Tsfat....two days late

tsfat
Hello again! The first full day abruptly started at 7 oclock am, with the sound of an alarm and faded memory of giving the bag boy Lawrence our bags. With only 30 minutes to eat and be ready to go to Tsfat. Tsfat, one of the four holy cities in Isreal is one of the first stops on our short ten day adventure (well nine with delays, but who is really counting?). Anyway, we reached the city in a short "forty minute drive" and embarked on our daily adventure. We first came across the reminence of history from the War of Independence, when we saw a building with hundreds of old bullet holes, which was quickly followed by an explanation and connection to the mystical nature of Tsfat. As we manuevered through the city we were reminded of the history on how this city came under Isreali control, with just a simple boisterous cannon and some motivated individuals. We quickly moved from one piece of architecture history onto another, including the smallest alley in the world. As we all barely squeezed through the alley, we followed it down toward the HaAri Synagogue. Learning fact after fact the entire group quickly became well informed. We left the synagogue and continued onto one of the more exciting parts of the trip, which started with a man named Avraham. The group colectivally gathered into the entrance of his art studio as he began to tellus his story. It all started with just a normal individaul who could have been any one of us out in Detroit. As he talked, it seemed as though his pupils became bigger due to his excitement in sharing his message of the interworkings of Kabbalah with us; he began to tell us all about the Sfirot and how the inner workings of Judiasm were so intertwined. Then, he started to explain, in detail, about the symbolism, reason, and deep meaning of our Jewish names and how everything happens for a reason. He also spoke about the daily occurence of miracles right in front of our eyes, especially the current migration of Jews back into the land of milk and honey. As he spoke, the entire crowd - including myself - just sank into our cushion allowing the vibes of his thoughts to sink in. By the end of his quick speech, the entire thought of Judiasm seemed to be just a little bit clearer and the intensity of his speech was felt through out the croud. As we left his artisitic domain his thoughts went with us. The rest of the day in Tsfat was easily summed up and confined into one word "shawarma"