It's day four of our trip in Israel and the growth among the group is clear. We visited Tzfat on Wednesday, where we learned about Kabbalah and its role in Judiasm; I never knew how incredibly in-line my own beliefs were with Jewish mysticism.
Tzfat felt like a city untouched by the modern world, covered in rows of shops and shuls preserved and loved for their beauty. The most beneficial part of the day, in my opinion, was our visit to Avraham's art gallery. Originating from Detroit, Michigan, he experienced a life-changing moment and moved to Israel over seventeen years ago! I really enjoyed learning about his personal journey through Judaism because we are all on experiencing journeys of our own.
I find a strong correlation between our visit to Tzfat and our hike from today. As we all hiked through the Snir Nature Reserve, we followed each other through the stream, around rocks, over tree roots and up bedrock. With the changing terrain, I related this to our journeys through our beliefs and Judaism. We are much more connected to nature than we believe and because of this, it's easy to see how each of our hikes, whether easy or difficult, completely parallels that of our personal journeys.
I find a strong correlation between our visit to Tzfat and our hike from today. As we all hiked through the Snir Nature Reserve, we followed each other through the stream, around rocks, over tree roots and up bedrock. With the changing terrain, I related this to our journeys through our beliefs and Judaism. We are much more connected to nature than we believe and because of this, it's easy to see how each of our hikes, whether easy or difficult, completely parallels that of our personal journeys.
Nature has incredible power and as we learned, Kabbalah discusses the power of spirituality. For me, I find peace and serenity in nature, which I completely relate to the ideas presented in Kabbalah.
As a last note, I'm really happy with where we are as a group--after meeting our Israeli soldiers, rafting in the Jordan River, and singing Israeli songs, it's evident that our group's bonds are growing stronger every day.