TEMPLE SINAI VISITS ISRAEL (DAY 2)

Shalom From Israel!  Here we are having just completed Day 2 of our Journey!  Arrived yesterday morning after a long 10 hour flight from Newark.  For some of us this was the first time we witnessed afternoon, evening and morning prayer at such a high altitude.  We arrived semi-rested, but the adrenalin kicked in and we enjoyed a full day of touring.  (Click photos to see a larger version.)

After a 15 minute drive from the airport, we started in the old city of Jaffa which was an early port of arrival for new immigrants.  It was a beautiful day there on the shores of the blue Mediterranean Sea with the city of Tel Aviv as a backdrop.  We then drove through the southern part of Tel Aviv to Independence Hall where we watched a film and listened to a talk from a museum guide on the events of May 14, 1948, the day Israel declared its Independence.  It took place on a Friday afternoon at 4 PM taking 32 minutes in order to be done before Shabbat.  We all came out very moved after listening to David Ben Gurion declare the Independence and the gathered crowd sing Hatikvah.  Because this year is the 60th anniversary of Israeli Independence it was very unique to be able to listen to the actual recording to the events of that day.

From there we were off to the Carmel Market for lunch and shopping in the shook (an outdoor market) for knick knacks, fruits, vegetables, and of course delicious pastries.  Our last stop for the day was at Rabin Square, where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995.  We had a nice welcome dinner waiting for us at the Hotel after check-in.  Everyone turned in somewhat early for as our tour guide stated, “our first opportunity to lay flat”.

Before checking out of the hotel on morning of Day 2 we filled up on a huge and wonderful Israeli buffet breakfast.  We then headed North out of Tel Aviv to our first stop at Caesarea, where we saw the Roman ruins.  There was an amphitheater, a hippodrome and bath houses as well as a view of the old port of Caesarea that the Romans constructed.  From there it was a short 15 minute drive to the town of Zichron Ya’akov, one of the first communities established by the early Zionist pioneers, where we had lunch in an outdoor café.  This town was founded by James Rothschild to remember and honor his father Baron De Rothschild and today still has a working winery.  It is very lively place on weekends.

We continued North to Haifa to see the Bahai Gardens and Israel’s main port at Haifa.  The views from atop Mt. Carmel were spectacular.  From there we headed East to Tzippori National Park to see the excavations of a town inhabited simultaneously by Jews and Romans.  The mosaic floors that were uncovered here are beautiful.  This was the site of Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi’s codification of the Mishna.

From Tzippori we continued East and then North to Kibbutz Hagoshrim where we will spend tonight and tomorrow night.  Along the way we had beautiful views of the Sea of Galilee, and sunset on snow capped Mt. Hermon.  This kibbutz is about 5 km from the Lebanese border and is in the very Northeastern part of Israel.  If you drew a line due West you would be deep into Lebanon.  Just East of this kibbutz are the Golan Heights and Syria.  Tomorrow we will get much better views of the Sea of Galilee and Mt. Hermon as we explore Northern Israel.  We will start with a walk through the Tel Dan Nature Reserve located near the Jordan River.  We will follow that with a Jeep Tour of the Golan Heights and then spend most of the afternoon in Safed (pronounced Tzvat) which was a center of Jewish mysticism (Kaballah), for hundreds of years, and is now also a contemporary artist colony.  We will visit some old synagogues and meet with an artist.  Back at the kibbutz tomorrow evening we will have a dialogue with kibbutz members on the ever-changing nature of kibbutz life today.

We have seen and learned so much in 2 days and the excitement of being here is tremendous.  Regards to all from the Temple Sinai Israel traveler,

Marvin and Linda Katz	Marc Boin
Karen and Tommy Westall	Iris and Roger Rochman
Mae Pikarsky (Iris’ mom)	Susan Markowitz
Karen Greenspan
And our fearless leader Rabbi Todd

Some additional photos.