Arrival into Jerusalem

From Beit Shean, it was an easy (most of us were asleep, save for the driver, of course!) 80 minute drive to the outskirts of Jerusalem where we encountered traffic. Then within the city limits, it took us another fifteen minutes to travel the last three miles in pre-Shabbat traffic.
We assembled on the roof of the hotel for an arrival ceremony of new pilgrims to Jerusalem, and enjoyed a small ‘lechayim’ toast for our accomplishment.

Beit She'an

Founded more than five millennia ago, the city of Beit Shean has been the home for more than 28 civilizations. Most recently, and most importantly for archeologists, there is a gigantic Roman settlement that survived under dirt and rocks, and about 33% has been excavated and exposed. Beit Shean is one of the ten ‘decopolis cities’ of ancient Rome, and the only one in Israel. You can see from these photos something of the beauty of the reconstructed city, the size of the site, and the many kinds of buildings that exist there. See if you can recognize what is the market street, the bath house, and the public latrine.

Tzfat

Tzfat is a city where the Jewish tradition of mysticism began. Not the Cabbalah of Madonna, as our tour guide likes to remind us, but rather the true mystical tradition of Joseph Caro and those rabbis who chose to live there in the sixteenth century and thereafter. Today many artists have made their homes and established studios there, though some of them have decided that because of the influx of the many new religious Jews in town, it was best to move to another place (Rosh Pinah, see below).

There are two synagogues we visited, each one dating back from four hundred and more years ago. Here are some pictures of those synagogues and our group visiting and learning about the presence of the mystics there.

Hula Valley (Not a dance from Hawaii) Nature Preserve: Migration of Cranes

Our final stop of the day – for touring, that is – was at the Hula Valley Nature Preserve. This is a former-but-also-current swamp through which more than five hundred billion birds migrate each winter. We rode on a specially equipped tractor (that seated forty!) that allowed us to get a great view of about 19,000 migrating cranes.

Tzfat and Avraham Rosenthal – Kabbalah Received

We then traveled to the town of Tzfat, birthplace of Jewish mysticism, and as Daphna says, it’s not the ‘Madonna type.’ We met with Avraham Rosenthal, a Michigan native who went to Israel to study Kabbalah from the masters in Tzfat. He also has an art studio and produces art based upon kabbalistic themes.

A Walk Through the Banias

We then drove another ten minutes east and arrived to Banias, a site at one of the headwaters of the Jordan River (It is the beginning of the Dan River, but that is a later story!). Daphna reminded us that it would be a “hike” to explore this site, ending up at a waterfall. The day was clear, cool to moderate temperature, and we set off.

We first encountered a temple site dedicated to the god Pan. The site is also holy to the Aliwite Muslims who believe that Mohammed ascended to heaven from this spot. (As there is no “P” sound in Arabic, they call it Banias instead of how it may have been pronounced in the past, Panias.)

Here you can see sacrificial altars that were found on this site that is more than 2,000 years old. Most of what these folk sacrificed were small animals, human sacrificing having been abolished many years before the era of this site.

We then drove through the northern part of the Hula Valley, and we arrived at the security border with Lebanon. This border area (see the photos of the security road and fence) is patrolled each half hour by three army jeep patrols, as well as monitored electronically by sensors in the ground and on the fence itself. Daphna told us that she probably will be told to leave, but that until then, we could see the border and examine the road for ourselves.

The road we stopped on ran to Ajar, a city divided between Israel and Lebanon, primarily inhabited by Aliwite Muslims, who because of kinship would rather live in Lebanon and because of the economic benefits, would rather live in Israel. It is most likely that the town will soon revert to Lebanese sovereignty.
And wouldn’t you know it? A patrol of Israeli soldiers came by, not to banish us but to ask that we not stand on the security road as it disrupts their instrumentation and calibration of the security equipment.

A Ride to the Border – Unauthorized Entry?
Today our Tour Guide Daphna let us sleep in (we had ‘til 8:30 AM to appear on the bus), so our breakfast was leisurely and plentiful as always in an Israeli tourist breakfast.

Rosh Pinah

Our day ended at dinner and strolling through Rosh Pinah, a town in the north which has become an art colony following the exodus of artists from Tzfat (where we will visit tomorrow) when the ultra religious community enlarged to what was, to them, immense proportions. We walked up and down the foothills of the town, and then ate a leisurely dinner at various restaurants and ice cream parlors. We returned exhausted but happy from our day!

Capernahum and Tabghah – Church of Simon Peter and the Sermon on the Mount

Two important Christian sites were on our itinerary today, Capernahum and Tabghah. Capernahum was the town where Jesus lived and preached, and there today are ruins of a small town dating from the early years of this era, including residences, a synagogue, public meeting places, and a church from the Christian community. On some of the Roman columns and capitals were Jewish iconography, including a six-pointed star, a shofar, and menorah.

In Tabghah, there is a fourth century church that was reconstructed to accommodate modern use by monks. This place was the location where Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes to feed the five thousand attendees of his ‘Sermon on the Mount.’

Lunch at Capernahum Vista Olive Farm in Katzrin

Katzrin is an ancient site in Israel, which had been a center for the olive oil industry in the years of the first centuries of this modern era. Following the Israeli take-over of the Golan Heights, settlers have reestablished their residences in Katzrin, and the town is growing again. The restaurant where we ate sat above a modern iteration of the ancient oil manufacturing process. They have even found a way to recycle the left-over olive fruit and pits that remain after being pressed: they are made into soap and facial products (which were on sale to take home, of course!).

The restaurant was architecturally unique, allowing a lot of light into a warehouse sized room where we partook of a nice lunch buffet. The building’s walls were formerly Syrian stone walls, which were added to, in order to make them suitable for the restaurant and olive oil factory. The owner’s husband came around to our luncheon tables, orienting us to the uniqueness of the place and the availability of olive oil tasting below, on the ground floor, which we diligently investigated.

Ga’ash Army Base and Tanks

Next we transferred to the Ga’ash army base where we ‘inspected’ some of the Merkava tanks that were used in the 2006 war with Hezbollah inside Lebanon. Here is a photo of one of them.

On the eastern most portion of the Golan Heights that Israel controls is the kibbutz called Merom Golan (‘heights of Golan’) and an overlook/coffee shop operated by the kibbutz. (The coffee shop has a name of “Coffee Anan,” which they insist is not named after the former UN Secretary General but rather the words kaffee (coffee in most languages, including Hebrew), and anan, a word here which translates into “cloud,” perhaps signifying that we were high on the Heights.

There was an Israeli bunker emplacement that we visited there, and we could see the distant Syrian town of Kuneitra, as well as the cease fire line from 1973. In this photo you can see the distance in kilometers it is to various important places in the Middle East.

Ascending the Golan Heights Even Higher

Following our jeep ride, we ascended the Golan Heights toward Kuneitra, the abandoned Syrian city on the border. At Kibbutz El Rom, we viewed a film on the ’73 Yom Kippur War battle that raged about 1.5 miles from where we sat, called the ‘battle for the Valley of Tears.’ The story of the film was one of a battle when the Israelis were almost outmaneuvered, and the tanks actually were no match for some of the Russian technology that the Syrians used in those days: The Israelis had no night vision gear, where the Syrians did. The plot of the film was told through the remembrances and vision of the driver, the gunner, and an actress portraying all the widows who lost husbands in that battle.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Jeep Rides in the Golan Heights

We departed our kibbutz guest house precisely at 7:50 AM in five Land Rover jeeps (each sitting seven people), each headed up toward the Golan Heights. The day dawned a bit hazy but essentially without a cloud in the sky. The view of the Golan Heights from below was awesome, but the view from the top of the Heights looking down was even more impressive. The photos above show some of our group standing on top of a Syrian bunker emplacement that was evacuated during the Six-Day War, the view from the Golan Heights looking up toward Mt. Hermon, the jeeps we rode in, a view into the northern valley of Israel (called the Hula Valley), and some of the wildlife that exists on the Heights.

December 25, Continued (Your poster, your Rabbi, that is, will try to learn better how to manipulate the photos and text in this program. Please excuse the inelegant layout!)

We traveled from the center of the country to the north via the only toll road in Israel, Route 6, named after Yitzhak Rabin. The road has no toll gates, only the electronic monitoring system like our “Smart Pass.” So our journey tonight was rather swift.

This road is routed close to and along the ‘seam line,’ the fenced security border that represents Israel’s defense against terrorism. From the lighted highway, it appeared as a long, low wall topped by barbed wire, alongside of which was a security road that patrols cover each hour of each day. Any breeches in the wall are known almost instantaneously by the electronic devices embedded in the road and the wall. More on the political implications of this barrier another day.

We arrived to the guest house of Kibbutz K’far Blum. Many years ago, a few of the local kibbutzim, to supplement their income flow, opened up hotels or guest retreat houses. The guest house here is an old institution, rustic but beautiful. We are located in the ‘finger’ of Israel that extends north and is surrounded by Lebanon on the west and Syria on the east. The proximity to these nations, one time in active conflict with Israel and now always in a tenuous state of cease fire, makes us feel as though we really are at the center of the world. At least when there is a slow news period in the States, as there typically is at this time of year, there is always news here in the Middle East.

As we arrived at the time of dusk here, we don’t have too many photos of the scenery quite yet. But above are some photos of our group going through the airport and on the plane:

Also, the group of twenty-two travelers who arrived today were divided into one group of five (who dubbed themselves “The W’s – because all their last names began with W) and one group of 17. While waiting for we 17, The W’s composed a special song to greet us when we met in Atlanta for the long flight to Tel-Aviv. Here it is:

(sung to the tune of “Dreidle, Dreidle, Dreidle”)

Travel, travel, travel,
The W’s have prevailed.
Two days we have survived.
The W Chavurah has arrived.

Travel, travel, travel,
Pilgrims to the Promised Land.
Our hopes were ever so high
To turn fog ‘n snow to sand.

Travel, travel, travel,
Patience we have not.
Flexibility we have practiced,
Punctuality sure is shot.

Travel, travel, travel.
We W’s now have a song.
We expect to hear from you
A better creative endeavor.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007
From K’far Blum, Northern Israel

Dear Friends,

Sitting in the hotel lobby here, we are listening to a two-man Beatles music retrospective, and writing to you, our Temple Beth El community. We are glad to be landed at last.

Tonight we all arrived to make our tour 32 strong! As we pulled away from the Ben Guiron International Airport, we had a two-and-a half hour drive ahead of us to arrive to our hotel here, but the drive was made much more comfortable by the 60 degree temperature and the cogent and welcoming description of some of the scenery by our guide Daphna, as we were driven by our driver Menachem (who likes to be called Manny).

Before the arrival of us twenty-two today, the four-then-ten visitors had some sightseeing in Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv, and were able to visit the Christian and Muslim quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock, and Here are some photos of their journey today and yesterday. Some of you might recognize Jane and Molly Taves, Allen and Mona Paschen, Seth Center and Maureen Monaghan, Jane and Anne Armstrong, and Aaron Gooze and Gillian Schauer.

We traveled from the center of the country to the north via the only toll road in Israel, Route 6, named after Yitzhak Rabin. The road has no toll gates, only the electronic monitoring system like our “Smart Pass.” So our journey tonight was rather swift.

This road is routed close to and along the ‘seam line,’ the fenced security border that represents Israel’s defense against terrorism. From the lighted highway, it appeared as a long, low wall topped by barbed wire, alongside of which was a security road that patrols cover each hour of each day. Any breeches in the wall are known almost instantaneously by the electronic devices embedded in the road and the wall. More on the political implications of this barrier another day.

We arrived to the guest house of Kibbutz K’far Blum. Many years ago, a few of the local kibbutzim, to supplement their income flow, opened up hotels or guest retreat houses. The guest house here is an old institution, rustic but beautiful. We are located in the ‘finger’ of Israel that extends north and is surrounded by Lebanon on the west and Syria on the east. The proximity to these nations, one time in active conflict with Israel and now always in a tenuous state of cease fire, makes us feel as though we really are at the center of the world. At least when there is a slow news period in the States, as there typically is at this time of year, there is always news here in the Middle East.

Dear friends,

Welcome to another post. While our group assembles in Israel, as we're arriving in waves based upon the number of seats that we could get on already crowded planes, here is an essay by one of our travelers, Joanna Berke, on her feelings and reactions as she prepares to leave Madison for her journey to Israel:

"Whenever I’ve spoken to someone who’s been to Israel, and mention this trip, I’ve invariably heard the same response: “Oh, you’ll love it; you’ll feel so at home!” I’ve been thinking about this trip to Israel for some time. I've been wondering how I'll feel when we land there. Will I feel as if I’m coming home?

"A few nights ago I was in a store paying for some purchases. As I was leaving, the clerk called out to me, as has happened very often, “Merry Christmas!”. I responded as I often do, “thanks, same to you!”, and left. I would not consciously have thought another thing about it except I wasn’t alone in the store. A very dear, empathetic, friend of mine who happens to be Christian, asked me, almost immediately, “how did you feel when she said that?” This is my answer to her: I felt alone and I felt marginalized. As a Diaspora Jew I have felt alone and marginalized a good deal of my life. I know I’m in a minority: I know I belong to a group which is frequently open criticism and judgment. I know that via the media I’m privy to the non-Jewish world in ways unavailable to them; that the non Jewish world, therefore, knows little about Judaism. In other words, I know, always, I’m in a minority.

"So, how will I feel when I land in Israel? I believe I’ve been “coming home” to Israel for a long time. (Due to the fog we won’t be taking off until tomorrow. To be continued........)"

AND IN ISRAEL TODAY:

For Israeli news in English, be sure to try the website for the Ha'aretz newspaper. You can access this website at http://www.haaretz.com/, and you will find out what is happening there while we're visiting, and anytime.

Today was better weather-wise, and because of back-logs of other stranded travelers, we were able to send off only six Madison-based Beth El-ites to Israel. At this writing (Sunday evening, 8 PM), they have landed in Atlanta and are waiting to board their Tel Aviv bound flight. Today in Israel, four of our travelers -- children of our members who are traveling with us -- arrived in Israel, and are awaiting a welcome few days of travel in the central part of the country, primarily Tel-Aviv.

What will they encounter? They will see Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed on May 14, 1948. They will also see an underground "laundry" (located at a kibbutz) that served as an ammunitions factory during the Independence War. Tel Aviv is a bustling city, and is a very exciting town for eating, nightlife, and is very much like cities here. By the way, the high temperature in Tel Aviv today was a cool 64 degrees. And sunny and clear.

Thanks, again, for visiting our blog about our trip to Israel. Tomorrow, Monday, we board the plane in the evening, and probably will not be able to post again until late Tuesday Israel time, which is eight hours ahead of Madison. But look for more posts. Be well, and shalom.

Our Journey to Israel:The Fog Overcomes: Socked In on Shabbat

For my first blog entry for our journey to Israel, I was not expecting to show you the frozen landscape around Dane County Regional Airport. However, for many of our travelers, this was all we were to see today as our planes were, for the most part, cancelled, and our trip postponed. We will be starting out to try again, both tomorrow and the next day, as some from our group will travel on each of the next two days.

For the children of some of our members who live elsewhere, they will apparently continue with their trip and have a wonderful journey to Israel even though we are not going to be with them. They will certainly get an excellent panaroma of the land!

It certainly took an extraordinary amount of patience and flexibility for our travelers to accept the reality that our trip was not going to start out as they anticipated it, but the many hours in the airport today were spent in camaraderie and ease, as each person helped the other deal with what were somewhat frustrating circumstances. This is a short post for now -- more will come in the days ahead.

Temple Beth El Sends 39 to Israel

This winter, 39 intrepid travelers will depart for ten days of touring, enjoying, exploring, and relaxing their way through Israel. Departing December 22, we will investigate the ancient and modern aspects of Jewish life and heritage, and you, too, can be a part of it. Simply return to this site each day and catch our blogged posts and photos from Israel. We welcome you to come along and enjoy!