Gilaboon, Golan, and Gematria

Following our 20 hours of travel, we arrived at the Tel Aviv Airport where met the Israelis who would be joining us on our journey. We drove to a Kibbutz on the Mediterranean Sea where we said the shechianu and played a game to get to know the group. We then traveled another hour to to the Kibbutz where we stayed for two nights. On Wednesday, we woke up bright and early to begin our hike of the Gilaboon. The hike was a difficult but rewarding physical endeavour that included views from a cave, a fresh water waterfall and a breathtaking swim. One of the interesting lessons from the trip was the way in which Israelis track their hiking paths. Unlike many confusing American trails that have makeshift signs altered, the trails are painted on the rocks. For the most part, these paths are a solid color between two white lines. While the color of the trail is not necessarily meaningful, it does help distinguish between different trails. Our leader, Ori, explained that there is a national trail that has three colors - white to represent the snow in the mountains, blue to represent the Mediterranean, and orange to represent the desert. It was a challenging climb back up to the bus, which left the group feeling great sense of accomplishment. From there we stopped for a quick bite to eat before heading to the Mt. Bental. At Mt. Bental, Ori taught us the significance of the Golan Heights and the Israeli relationship with Syria. After exploring the Golan Heights, we drove to Tzfat, one of Israel's four holy cities. In Zafat we learned about Jewish mysticism and toured two synagogues. One of the stories we were told was about a congregation saying the amidah during a time of war, and as the congregation bowed, a boarder fragment flew through the temple above their bowed heads, lodging in the bimah. This gave special significance to the synagogue showing the power of prayer. After taking some time on our own to tour Tzfat we headed back to the Kibbutz for dinner and and evening activity. The evening activity was a lively debate about the importance of various items in being a Jew which brought many differences between American and Israeli perception as well as s wide variety of opinions. As we finished up this blog, we witnessed our fearless leader, Jeremy fall over the back of his chair as it cracked, providing a last bit of entertainment.