Tsfat, Jaffa and Tel Aviv!
Hi, Scott and Lina here and all we can really say about yesterday, it was awwwwwwwwwwwwesooooooome! We began the day with a tour of old Tsfat, one of the four holiest cities in Israel. Its narrow cobblestone streets and quaint alleys gave old Tsfat great character, in contrast to the relatively modern New Tsfat, where Lina had the pleasure of spending some time in the ER a few days earlier. Unlike when Lina stepped of the bus with dread, we all stepped off the bus in Old Tsfat and felt a sense of wonder. Walking through Old Tsfat felt like walking back through history: the buildings, white and blue colors, and the huge art scene brought this city to life. While there we learned about the spirituality of Judaism through Kabbalah as well as toured two old synagogues, the Ari Ashkenazi and Abuhav . Though we obviously enjoyed both synagogues, the unbelievable story of shrapnel narrowly missing a congregant as he bent over to prey in the Ari Ashkenazi was a memorable highlight. The Abuhav synagogue also came with an amazing story. Many years ago an earthquake rocked the city of Tsfat hard and the only wall in the entire city left standing was the southern wall which held the Torah.
After visiting these places we met a very unique individual, Avraham Lowenthal. He is an American artist from Detroit and studied art in Chicago. He moved to Tsfat 15 years ago and began studying Kabbalah and incorporating the ideas into his artwork. Meeting Avraham was a great experience because we could all see a bit of ourselves in him. He came from a family like ours and grew up like we did. He took the time to tell us his story and then discussed the meaning behind some of his work – and let us just reiterate again, it was seriously awwwwwesooooome!
Before leaving Tsfat we had an opportunity to browse the countless art galleries in Tsfat. It was amazing seeing so many various and unique styles of art linked by common themes. Some of the artists were even working hard creating new works right in front of our eyes. After a full morning of exploring we re-boarded the bus and prepared for the journey to the site where Israel declared its independence, Tel Aviv.
As we drove into Tel Aviv the temperature, according to our bus’s meter, just kept rising! We got dropped off in Jaffa and were immediately assaulted by some pretty intense heat and humidity. We were given about half an hour to browse a local flea market and try our hand at bartering. After regrouping under a tall clock tower, we made our way to an incredibly important historical site in the middle of Tel Aviv, Independence Hall. Outside of the actual hall, we saw a bunch of tents on the lawn with signs written in Hebrew protesting the high rent in Tel Aviv. Needless to say, we were more than eager to experience the protest firsthand and took some time to pose with the signs in front of the tents.
After showing our support for the protesters, we were ushered into Independence Hall where we spent some time learning about the founding of Tel Aviv, and the history leading up to the formation of the Jewish state of Israel. The educator who spoke to us about Independence Hall also taught us some important Hebrew words, including balagan, which means “chaos” and can be used to describe everything in Israel, from the traffic in Tel Aviv to the peace situation.
Once we got to the hotel, we quickly ate dinner and got ready for a night out on the town. Our fearless leaders took us to a really popular street in Tel Aviv, where we could explore the local bar scene and experience a little bit of the authentic Israeli night life. We returned to our hotel for the night buzzing from the days events. To conclude, all we can say about Tel Aviv is that she is a giant tease. It is the commercial center of Israel and one day is not nearly enough time to experience all that Tel Aviv has to offer.
