yad granting program, she provided an episode-by-episode account of the trip.

In five nonstop days, the group of 45 — mostly members with some husbands and adult offspring — toured the country from the Negev to the Golan Heights, viewing projects that NCJW has initiated and supports, holding discussions with those who run them and, in some cases, those who benefit from them.

They also squeezed in two prayer sessions, some excellent meals, and as much shopping as they could — to support the Israeli economy, of course.

"I've been to Israel four times, and each experience has been unique," Brown said, "but they were nothing like this. We weren't just tourists; we were seeing things that we're responsible for, and we were treated like partners. It was just incredible."

Brown displayed large printouts of the photos she took at each stop, maps, reports, and even a decorative wall-hanging expressing the thanks of the children in the HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) program, a part of the Neve Ya'acov Early Childhood Program in Mea She'arim in Jerusalem.

That stop was one of Brown's favorites. They met there with a fervently religious mother of six, who — to Brown's astonishment — had asked her husband to stay home with their two-week-old baby so she could come to the center to thank these American visitors. She told them the HIPPY program had helped her eldest child overcome her learning problems and turn her into a star student in kindergarten. "Now she's bringing her second child to HIPPY," Brown said.

She struggled to isolate just some highlights. They included meeting a lecturer teaching in the NCJW-sponsored women and gender studies program introduced at Tel Aviv University that has proved so successful they are starting a postgraduate course. There was also the young Beduin woman, the first member of her family to go to college, and up north, two Druze women who have been able to start a successful restaurant.

They also visited with soldiers stationed near the Lebanon border to give them warm caps knitted by the NCJW members. She described the men, members of a sniper group that searches out mines and bombs, as "such sweet, innocent guys." A United Nations helicopter passed overhead, checking on what they were up to, and they met a man who told them about the poppy fields just over the border that Hizbullah has planted to produce opium to fund its operations. They also spent time at Kfar Blum, a charming kibbutz in the northern Galilee.

Brown had just two complaints about the trip, neither of them too serious. One was that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in the country at the same time, crossing paths with them at their hotel in Jerusalem and at other spots, and each time freezing activity in all directions as her motorcade or entourage passed by. The second was that she had hoped to fit in some kayaking on the Jordan River — but there was only so much that could be done in five days.

On Wednesday night, Brown had another tidbit to share with the members and the NJ Jewish News reporter: As a result of newspaper coverage, the section has been asked to provide a showcase at the annual NCJW convention in Chicago next March, to show the program they organized to publicize Plan A, the organization's campaign to support and expand women's reproductive freedom and access to safe and affordable contraception.