We awoke this morning to another brisk and sunny day and, after breakfast Miri introduced us to Esther, who was to give us a guided tour of the Kibbutz.
The guest house of Kibbutz Lavi is a sprawling, several story building. The rooms are spacious and the amenities include a swimming pool. Miri had informed us that while the Kibbutz was run by the Orthodox, it catered to all tourists, of many nationalities and religious persuasions. Esther added to our information by saying that the Kibbutz was socialist in nature which meant that people were paid not by the amount of hours they worked but by the need of themselves or their families. She also said that there were people waiting to join the Kibbutz. Although the Kibbutz Lavi is communal in nature, each family has it’s own home and it’s own small plot to tend or not tend, as they choose. All homes are build with “safe rooms” which will not protect against a direct attack but will keep inhabitants safe from harm from indirect hits. The Kibbutz, of course has a series of bomb shelters but it takes time to run from where you’re located to the nearest shelter, so the safe rooms provide a modicum of protection.
Esther pointed out the children’s area which was composed of several buildings for children of different ages, from infancy to teen years.
As everyone on the Kibbutz works, children are dropped off at their day homes in the early hours of the day, and picked up by their parents at the day’s end.
The Kibbutz owns somewhere around 13,000 acres of land and farming is a large part of its productivity. We continued walking past farm machinery, cows, bulls, and the other accoutrements of real farm life.
Another large part of their industry, in addition to the hotel, includes the manufacture of synagogue chairs, which are sold here, as well as being exported to many different countries. We were lucky to be able to walk through the factory to view the many steps in their production as well as the final products.
Our final stop at the Kibbutz was the Synagogue where we viewed the Sanctuary which holds also memorial plaques of all the persons who have died in Israel’s many wars for self-preservation.
Our next stop was the Sir Charles Clore Jewish-Arab Community Center in the Crusader city of Akko. The Community Center is run by Mohammed Fahili who led us to a conference room and proceeded to tell us his story of how he had come to found the Center.
The Center’s mission is “to provide high quality, low cost activities, in a spirit of co-existence” between Jews and Arabs in Akko. The Center serves over 1600 children and young people, including immigrants, each week. It provides a bomb shelter so parents can feel secure in sending their children there. The Center provides a wide range of activities for young persons of all ages, including ballet, art, drama, sports, etc. They also have a program to prepare kids for college entrance exams.
From the Center we drove to the old, walled city of Akko, just on the ocean, a former Crusader, then Ottoman, then British military compound. It is, essentially, a large fort containing ancient battlements, a moat, and many other defenses that helped to protect the city.
We entered by foot, and first came to a Crusader-era escape tunnel which was recently excavated. There are many such underground tunnels and passageways here, and this was one of the more interesting ones, as it became smaller and smaller as we entered the city through it.
An additional shorter walk through town found us in a busy and crowded neighborhood where we ate lunch. Most of us treated ourselves to Kabob, Schwarma or Falaffel.
Our next stop was the ancient city of Tzippori (Sepphoris) where Rabbi Judah the Prince, one of the many voices of Jewish learning in ancient times, compiled the Mishnah. In Tzippori we were treated to archeological excavations of mosaics embedded in the flooring of several buildings. These mosaics represented biblical scenes which seem to have been based on Greek Mythology.
From Tzippori we moved on to the city of Nazareth and the Church of the Annunciation where Mary was supposed to have been told she would bare the child Jesus.
Nazareth is a city composed in large part of Muslims and Christians, with a small minority of Jews. Before sitting down in a sweet shop to be treated to “kenfafeh”, a luscious Arab dessert, we walked through a market replete with various foods and trinkets, good smells and people in various forms of religious attire.
After a long day, we assembled for dinner in the hotel dining room, and then went to a well-deserved night’s sleep.
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