It was another jam-packed day! We headed to Tzfat (also spelled Safed) early in the morning, stopping first at a Palmach-related war memorial up on an old surveying hill. Phillip gave a very moving talk about the Palmach and about the war, and about Israel's existence should never be taken for granted.* On the short bus ride back down the surveying hill, Phillip pointed out a spot along the roadside where a rocket had landed last summer.

In Tzfat, we went to a kabbalistic artist's studio. The artist, Avrahim, looked pretty young - maybe 30 - and reminded me very much of my brother Andrew. They sort of look alike, and they both have the same sort of spiritual quality. Avrahim seemed a little young to be so into kabbala - traditionally, only men over 40, who were "learned" and married, were allowed to study kabbala. I guess things have changed, though (see Madonna).

We also went to two synagogues in Tzfat (Ari Ashkenazi and Yosef Caro); both were sephardic and very crowded. Afterwards we went to a candle factory and learned how they make Havdallah candles. It was a weird store.



After Tzfat, we went "rafting" on the Jordan River. Adam and I were in a little inflatable kayak, and the water was pretty calm for the most part. We still managed to get stuck once or twice. The river runs alongside the Golan Heights, and there are barbed wire fences every once in a while. At one point, I heard noise in the distance that sounded like heavy artillery, and it sorta freaked me out. We kept getting closer and closer, and I was getting a little panicky, and then we went around a corner and saw the reason for all the noise: cars going over a rickety metal grate bridge. I felt pretty silly.

Before going back to the kibbutz, Phillip took us to the Biranit forest to see yet another site that had been pummeled in last summer's war. On one side of the forest's fire path there were huge old pine trees that were completely unharmed. The other side of the fire path was almost completely burnt down from rockets. I borrowed the rabbi's binoculars and saw the Lebanese mountain where the rockets came from. Phillip said they're "still up there." I don't know if he just meant that the mountain was still in Lebanese territory, or that the Lebanese rocket guys were literally still hanging out up there, watching us through binoculars and plotting.



* [non-journal note: This is a theme Phillip repeated throughout the trip. On one level, it sounds obvious to say that you shouldn't take things for granted, just generally. At the same time, however, I think that having grown up in a country that's always been relatively quite secure, America's existence is something I've always taken for granted. The idea of living someplace that you have to constantly fight for is hard to really understand.]

Israeli breakfasts are not so great. The options are raw & semi-raw fish (with skin intact), a wilty salad bar, and canned fruit. I ate a piece of puffy white bread with hummus on it, which did not feel very breakfasty. The security girl, Natalie, sat with me & Adam, but didn't say a word to us. I don't think she speaks much English.

Our first stop of the day was the Independence Hall Museum. It's not really a "museum," exactly - there are only two rooms. The first room shows you a short film about Israel's declaration of independence in 1948 and the Independence War. The second room is the room where Ben Gurion actually declared Israeli independence on (I think) May 14, 1948. Israel had previously been under British control, as a result of World War I, but the British mandate was set to end on May 15. Which was a Saturday, and therefore Shabbat. So, with British approval, Ben Gurion decided to declare independence on Friday instead, right before sundown. They borrowed everything for the ceremony, and returned it right away, so the room's furnishings are just a recreation of what the room looked like at the time. Our "tour guide" at the museum was really awesome. She had so much enthusiasm for what she was talking about, which is sort of rare for people who have to give a tour of two rooms fifteen times a day, usually to Birthright teens no less.



Next up was the Palmach Museum. It was a good followup to the Independence Hall Museum, which left a lot of questions as to how Israel actually won the Independence War. While the Palmach Museum didn't entirely explain things, it gave a ton of information about how the Palmach (an elite underground military squad) contributed to Israel's victory. The museum is pretty intense - they use a lot of video screens (with characters that you follow through the museum, presumably based on actual Palmach members) and simulations (bridge explosions!). I'm not usually a fan of military stuff, but I really enjoyed this museum. I was really struck by how young so many of these soldiers were; currently, all Israelis (with a few exceptions) serve in the military from the age of 18 until 20 (women) or 21 (men). I don't know what the ages were in 1948, but based on the photos, they looked to be about 18-25. I guess that's how old many American soldiers are, too, but I never really thought about it.*

These two museums were a really awesome kick-off for the rest of the trip. I knew practically nothing about Israel this morning, and the museums were a huge eye-opener. It's not that I didn't care about Israel before; I was just sort of taking its existence for granted. Already, I have a feeling that there's a lot more going on here, and a lot more at stake.

After the Palmach Museum, we had a picnic lunch at the park and then took the bus to Zippori. I thought it was going to be a town, but really it's just the site of a bunch of archeological digs (at least, what we saw of it). They have some nice mosaics there, and because it's on a hill/mountain, we had a great view. Our next stop was the Arbel Cliff, which overlooks the Sea of Galilee, Migdal, Nazareth, and the Golan Heights. It was really, really windy up there. Finally, we drove to Nof Ginosar to have dinner & check in at the kibbutz. I'm already exhausted.

* [non-journal note: I just finished reading a book called "Letters from Jerusalem: 1947-1948," by Zipporah Porath, about an American girl who went to Jerusalem to study at the Hebrew University in 1947 and ended up joining the Haganah (another underground army) when the war started. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is that's so moving about this book. I tried to think about what I would've done if war had broken out in Spain while I was in Salamanca during my junior year of college. I also thought, perhaps that's not really comparable...when you look at the context of the Israel independence war, what had just happened to the Jews in World War II, and what was going on in Israel between the Muslims and the Jews, it seems like it may have been a slightly easier choice, deciding to stay and fight, especially since the author was not only a Jew but a Zionist. The author presents the situation as though it was an easy choice, but then again, the book is entirely letters she wrote to her parents back in America, and maybe she wasn't telling them everything.]

Location: Tel Aviv

The first obstacle on our journey to Israel was checking in with the Israeli airline, El-Al. Their way of weeding out would-be terrorists is to directly question each person en route to the ticket counter. The questions aren't hard or anything; they're just designed to see how you react. Unfortunately, it was about 100 degrees in the airport, and I was wearing long sleeves. Cue the sweaty fidgeting. If you're traveling with family members, they question you together, so Adam and I stammered our way through everything nervously. Our Israeli questioner was a bit skeptical about our marital status, since we don't have the same surname and (silly us) we didn't bring our marriage license. A quick examination of our drivers licenses (both bearing the same address) eventually satisfied him. Ultimately, I'm glad they do this; according to Adam, they haven't had any incidents since the 1970's. Still, it's a harrowing experience.

The flight from JFK to Tel Aviv ended up only taking 10 hours (instead of the 14 I had prepared myself for), and was tolerable. They give you your own TV on the back of the seat in front of you, and that helps pass the time. I watched "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and "Bridge to Terabithia," as they were the best of the options. The plane was about 75% full of Birthright kids (18-25 year olds who act about 16). A sampling of some overheard conversation: (upon receiving breakfast) "This isn't cream cheese! Ew! I swear, this is genetically engineered" (repeat four more times). The rest of the passengers were large families of rambunctious toddlers and screeching infants.

Our tour guides, Phillip & Tally (sp?), picked us up at the airport and took us to our hotel, which overlooked the Mediterranean. After Adam and I showered off the plane yuck, we went for a walk on the boardwalk. It was excruciatingly hot, but we managed to see a weird art deco-y building and a nice park.



That evening, we met the other members of the tour group. There were about thirty of us total - mostly people in their mid-30's to mid-50's, plus a couple of older people and six 13 year olds. So, Adam and I were the sole representatives of our age group. Phillip, the primary tour guide, is probably in his 40's, and Tally is 27, but she's the "youth coordinator" and dealt almost exclusively with the kids. We all went to a Yemenite restaurant for dinner.* About halfway through the meal, I looked at the girl sitting next to me (Natalie - our security guard who will go with us everywhere) and suddenly noticed that the strap across her chest was attached not to a purse, as I had previously thought, but to a large rifle .** It startled the crap out of me.

Stay tuned for Day 2!

* [non-journal note: Here we got our first taste of the blandness that is Israeli food. No matter what ethnicity the food originates from, Israelis make it all bland.]

** [non-journal note: I quickly got used to seeing armed people everywhere. Every Israeli has to join the army when they're 18, and serve 2-3 years. All active members have to be armed when they go out, plus most tour groups have an armed security person.]

Foolishly, I thought I would have time to be on the internet while in Israel. As it turned out, the tour guide had us solidly booked pretty much every day from dawn until midnight (an exaggeration, perhaps, but it sure felt packed!). On the few chances I had to sneak away from the group, internet was either nowhere to be found or stupidly expensive. I did keep a daily journal, however, so I can belatedly blog about everything. Let's start right now with day 1!

We went to bed last night at 6:30pm due to complete & total exhaustion - the plus side to this is that I've now started my Tuesday bright and early (6:00am), so I can enjoy the heat wave even longer.

We took upwards of 500 photos on the trip - all will be organized and linked at some point. Until then, I'll put up a favorite picture every day. This picture is from Sunday, which was our last day in Israel. We went to a "Biblical Nature Reserve," where they allegedly only grow plants that were mentioned in the Bible. The fun part was that we each got to plant a tree. Here's me and Adam with my little sapling (I named him Mordechai):