Tzfat to TLV is a long way!

We awoke on day four well-rested and ready to begin a new week of our journey. After a quick breakfast, the group boarded the bus to set off for the holy city of Tzfat. We arrived in Tzfat and quickly realized that today might be the hottest day yet, but a las we had places to go and things to see. We started our Tsfat journey by walking through the winding streets and alleys. It quickly became apparent to us that this city was unlike any we have in the US. The streets were lined with little shops and were barely wide enough to drive on which made it an ideal way for us to see the city. Along our walk we stopped in to a few of the local synagogues. The last official stop in our time in Tzfat was with Shorashim staple Avraham Lowenthal, an eccentric Kabbalah enthusiast who told us about his aliyah ( moving to Israel) including his finding the meaning in his name and his Jewish spiritual journey. To finish our tour in Tzfat, we spent time shopping around for gifts and tried some of the local fare. After we left Tzfat, we traveled to Mount Meron for an afternoon hike. As we made our way up the mountain we looked out over the Israeli-Lebanon border from what is one of the highest points in western Israel. We stopped to talk about the second Lebanon war of 2006 and got some interesting perspective from our Israeli companions and even had a visit from a cow roaming the countryside. We finished our hike and bid farewell to rural Israel to head toward Tel-Aviv. We arrived in Tel-Aviv to another great buffet dinner of hummus and roast chicken. We checked into our hotel and got showered and ready to go out for a night of fun in the sand at Banana Beach. We all enjoyed each others company as we wound down another incredible day in Israel and then went to bed with the promise of the “best day Shorashim could have in Tel’Aviv”. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s entry about that. We love and miss you all and can’t wait to tell you about our travels. Shalom For Now! -Jordan Kafenstok