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Our first day brought us to Miron for a little hiking, and to the city of Tzfat for a lesson in Kabbalah, a trip to the Ashkenazi Ari Synagogue, our first bites of authentic Israeli shwarma and falafel, some shopping, and for a few of us, a trip to a mikvah.
The first lesson in hiking up Miron with Mayanot 357 is to wear a hat. I mean, it’s probably important for anyone under the powerful Israeli sun to wear a hat, but they’re not running the risk of being singled out by our guide, Ronen. Take a comedian, and make him one of those comedians that loves to embarrass members of his audience. Now, give him a deep knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, the land of Israel. Here you have Ronen. He’s pretty witty, and pretty sharp, so just wear a hat and stay on his good side.
The hike itself provided some amazing views of the outskirts of Israel’s northern border. Picturesque mountainsides of Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan caught all of our eyes and camera lenses. We were even able to spot some snow-capped mountain tops in the distance. Considering the heat, I was all game for going skiing or sledding. Though, the hike was certainly not a bad way to start our trip.
After the morning hike, we hopped back on board our bus and headed for the holy city of Tzfat. Our first excursion in the hillside village brought us to the workplace of artist-and Detroit import-Avraham Loewenthal. Avraham showed us a few of his pieces from his Contemporary Kabbalistic Art Gallery, and elaborated briefly on the teachings of Kabbalah, and how he went from being Robert, a student at the University of Michigan majoring in psychology, to Avraham, Israeli citizen, father of three, student of Kabbalah and art. It’s hard to paint a picture of Avraham’s unbridled enthusiasm for Kabbalah to those who’ve never met him in person. His impish giddiness over his art and Kabbalah got us all enthused. It’s no coincidence his artwork became a popular purchase for most of us on the trip.
Upon leaving Avraham’s gallery, we made our way briskly to the Ashkenazi Ari Synagogue, and learned (briefly) about the religious history of the city of Tzfat and the Ashkenazi synagogue with some Sephardic flare. Before we were ushered out of the synagogue-they needed to prepare it for Shabbat-Rabbi Levi talked with us about realizing and discovering the deeper sides to people in our lives, the parts of them we might not know much about. It’s an important lesson, considering there are still plenty of us on this trip still forming our first impressions of each other. While ten days doesn’t seem like too long a time to discover the “deeper” side of 38 other people, I’m going to try as hard as I can. I hope. We’ll see.
Next was the most hotly anticipated part of the day, perhaps of the entire trip thus far: lunch. We had some authentic Israeli shwarma and falafel, and for all of us, it was a warm welcome to the culinary delights Israel has to offer. Personally, I had shwarma with the works, a coke, and a mango slushie. Alright, I gotta stop going on about lunch, I’m getting pretty hungry and we’re still a few hours off from dinner.
Ronen proceeded to take us on a small tour of the city and gave us some time to shop around. If my family is reading this, I want to apologize. I didn’t shop for you. That having been said, I didn’t shop at all. Rabbi Levi, our student leader Robbie, a few others, and I went to the local mikvah and had our first “When in Rome” moment, spiritually cleansing ourselves before Shabbat amongst the Tzfat city dwellers. So, sorry mom and dad, I didn’t get you any souvenirs yet, but I think my alternative gives me a free pass. After all, it was a pretty cool experience.
And here we are, back on the bus heading back towards our hotel in Tiberias for Shabbat. I’ve got the Kineret to my left, a bunch of sleepyheads to my right, and a whole bunch of excitement right here to see what the Sabbath in Israel is going to be like. I’m sure it won’t disappoint. Until next time. Shabbat Shalom!
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Ascending Mt. Meron
The view from Mt. Meron
Touring Tzfat
At the Mikvah & Ari's resting place
Kaballah Artist Avraham Levental
In the Ari's Synagogue