Kabbalah | Shorashim - Israel with Israelis

The sunshine glistened upon lake Galilee as the morning began, foreshadowing the light that we would receive on our journey to come.

How many people can say they celebrated their 22nd birthday hiking in northern Israel and touring Tsfat? I don't think that's what Taylor Swift sings about...

Our group is filled with enthusiasm to explore and learn. This openness to new adventures has helped us learn and experience so much already, even though the trip has just begun. 

We went to a candle museum and Oh My Goodness I took so many pictures and now I want to learn to make candles. :) The rafting trip we took in the afternoon was super fun! We floated down the perfect-temperature river in the perfect-temperature shade, looking at pretty birds and trying not to run into the plants on either bank. After that, we went to an olive oil factory!

Today was a very enjoyable day up in the north of Israel. It is tough to properly describe how amazing this sight was and how in awe our group was of this view. In all, Birthright has been unbelievably fun so far and my only expectation is that it will only get better!

We finished the night with a talent show organized and hosted almost entirely by two motivated trip participants. There were a range of talents, including performance art, lip syncing, dancing, acrobatics, and our tour guide Neta playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" entirely by bopping his hand on the top of his head.

We end the day in the hot springs, feeling truly like one of the locals. In the warm water we relax, sharing stories that make us laugh.

Tzfat, where we could literally see the history and feel the deep cultural roots within the city. We were able to sit in a 400 year old synagogue and recite both L'cha Dodi and the Shema together as a group. We then went to listen to Avraham Lowenthal, an artist that lives in Tzfat who moved from the United States in his 20s to learn more about his Jewish history and the Kabbalah.

Being with these people, not only the Americans, but the Israelis (especially the Israelis) has really REALLY opened my mind and eyes to what it's like to live in this country as a Jew, as well as what it could be like to live at home as a Jew.