The First Few Days
We arrived on Thursday afternoon, and thought to be completely exhausted after two extremely long flights. However, the energy came to us from meeting our new Israeli friends and tour guide who joined us first thing outside of customs and passport control. The Israelis on the trip so far have shown us so much of their country through their eyes, and make it feel somehow as if it is our own. The first morning we woke up to the beautiful nature and weather on Kibbutz Afiq, and continued to enjoy the outdoors of Israel's North with a hike by the Gilabun river. We had lunch in a near-by town, and ate the local cuisine full of hummus and shawarma on laffa bread.
In the afternoon, we drove up to Har (Mount) Ben Tal, where we learned about the Golan and its history from an astonishing view, where we could see neighboring countries' calm borders. We had a relaxing Shabbat, where we stayed on the Kibbutz and played games with each other and had services, as well as discussion groups on topics of Judaism and Israel that were relevant to us and inspired by the Torah portion of the week. When Shabbat "went out," we had a Havdallah service to enter the new week properly, and then had an early night out on the Boardwalk in Tiberius, an ancient city along the shore of the Galilee before retiring to Afiq for one last night.
Today, we headed out for a truly packed day of touring synagogues in Tzfat that date back hundreds of years, spending time in the art markets, listening to a Kabbalist-Artist, having an independent lunch (where some of us ate authentic Yemmenite dish called, "Luhuhe"). After lunch, we toured Old Jaffa, Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, a concert in the hotel put on just for us, and finally a night out on the town.
Our trip leaders, Ronen, Sally, and Jon, have helped us learn and understand what we see and what is happening all around us, and having us experience the history of the land in a way that we never imagined. Despite the rigorous schedule, we have been having unbelievable fun, and can hardly wait for Jerusalem, tomorrow.
