Today is Day 643. It’s hard to believe that fifty hostages are still being held captive in Gaza by Hamas. Since October 7th, 2023, this terrorist organization has been holding Israeli civilians — barely-living souls and dead bodies — who were peace-loving and non-violent people. It’s hard to believe that current talks of a ceasefire or a truce don’t demand the immediate return of ALL of these hostages. It’s hard to believe that the outcries of this injustice — the inhuman and evil treatment of innocents — are not universal. Or louder.

Like many, since October 7, I feel stuck. I’ve lost “my voice.” I have not been able to write in my Through Jewish Eyes blog as I once did. I tune into others’ “voices” by scrolling through my social media accounts all day long for the most up-to-date news on the situation. I feel blah. All I want and crave is the closeness of my family and friends to stay grounded and maintain sanity.

Yet, I still have work to do. And, I still believe the work I do is important. Especially in today’s day and age, it is vital to connect people with Israel through meaningful travel experiences that educate, engage, and build relationships.

The last 5 years, however, have been tough ones for our business. Between COVID and the wars, working in Israel’s Travel & Tourism industry has not been easy. After the recent 12-day war with Iran, with our company’s heroic efforts to get people out of Israel (including Caitlyn Jenner!), our marketing team asked me to write an article about the lessons I’ve learned. And so, here it is…..in my own voice.

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If you had told me a decade ago that my greatest leadership training would come from a global pandemic, a terrorist attack, and a regional war — I would have politely asked you to get off my tour bus.

But here we are. I live in Chicago and am the CEO of Kenes Tours, an Israel-based travel company. Together, we have weathered some of the harshest headwinds the Travel & Tourism industry has ever known. Three times in less than five years, our industry came to a screeching halt. And three times, my team and I had to navigate the chaos — not with a roadmap or a strategic plan, but with a compass … resilience, agility, confidence, and a healthy dose of chutzpah … to keep going.

Leg I: COVID – The Year the World Stopped Traveling

When COVID hit, the travel world didn’t just slow down — it was grounded. Overnight, trips were canceled, people took to their homes, planes weren’t flying, and my team’s calendars became vast open horizons of white space. 

But instead of panicking, I took a breath (through my mask) and leaned in. Our COO, Guy Har-Nir, and I used the downtime to rebuild — from the inside out. We audited every aspect of our business: our client experience, supplier partnerships, operational workflows, and digital tools. We got brutally honest about what wasn’t working.We got leaner, sharper, and oddly more connected — even while working from our kitchens thousands of miles apart. 

With our operations team in Israel and the sales and marketing teams with me in the U.S., we learned to collaborate across time zones, cultures, and chaos. We upgraded technology, deepened our relationships with partners and clients, hired new team members, and invested in professional development. (We even became experts in where to get internationally approved PCR tests and how to expedite getting Green Passes for the brave travelers.) It was like reorganizing our pantries, only with spreadsheets and Teams fatigue. 

Despite the lengthy hiatus and slow re-entry, we were optimistic and thrilled by the relationships we were building and future business we were booking for 2022 and 2023.

Leg II: October 7 – The Day Everything Changed Again

Just as global travel returned to life – with a record backlog of revenue for 2023 – October 7 brought a new kind of devastation. This one hit us not just as businesspeople, but as Israelis, as Jews, and as human beings. The threats were existential. Israel’s general tourism pipeline vanished overnight; we evacuated hundreds of tourists from Israel and canceled many dozens of trips. 

Then, our business instantly transitioned to operating emergency solidarity and volunteer missions. The muscle memory we’d built during COVID kicked in. We knew how to pivot fast. Our U.S.-based organizational clients needed to get to Israel, so we repurposed our logistics infrastructure to get people in and out quickly and safely. We created “up close and personal” programs that connected diaspora Jews to Israel in ways deeper than any sightseeing tour ever could. We learned to operate in grief, under pressure, with purpose, and turned despair into meaningful action.

Leg III: Iran – When the Exit Became the Mission

Then came June 2025 and the 12-day war with Iran. Now, instead of getting people into Israel, we had to get them out — fast. We weren’t doing tourism; we were running a tactical operation. Flights. Communications around the clock. Logistics. All under pressure, with no room for error. (Our first evacuee was Caitlyn Jenner!) But seriously, lives, not Tripadvisor reviews, were on the line. 

Again, our team responded with clarity, speed, and calm. Why? Because we’d done this before. We’d become well-practiced in resilience. We’d learned how to adapt fast and turn disorder into direction. We’d become, as Harvard Business Review calls it, “chaos pilots” … people who don’t just survive in ambiguity but thrive in it.

So, What Have I Learned?

Here’s what I’ve come to believe — not just as a CEO, but as a transatlantic, time-zone-juggling, chaos-piloting leader:

1. Geography matters less than trust. If you build a culture of ownership, trust and mutual respect, you can lead from anywhere — even continents and oceans away.
2. Don’t wait for the storm to pass to fix the roof. Use disruption as an opportunity to refocus, reimagine, and rebuild. Make your systems stronger, your people smarter, and your vision sharper.
3. Lead with clarity, not certainty. When the future is fuzzy, people don’t need you to have all the answers. They need you to be steady, transparent, and brave. Speaking with confidence and conviction goes a long way. 
4. Hire for calm, not just skill. Give me someone who can think clearly under pressure and communicated effectively, and I’ll hire them over someone with a perfect résumé any day.
5. Stay human. In all three crises, what mattered most were relationships — with clients, with colleagues, with suppliers, with partners. We didn’t generate business with spreadsheets; we did it with empathy, honesty, and responsiveness. 
6. Build a team that can handle turbulence. You don’t need superheroes. You need people who stay cool in chaos, ask the right questions, care deeply about the mission, and get the job done. Our team in Israel continued to work while ballistic missiles rained down, while in safe rooms, and with no sleep. The American team continues to work with the rise of antisemitic rhetoric and acts all around. The entire team delivers; even when none of us is okay. 

I run the company from Illinois. We have sales and marketing people in Florida, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania. Our operational team and suppliers are in Israel. Our clients are mostly in the U.S. It all may sound like a logistical headache — and some days, it is — but somehow, it all works. Really well. Like a long-distance relationship that gets stronger with every crisis. 

Today, Kenes Tours is more agile, more resilient, and more purpose-driven than ever — not because we sidestepped chaos, but because we got good at flying straight through it. 

So, if you’re a leader wondering how to navigate a global world that won’t stop changing, take heart. You don’t need a perfect plan. With a steady compass and a resilient team — and maybe a little chutzpah – you can chart a course through anything.

#UntilTheLastHostage #BringThemHomeNow #BeAChaosPilot

Note from the author: Confessions of a Chaos Pilot was written originally for clients and partners of Kenes Tours Global Services. Click herefor the original article.