Day THREE - in the north

The Third Day Blog presented by the Goddards!

RISE & SHINE, Wednesday, DAY 3, our earliest departure at 8:00 am.

Steve and I joined Rabbi Ammi for breakfast. We all gave him a well deserved Mazel Tov when he accidentally dropped.... and broke his coffee cup.

Jeeps were our mode of transportation to the Golan Heights. The dirt road was both bumpy and scenic. The beautiful wild flowers and various birds surrounding the signs ' WARNING LAND MINES' is a contrast  difficult to reconcile.

Golan Heights is bordered by Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the  6-day war of 1967. It becomes evident as you stand and see how close Israel is to each of those countries. Reality sets in when you walk through a Syrian bunker.

Next stop- Tel Dan Nature Reserve located on the largest tributary of the Jordan River. It is one of the most important water sources for the Northern part of Israel. The streams are magnificent. The Rabbi was so proud  saying "These are our streams, they are JEWISH streams!"  We continued our walk through the Reserve

to Ancient Dan -Gates to the city, one of the major archeological

discoveries in Israel; the only archeological proof that King David existed. It's hard to imagine seeing something that dates back 3-4000 years.

Lunch in the town of Kiryat Shmona. A special moment occurred when we stopped to see the playground that members of the June 2007 SWFS tour with the Rabbi  gave to the city.  During the December Congregational trip to Israel, the group stayed at K'far Blum and witnessed the damage of a rocket attack to that area.  Seeing the plaque which reads 'PLAYGROUND IS A GIFT OF THE SWFS JUNE 27,2007" was very emotional. 

Next  stop was  Manara Cliff, overlooking the Upper Gallilee  where both the kids and adults, (who acted like kids) had so much fun ziplining .  Steve Cohen was the first to 'fly'  off the cliff followed by the rest of the gang minus those that were chicken-led by our own Evita Sokol! Going to the top of the mountain by tram we saw one of the great views of the Hula Valley and the Golan Heights.

After dinner and an inspiring day ,            explained to us the ever changing nature of the Kibbutz.

We are all looking forward to tomorrow  for the Bnai Mitzvah of  Matthew Cohen, Emma and Ian Patterson. MAZEL TOV!

The trip far exceeds our expectations.  

(PS - since I oversee the blog, I would like to point out that I might have chickened out on the zip-line but I DID go on the monorail!! -Evita)

Day Two - take two

 Blog: Les and Donna Cohen and Lois and Larry Gould

Our second day in Israel proved to be full of learning, seeing, and enjoying!

We began the morning with a delicious breakfast at the hotel to gear us up for an exciting day.

After breakfast, we met to hear Colonel Retired Miri Eisen, former Prime Minister's advisor on the foreign media with 20 years' experience in military intelligence.  Dynamic and engaging, she kept adults and children captivated.  She described Israel's "complex neighborhood,"  surrounded closely by countries whose relationship has only been a relationship of war. She talked about the social and educational changes that have occured in the last 61 years, describing today's Israel as a Modern, Western, Middle Eastern, Jewish democracy. She discussed how Israel is overcoming the lack of natural resources by maximizing the extraordinary human resources that makes Israel a technology leader of the world. 

Following this incredible talk, we travelled up the coast towards Haifa.  On the way, our guide, Michael Hollander, identified the five modern tribes of Israel: WASP (white, ashkenazi, secular with protekzia), Sephardic (Jews expelled from Muslim Countries), Soviet Union Emigres, scientists and musicians, Israeli Duze and arabs, and the orthodox.  He also talked about how their interactions and frictions continue to shape modern israel.

Before approaching our place of destination in Haifa, we passed MAXIMs, an Israeli/palestinian family restaurant, where a female suicide bomber detonated herself after eating lunch among the arab and israeli families eating peacefully together.  

We then went to the Leo Baeck School, a Reform Jewish school that opens its doors to both Arab, Druze and Jewish students.  It's campus is filled with light and hope for the future. The principal of the school described the philosophy of the school, which is based on Torah (intellectual), Avodah (rituals and worship) and Ruach (spirit, behavior and social relationships).  He went on to explain that the school strives to emphasize Tikkun Olam, working for the improvement of society through personal and community responsibility.  Later on, he spoke of creating a community based on peace, justice and loving your friend as yourself as a way to create a dialogue between God and Man.  We heard from one student named Natan, which is the Hebrew word for "gift."  Our young participants had the opportunity to learn with students in the classroom and in the playground - many exchanged email addresses and phone numbers to continue this relationship!  This school embraces students, family and community and this is reflected in the construction of the campus.  Besides the main campus, which had a library containing steps modeled after "jacob's ladder," the school also has three pools, a memorial hall, three synagogue, gymnasium and ballet facility, and community center which is open to the neighborhood community.  This school demonstrated that it will clearly develop leadership for the nation.  What an inspiring day!  It is hard to express the emotion we felt when observing the community, students, and building.    

Before stopping for a quick lunch, we admired the scenic overlook of the Haifa Bay and the Bajai Gardens and shrines, the overlook of the nineteen level landscaped gardens.  It was such a beautiful and clear day that we could also see Lebanon from this view.    

We then continued North East up the winding roads to Safed, a city known as the capital of mysticism, Kabbalah.  Our busdriver, Yarom, easily navigated through 300 year old alley ways that were clearly NOT designed for our bus.  We wandered through the old city to the Sephardic "Ari synagogue," the rabbi who stressed the importance of welcoming Shabbat and created a six verse poem called "L'cha Dodi," welcoming the sabbath bride.  This poem has been incorporated into the Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday nights.  This synagogue boasts a very ornate 19th century ark.  The bimah centered in the room has a hole in it caused when a mortar shell exploded outside and a piece of debris narrowly missed a davening prayer and hit the bimah.  The entire town bears scars of many battles throughout its history, which changed Safed to a totally Jewish town.  We wandered through the shops and galleries admiring the artwork housed in 300 year old building.  Many bought candles, artwork, tallitot, jewelry, mezuzot and more!

Finally, we concluded our day by traveling to Kibbutz K'far Blum for a relaxing evening of dinner.

Day 1

We are here at last.  Israel, yes ... we made it ... after all of the planning, all of the packing, and a very long flight. Many of us came a day or two early, and other came with Evita on the Sunday afternoon flight, but we all met in the David InterContinental lobby at 9am on Monday morning.  We then boarded the bus, 41 congregants and friends along with Rabbi Hirsh and Evita and off we went to our first stop.  Mike, returning as our tour guide for the 2nd year (that says something when Ammi invites someone back), took us to the Jaffa Overlook where we had a spectacular view of Tel Aviv and the Mediterranean.  Mike gave us a detailed history of the area including how Tel Aviv was founded by 66 families who held a lottery to purchase plots of land a little over 100 years ago.  Next we visited Independence Hall, site of David Bn Gurion's monumental proclamation of the State of Israel in May 14,1948.  Independence Hall, now a museum, was originally the home of the visionary founder and first mayor of Tel Aviv.  Built on plot 42 (part of the sand dunes that became Tel Aviv), the home was converted to a museum and then used for the Independence celebration.  We watched a film highlighting the events leading up to Independence Day and sat through a passionate recap of the actual ceremony. Following our visit, we boarded the bus and went off to the Carmel Market where we were on our own to indulge in the sights, sounds and smells of the city of Tel Aviv.  We wandered through the shops of Shenkin Stree, Nahalat Binyamin Pedestrian Mall, and through Carmel Market where you could not only buy huge varieties of clothing and housewares, but also some of the largest fruits that we had ever seen.  Afterward, it was back to the hotel for some R & R, and many took advantage of the beach across the street ... most for an afternoon stroll, but also a few brave ones (the under 13 set of course) for a swim.  We capped the day with a great middle-eastern style dinner at Maganda in the Yemenite Quarter of Tel Aviv.  Afterward, we took a 10 minute walk home where everyone said goodnight.