Day 4

Breakfast bright and early in the dairy hut on the kibbutz. Then onto the bus for the winding bus ride up to Jilaboon in the Golan. We hiked through slippery terrain to view majestic landscapes and beautiful waterfalls. The lush terrain was a stark contrast to the dryer regions of Israel that we had been to in the preceding days. During the hike some stopped to buy snacks from the Druze, a small religious group in Israel that sells a pita-type snack. On the trail we ran into many other birthright groups. After the hike we headed off to a mall for an early lunch. In the afternoon we headed to Har Bental. On the drive we passed Israel's border with Lebanon. We could see many minarets reaching out of the towns and UN peacekeeping vehicles patrolling the border. The Hula Valley was full of orange groves and various fruit trees as well as vineyards. At Har Bental we saw into across the border into Syria. While our guide was telling us about the Yom Kippur War a cloud blew over the hill (mountain?) we were on and enveloped us in condensation. This area had special significance to our guide Yosi since he had fought on that land during the Yom Kippur War decades earlier. We hurried back to the bus since we were on a "tight schedule" so we could be back to prepare for Shabbat.  We observed Shabbat until 5:30 the next day (today). Dori (a Brandeis student in our group) played guitar and we enjoyed a festive Shabbat meal and singing. Later that evening we had a group activity were we shared opinions about Judaism and the state of Israel.