Day in S'fat

On Sabba Steve's birthday, we decided to have another adventure. This one had its own drama as we tried to exchange our rental car for another one that didn't have transmission issues....after over an hour of dealing with the rental car folks, we drove away in a bigger, more powerful car. We had a birthday lunch (Thai food) by the water of the Kinneret. We then drove up the mountain to S'fat. a mystical city high on a mountain overlooking the beautiful gallilean mountains.  It is usually a bustling city of chasidim and artists, but this day it was quiet in commemoration of fast day which leads up to Tisha B'Av, the mourning day for the destruction of the Temple.  S'fat is the home of Rabbi Isaac Luria, known as the ARI. Two Synagogues in S'fat bear his name.

We visited the Ashkenazi Ari Synagogue, built in the 16th century, finished just after Rabbi Luria came to S'fat. It was in this Synagogue that he prayed, leaving the Synagogue for a nearby field where he and his disciples would greet the Sabbath. Today we sing "L'cha Dodi/ Come, My Beloved" to remember this event.

The ark of the Ari Synagogue was carved out of olive wood by an artist who had immigrated from Galizia. At the top of the Ark sits a lion (Ari) with a decidedly human face. We wondered whose face this is?

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Sabba Steve!!

Afternoon at the beach

On the way home from our little vacation, Ariele and Avrami took us to the beach near Rosh HaNikra in the northwestern corner of Israel, near the border of Lebanon.

The white chalk cliffs offer a spectacular view of the Mediterranean.  We walked near the cliffs and watched some crazy folks dive off the cliffs (do not try this at home)!  

The beach was magnificent, with cool water and clean white sand. We played on the sand for a few hours before stopping for dinner and heading home. Enjoy the scenery!

 

No cabin fever this time!

Here we are at our vacation cabin!  All of us escaped to the northeast Gallilee to a small village called Goren, where we stayed  in a great B&B in our own log cabin! 

On the grounds was a swimming pool where we spent much of our time.  There was also a hot tub (with a pop-up TV), sauna, and garden area where we played ball and barbequed. 

Our dinner was capped off with a birthday cake and ice cream for Sabba Steve.  Did we mention the marshmallows too? It was a great few days! 

We came home happy and exhausted!
 

 

Shabbat Shalom

Maya and I made challah this morning in her Gan.  The kids shape it every week, but since we walked her to school, we stayed a bit and helped with the braiding.  Before I knew it, her teachers were coming over for lessons in how to braid with 4 ropes of dough!  Soon all the kids were braiding their challah a new way and all the teachers were excited! 

By Friday afternoon, all Shabbat preparations had been made and three families were ready for a short "dip" in the Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee, that is just at the base of the Golan Heights.  As we approached the beach, we saw a most colorful sight above the water:  The sky was filled with enormous, beautiful kites pulling "kite surfers" across the water.   Both the kites and the surfers were graceful and exciting.  Daniyel and Maya were thrilled by them.

The water was a refreshing break and a nice prologue to Shabbat.   

Shabbat Shalom!

 

Mt. Hermon trip continued...

Our second morning up north started with breakfast at the hotel and then some leisurely time to sit in our garden and enjoy the scenery.  When a van of soldiers pulled up in front our our door, I thought that they might be asking us to evacuate (during the night we heard rocket booms for over an hour).  The real truth was that their van was overheated and they needed some water for their radiator! 

The captain of the unit told us that we had been hearing nighttime training missions (the loud booms).  His unit of soldiers were from broken homes or men who had some other type of learning difficulty.  They were on their way to observe other military units who were learning how to fight in combat situations.  They were quite happy to pose for a picture.

Majdal Shams, nestled in the heights of the Hermon mountains, means "Tower of the Sun".  It is the largest of 4 Israeli Druze villages in the Golan and held only lovely encounters for us, whether shopping for groceries, getting the telephone repaired, fixing a flat tire, or just visiting with our new friend, Mah'di.  He is an auto mechanic who talked to us about the Druze who live in Israel as we sat in his shop, eating cookies and drinking coffee. He, along with the other Druze we met, seemed social and hospitable.  They told us stories about Druze of this small and tightly knit culture who were unable to see their families who were still in Syria.  The border crossing does not allow free passage back and forth.  Druze students studying at the university in Syria can go in the fall and return at the end of the school year.  Divided families can stand on the opposite sides of the border (with a 200 meter strip of land between them) and talk to each other by bullhorn.  One man described his mother-in-law who had not seen her brother in 30 years.  Although most of the Druze we met seemed happy enough to be living in Israel, they see themselves as being treated differently than the Jewish population.  The stories are uplifting and heartbreaking, all at the same time.

We continued to explore this very rich area of the Golan Heights.  We stopped at Nimrod's Castle, which is a sprawling Crusader Castle built in the 13th century. The ruins suggest how magnificent the castle must have been. It's easy to see why legend suggests that this fortress was build by the mighty hunter, Nimrod, from the generations before Abraham.  It stands on a mountain over 800 meters above sea level.  From there we "descended" back home to the southern Golan Heights and Moshav Nov, where Ariele and Avrami live.

Druze village

Our trip continued north as we approached the beauty of Mt. Hermon, the tallest mountain in Israel.  Most of the Hermon range is still in Syria, while Israel only controls less that 10 percent of the range.  It remains a strategic geographic location for the Israeli military.  At the base of Mt. Hermon is the beautiful natural springs lake of Birkat Ram near a Druze community.  It has not been developed as a recreation area and remains a water source for the Kinneret, and eventually most of the Golan Heights.  Some say that this water represents the tears of Mt. Hermon, pining for its lover. 

We stopped at a petting zoo and a self-picking fruit farm, but as it was between harvest seasons, we simply visited the animals and tasted some local cherries.

We continued north, steadily climbing higher into the village of Magdal Shams, a charming community of Druze nestled in the base of Mt. Hermon.  The Druze were part of Syria and have become citizens of Israel.  Their religion is similar to Muslim, believing in one god and that people should treat others with respect.  While we were shopping in a small grocery store, we heard the call to worship on a loud speaker.  Within ten minutes, hundreds of men, mostly dressed in black with white head coverings, were headed for evening prayer up the steps of the temple in the square.  We found the Druze friendly, hospitable, and engaging.  We eventually came to our hotel and had a quiet dinner outside in our private garden.

Wild ride in the Golan Heights

Har Bental is the strategic mountain fortress of the Golan.  From its peak, everything below looks smooth, serene and gentle.  From an ATV in the valley below, everything is different.  Thank you, Ariele, for arranging our wild ride in the Golan!

The rich volcanic soil is certainly good material, but the rocks, the brambles and the parched summers make faithful farming necessary.  The drama is very different in the valley.  There, one sees the traces of the Syrian army, the ruined city of Kuneitra which had been that army's base in the Golan.  

We visited the ruins of the Syrian Officers' training school, so well constructed that the Israeli bombs that crashed through its roof barely reached the second floor.  In the corridor of the school, we saw a fig wood doorpost, unvarnished or finished, that contained enough life in it to sprout once again from the leaky roof--a testimony to how things tend to go on living even under the harshest of conditions.  

Our ATV tour guide, a young Druze from a local village, drove ahead of us, sometimes racing at great speed.  This was a challenge to those of us who only know paved roads... From the valley, we looked up to the two mountains, Avital and (Har) Bental.  Once, they had been part of the same volcano.  Now separated, Avi (father) of Tal (Dew), is the older.  The younger, Ben (son) Tal, stands at his side. Our trip continued north....

Northward bound!

Whew!  Babysitting for 2 days was great, if not a bit exhausting!  Actually we had a wonderful time and the kids were terrific.  We decided to take a little tiyul (trip) of our own.  We headed north toward Mt. Hermon, the tallest mountain in Israel.  We were in search of cool breezes and new adventures.  We stopped at an overlook to see Kuneitra, an old Syrian city which was the stronghold of the Syrian army during the 1973 war.  Today it is part of Israel, with the new city of Kuneitra right across the border.  The border crossing is has its own interesting stories and we'll have more so say on this later.  Here we go -- northward bound!

Party at the Gan

Our last day of babysitting began bright and early at around 6:00.  After morning duties, Steve walked Maya to school and spent some time photographing her classmates.  We played with Daniyel (whose daycare sitter had an emergency appendectomy)!  We stayed cool in the air conditioned house while the temperatures continued to soar.

The rest of day belonged to Maya, who was the star of the end of year party at her Gan.  Her parents arrived home just in time to enjoy the songs and dances of the children in Maya's class -- but it was Maya who really sang her heart out and gave us a huge thrill!  The children all received green shirts with their picture to enhance the theme of the program to keep the earth green.

Family reunion!

Whew it's hot!

Our adventures continued on the hottest day yet -- it was almost 40 Celcius (well over 100 degrees)!  We are still babysitting, so it was up early to fix breakfast and get everyone off to school.  We spent the morning cleaning, doing laundry, and blogging.  

After a quiet afternoon indoors, we continued our fun at the library -- this week there was a play about a frog and a witch.  Although a bit scary for some, we all enjoyed the acting and we finished the evening with dinner and baths. 

We really tired out these little ones! 

Day at the park

Ariele and Avrami have gone up north for several days and we are now in charge!  A trip to the park in Katzrin proved to be exhausting -- after we visited the petting zoo, we headed to the playground where climbing was a big hit.  The kids found lots of ways to keep their grandparents on their toes!  Pizza and ice cream rounded out the day.  Some of us even fell asleep on the way home.

Shabbat on the moshav

Shabbat on Moshav Nov is a unique experience.  Almost everyone is Shomer Shabbat (keeper of the Sabbath) and spends Friday cooking and cleaning.  Just as the sun is setting, groups of people start walking to the (only) synagoge for the evening service.  No one drives, no music or TV can be heard.  Just the quiet of Shabbat. 

After services, we returned home to a dinner that was already prepared.  Along with severeal guests, we enjoyed a leisurely meal which didn't end until after midnight!  After a late clean-up, it was early to rise for the morning service.  By 10:15, the service was over and we met our hosts, the Friedman family, after some time to schmooze -- virtually everyone who lives here is either in the shul or on the adjacent playground watching dozens of children play.  Lunch at the Friedmans included dozens of salads, several meats and sidedishes, cakes and brownies, sorbet, and fresh nectarines from the family farm.  We also heard stories of what it was like for Michal and Menachem Friedmans, some of the first settlers of the moshav, to make their way here as young adults.  They were describing a desolate land with no roads, water, or electricity.  Yet here they made their home, worked the land, raised a family of 7 children, and built a family farming business (and just renovated their home).  Michal also lamented about why it was so hard to assure peace in this region -- and that one of the first things Israelis can do is learn Arabic so we can all communicate with one another.  It was a stunning comment and it seemed like a very simple first step in a very complicated process.

The day continued with naps, playtime, and a lovely late afternoon garden party to celebrate the birth a little girl born to friends of Ariele and Avrami.  After Havdalah, some of us went to yet another gathering to listen to music of Shlomo Carlebach played by the family of the Moshav Band, who played at Ariele and Avrami's wedding (almost 8 years ago)!  A complete experience!

SHABBAT SHALOM!

We are ready for Shabbat, new bracelet and all.

  

  

SHABBAT SHALOM!

Pre-Shabbat Outing

An outing to the Golan Brewery before Shabbat.  

L'chaim!

Preparing for Shabbat

J

Just waking up to see happy children!  Maya goes to school today (Friday) for half a day, then she comes home with home-baked challah that she created in the shape of a flower.  We will enjoy it tonight for dinner (Ariele has been cooking all morning).  Tomorrow for lunch we will go to the Friedmans, Ariele and Avrami's "adopted" family.

It was a puzzles and games morning for Daniyel.  He likes to check out all the books before choosing one to read.  How delicious he is!

Sick day

Maya has been under the weather the last few days, so we have been spending some time at home.  We all have cabin fever -- it feels like staying inside on a rainy day, except that it NEVER rains here in the summer!  So we have kept busy playing computer games, reading, and taking care of each other.  I think we'll be feeling better soon!

And some of us are just having fun on the porch in the hot summer weather.  Lemonade, anyone?

 

Barbequing Israeli style

Ariele and Avram hosted a barbecue to which they invited a number of moshav families to welcome us.  All of us--parents and children--gathered in the Rosen's yard to eat, drink, play and talk on a breezy, cool evening.  The welcoming community consisted of moshav natives, Americans, a Canadian, an Australian, a Yeminite, and a child of a Hasidic family--a remarkable gathering from our perspective, yet quite normal for little Maya and Daniyel.  Daniyel wanted to commemorate the occasion by taking his own pictures.  

Wagon rides and marshmallow roasting rounded out the lovely evening. We hope there will be more barbeques (and more campfires) during our stay!