This may be my last report from Israel (unless I there is free WiFi at Ben Gurion Airport).
Today we had another incredibly exciting day, but more about that later.
Shabbat here in Tsfat was very beautiful. We davened Friday night at the Beirav Synagogue where they use the melodies of R. Shlomo Carlebach. The davening was melodic and spirited, and the dancing, into which we were drawn, was too! Can you believe that Friday night services lasted more than two hours!!! We then returned to our hotel for a delicious Shabbat dinner, followed by our own inspiring group singing in which an Israeli couple sitting near us joined. Shabbos morning, after services (which start early here in Israel) our guide led us through the narrow streets and alleyways of Old Tsfat, telling us stories and legends of the great Kabbalistic rabbis who flourished here. We made Havdalah as a group. It is wonderful that all of us get along so well; it makes moments like Havdalah and other occasions so much more special for all of us.
Saturday night we went to Tiberias to eat at Pagoda,the Chinese restaurant there. (It is true, even in Israel: wherever there are Jews there are (kosher) Chinese restaurants.) The food was delicious.
Our first stop this morning was Kibbutz Misgav Am, which sits right on the Israel-Lebanon border in the northwest corner of the finger-like projection of Israel that is its northermost point. (Note to 2005 &
2007 EMJC Israel Pilgrimage participants: Misgav Am is about 3 kilometers north of Menara, the kibbutz on the border that we
visited.) We were led and lectured by a kibbutz member who made aliyah from Cleveland 48 years ago when he was 21 (see photo). He has fought in four wars for Israel, and had very definite (right-wing) political opinions which he did not hesitate to share with us. We were able to look directly into Lebanon literally just several feet away, and our guide at the kibbutz told us about the kibbutz's experiences during the 2006 war with Lebanon.
After our interesting visit we proceeded down the mountains, across the Hula Valley, and up the Golan Heights to Har Bental. We were now just about 200 yards away from Israel's border with Syria, as we explored Israeli bunkers and shared an amazing view of the entire area.
From there we continued to Gamla to view the ruins of the "Masada of the North" from a distance (No, Mike, we didn't hike it -- not enough time, and no vultures circling overhead.) (see photo).
Next we continued down a different part of the Golan Heights, along a steep serpentine road which our driver maneuvered with dexterity, to Hammat Gader, which sits right on the border with Jordan where many of us enjoyed well-deserved bathing in the glorious natural hot sulphuric springs. Just the thing for our tired bones! Some of us also viewed the ruins of the Roman baths (joined by six radiant peacocks (see photo), and others visited the crocodile ponds. Then it was back to our hotel for wine tasting and dinner.
Today we certainly realized how narrow Israel is: in just a few hours we touched Israel's borders with three of its (mostly hostile) neighbors.
Now we must pack for our return home. Before we leave early Tuesday morning (at 1:00 a.m.), we have a full day of touring tomorrow
(Monday) that will include Acco, Haifa, Yemin Orde, and Atlit. We will have a final banquet in Tel Aviv at which we will share our thoughts about the trip before we continue to the airport.
By the way, our guide,Itzik, has been absolutely outstanding -- the
best I have ever had! He is knowledgeable, sincere, understanding,
personable, with a subtle and dry sense of humor. He has been very
co-operative with me, and a font of excellent advice. He was recommended to me by our son, Ezra, who worked with him when they both worked for USY. I would definitely want to use him again in any future EMJC trip.
See you soon, God willing, back in East Meadow. Why not start planning (and saving) so you can join us on our next EMJC trip to Israel?!?
Love,
Rabbi Androphy
Posts
The visit to Kibbutz Misgav Am impressed me greatly. I did speak about it at our final dinner in Israel, and some of the people on the trip might remember what I said. As Rabbi Androphy stated in his blog, our farmer-host had very definite right-wing ideas that he stated in his lecture (and it WAS a lecture!)
ReplyDeleteOur farmer host was born in the same year as I, so he's now approaching seventy years of age if he hasn't achieved it yet. He fought in four wars and still considers himslef able to fight whatever fires may occur if and when shells and/or rockets land in the kibbutz as they did in 2006. He packs a revolver and stated in a private conversation that he hates nobody (hatred clouds jusgement) but that if somebody gets in his way ... (you supply the rest.)
The kibbutz is located on a bluff overlooking the Lebanese border fence and what appears to be a peaceful Lebanese valley below. However, the valley is controlled by Hezbollah, not the Lebanese government. The IDF does get wind of any impending "action" by Hezbollah against Israeli territory, and the kibbutz members are warned in time to evacuate women and children. Men, like our farmer-host stay behind to fight fires.
Our farmer-host made several points in his lecture that I will try to summarize here for those of you whose curiosity has ben whetted by Rabbi Androphy's description of him:
1. Most Muslims simply want to live in peace. Radical Fundamentalist Muslims want to convert the entire world to Islam; by force, if necessary.
2. Hezbollah is a Radical Fundamentalist Muslim group. There are many such groups, and they often appear to be at odds with each other (for example, Hezbollah is Shia and Hamas is Sunni.) But, given a common enemy, such as Israel or the United States, they will unite against that enemy. Their common philosophy is what makes them dangerous, not their numbers.
3. Although Jews are highly tolerated in the United States by the Christian majority, their only real home in the world is Israel.
I'm not a right-winger or a left-winger politically. But if any ideas from either wing (or the center) are important to the survival of the Jewish people, then I'm a sucker for those ideas.
Back in Tsfat, in a store that sold beautiful hand-made fabrics, there was a sign that read, "Nine kings cannot make a minyan. But ten farmers can." Could it be that ten or more farmers with extreme points of view like our farmer-host at Kibbutz Misgav Am can insure the survival of the Jewish people? Hasn't that been the case at various turning points in our history?
Alan Sharkis