Days 5 and 6

On Saturday morning, we observed Shabbat by having a day of (mostly) rest. We slept in until 10:30, which was very refreshing. We met to eat coffee and cake (although tea was present also) and then we held a group discussion for Shabbat. We read this week's torah portion (Parashat Hashavua) and discussed its meaning to us. We got some more rest and had lunch at the kibbutz. When we got back, we all participated in a nice Havdallah service (a service which ends Shabbat and welcomes the new week) with prayers and songs led by Dori (a participant from Brandeis).  After some more relaxing, we drove to an outdoor shopping mall for dinner.  It was a very relaxing day. On day six we took a drive to the ancient city of Tzfat, the city of Jewish mysticism. We toured the windy cobblestone streets observing devout orthodox jews going about their daily lives. We went into a synagogue where our leader explained the history of Tzfat. Many participants made small donations to the synagogue (Tzedakah). Next we drove to the city of Haifa, where most of our Israeli participants are from. We saw some the famous gardens of Heifa and toured the city a bit for lunch. In Haifa we also visited the IBM Israel R&D center, where speakers spoke to us about the Heifa-Boston sister city relationship, IBM's community service in the area, and the research work going on at IBM. After a break and dinner at our Tel-Aviv hotel (Grand Beach), we went to the Shorashim megaevent. This was a huge gathering at a Tel-Aviv club, and every Shorashim birthright group currently in Israel attended. We met new people, listened to live music, and danced into the night before crashing back at the hotel.