Jet Lag

Jen and I have attempted to overcome jet lag but we're not quite there - we tend to fall asleep at 8 p.m. and wake up at 4 a.m. At least we're not up all night. But, we're going to try to shift our schedule to staying up a tad later each day and waking up later as well. Other than that, we're just visiting family, getting new SIM cards for our cell phones, doing laundry, sorting through boxes of possessions we left in the U.S., and visiting Target and Borders.

Home

Well, we're back and starting to get adjusted to the ten hour difference in time zones. We went to Target yesterday (overwhelming), went to the mall to buy new shoes, and stocked up on kosher food at Trader Joe's.

Since we're no longer in Israel, you can see that we changed the subtitle and future theme of the blog. I've also started a new blog called Kippah Stories to share some of my most interesting interactions with people due to the kippah on my head. Check it out, there's already a story from day one - at Trader Joe's no less!

Packed and Ready

We took our seven boxes filled with books and household items to Steve's apartment last Thursday. It took four trips.

Our luggage is all pre-packed. We need only to stuff in a few last minute pieces of clothes and things and double-check the weight of all four bags.

We are pretty much packed to go to the airport early Tuesday morning, just under 48 hours from now.

The vast majority of our possessions are traveling via boat. A fellow student arranged for a cargo company to ship boxes of students' possessions to Los Angeles. The price was very good and we pay per box so the boxes can be loaded with as much weight as one wants to carry. The boxes should arrive at the university in mid-August to September.

I went book shopping to buy my books for rabbinical school, using a book list suggested by the assistant dean. On my first trip to the bookstore with my list, I went with Eve and Aviva, who helped me figure out what the books on the list were. It was really overwhelming and I felt like Harry Potter on his first shopping excursion for Hogwarts on Diagon Alley. I made an appointment to sit down with a bookseller to obtain everything I needed.

The appointment was last Thursday and Steve graciously agreed to go along with me for moral and technical support. After an hour of difficult decisions on which version of which book to buy entirely in Hebrew, I paid and arranged for shipping of the books to Los Angeles, to meet me after I arrive. Rabbinical school is going to be very interesting. My friends promise that I will, at some point, know how to use and perhaps even read the books I bought. I sure hope so!

I Think My Shoes Are Done

I have constantly worn one pair of tennis shoes for the eleven months we've been here. Thus, these shoes have been worn down. However, their soles are in fine shape. It's the toes and sides of the shoes that have frayed to nothingness. Jen has been begging me to replace these shoes for months and Eve calls these shoes my "flip flops."

I have been holding out because, besides the large hole in the right toe, these shoes are just fine and they will last until we leave. Now, I am saddened to report, today is likely to be the last day I wear these shoes because they will not be worn on the plane, they will not be in my carry-on luggage, they will not be in checked baggage, and they were not packed among the boxes destined for the slow boat to L.A.

Goodbye shoes!

(Please note that I never wear shoes like this without socks, the sock-less foot is simply an overly dramatic representation of the hole.)

IDF Shoulder Badges

One often sees armed uniformed soldiers nearly everywhere in Israel and that knowledge has become comforting. When we were flying home last December, we saw a large group of soldiers at the Atlanta airport and seeing that they were unarmed, we thought, "How do they protect themselves?" They just seemed so vulnerable.

Anyway, all IDF soldiers in Israel have colorful shoulder insignia on their uniforms that identify their unit affiliation. I have been very impressed by the variety of icons and images I've seen on soldier's shoulders and have always wondered what the various badges meant. They seem like really complex Boy Scout badges and they're just so cool looking.

Jen and I went to Tel Aviv last week to finish some last-minute touring and we stopped by an IDF museum that had all of the shoulder insignia displayed but, unfortunately, did not label them. So after our return to Jerusalem, I just searched the web and found a site that identifies dozens of shoulder insignia because they sell them.

For example...

This is the insignia for those assigned to the "Desert Reconnaissance" unit.

This represents the "Medical Corps School."

And this is the very elite "Petrol Supply Center!" Wow!

Driving in Israel

I had been worried about driving in Israel ever since I got here. If you hadn't heard already, there seems to be some national love of honking, which makes me jump at every honk. So driving and thus naturally getting honked at seemed a daunting adventure.

However, how else could we have gotten to northern Israel? Believe me, I looked into all sorts of alternatives, including trying to take some formal, organized trips but there just weren't any to be had. So Matt and I walked over to the Eldon rental car office (there is also Avis, Budget, and more but Matt wanted to go with the Israeli one) at about 8 am one morning and made our reservation. The reservation was made quickly and easily and the only slight hang-up was that Matt had to show him his passport (which luckily he had on him) and that we had to pay up-front because our visa didn't go for all that much longer.

Two days later, we walked back to the rental car office at 8 a.m. (you don't have to be there at that time, it's just when they open and Matt is a stickler for being early) and stood in line to get our car. This took a few minutes since there are lots of people turning in and picking up cars right upon opening, but all went smoothly. We were handed the keys to a small, white, 4-door, automatic car.



We were nervous Nellies as soon as we sat down in the car. Matt was nervous because he was going to be the primary driver and except for our short trip to the States for Hanukkah, he hadn't driven a car in a year. I was nervous because on that last trip to the States I got quite car sick on even short car trips to the grocery store because I was so used to walking and so un-used to riding in a car.

However, armed with a Jerusalem map, Matt slowly eased the car out of the parking lot and we managed to get to our apartment building without getting honked at! We then loaded up the car with our suitcases and we were off on our adventure!

Once we were out of Jerusalem, the driving was easy. The road signs were clear and traffic was easy to manage. We did get a lot of practice using round-abouts though, because they are found all over Israel. In general, our fears about driving in Israel were completely unfounded except for that one incident back in Jerusalem when we were trying to return the car...but I digress :)

The only real surprise with driving the car was the price of gas. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly what it was per gallon, but we had a tiny car and filling it up just half way (Matt never lets any car get below half full of gas) it was routinely between 120 to 180 shekels (about $30 to $40). This might, in part, be because nearly everywhere here gas stations offer full-service. (But on the other hand, where on earth does Israel get gas from?)

Despite the high gas expense, I loved having the car for many reasons. The obvious reason was ease of movement and no limit on how much I could pack...lol. However, another maybe not-quite-so-obvious reason was that we were able to get a much earlier start than other travelers. I'm not saying we got out at the crack of dawn, but every day we did see people who were traveling in large groups standing around and waiting, and waiting, and waiting for their companions to join them. We regularly were leaving our first stop when they were just pulling up. Thus, overall, we were able to see a lot more than they were just because we were on our own schedule.

Another reason I loved having the car was for something I hadn't thought about prior to our trip. We were able to stop and see some amazing things that I would have otherwise definitely missed.

Most notably, Matt and I stopped at Cesarea and did a quick tour of the ruins. Then we got back in the car and drove over to the Roman aqueduct which was truly an awesome sight. After witnessing droves of tourists getting off buses, taking a couple pictures, and then getting right back on their bus, we decided to take a stroll along the beach that is attached to this location. This turned out to be no ordinary stroll! We were totally amazed by what we found. At first we just found gobs and gobs of sea shells. They were so thick on the sand that you were forced to walk on them just to keep walking on the beach so you heard the dreaded sound of "crunch" from every step.



But even more interestingly, we found history on the beach. There were old, broken pottery pieces everywhere and many small slabs of marble that used to be parts of floors. These were just strewn about and were just fascinating to look at.



Other benefits to having a car were making those quick stops that are quick for two people but would take forever with a large group. Such stops included an overlook that had views of an abandoned Syrian city, a quick jaunt to see the Jordan River and caught a glimpse of the most amazing peacock (I think his tail was at least six feet long!),



our fare share of tanks and humvees,



and funny road signs (we can't stop saying that we're "scare-ified!"...lol).



Definitely overall we were really glad to have rented a car and would definitely do it again for another trip.

Top 5 Favorites of Our Trip North

Not to rehash over and over again, but just in case you hadn't heard I'll repeat it anyway -- Matt and I spent five days last week getting out of Jerusalem and touring northern Israel. We saw so very many places that although we hope to eventually write about each and every one, we thought it best to start with our top five places.

This list might surprise you a bit. For although we did see most, if not all, the main places listed on any one to two week trip to Israel, some of the more popular places didn't end up on our list of the best places we visited. Okay, enough chatting...on to the list!

#1 -- Beit She'arim
Beit She'arim was my absolute favorite place that we visited. Some of this might be because we arrived early in the morning, the park was near empty, the grass was green, the trees were beautiful, you could hear the birds chirping happy songs, and the weather was just perfect. Then we took our handy park brochure and began walking along the designated path. "Oh my!" I often said. "I had no idea!"

Beit She'arim is most well known for being the burial place of Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi (he organized the writing down and editing of the oral law into what is now known as the Mishna around 200 CE). Before his death, Rabbi Hanassi specifically requested that he be buried at Beit She'arim.



Since many people wanted to be buried near this famous rabbi, Beit She'arim became a major Jewish cemetery during the third and fourth centuries CE.

But this is not an ordinary Jewish cemetery. In Beit She'arim, the burial locations are in caves. Some of the earlier tombs are grouped in threes. Stairs lead down to a common courtyard and then three caves have been dug into the rock.



Most of the caves have a decorated facade and a rock door that has been chiseled to resemble a wooden door, with handles and all.



Later, when there was no longer space for individual caves for individual people, extra niches were carved inside the already existing caves and other families were interred there.

One of the caves was extremely large with multiple rooms off both the left and right of the main corridor. This cave, termed by the excavators as the "Cave of the Coffins," was filled with sarcophagi. The 135 sarcophagi that were found inside this cave were either carved out of stone or made of metal although they did find that some had existed that had been made out of wood.

The sarcophagi that were carved out of stone often were ornately decorated, with designs of flowers, animals, or other scenes.


I could go on and on about the incredible things we saw here, but if I did that then you'd never hear about my other four favorite places. However, I obviously highly recommend stopping at Beit She'arim if you get a chance :)

#2 -- Tsipori (or Zippori)
I have to preface this by telling you that I am a mosaic freak -- meaning, that my favorite art form is mosaics. I love micro mosaics (small pieces) as well as mosaics that use full tiles. Thus, it should be no surprise to you then when I tell you that Tsipori easily fits on my top five list because it was chock full of mosaics.

Tsipori was an ancient city that was founded at least by 103 BCE but most likely several centuries earlier. Unlike many Jewish cities around this period, it was not destroyed by the Romans during the Jewish Revolt in 66 CE because the people of Tsipori made a peace treaty with the Roman army.

The city has many Roman elements including a colonnaded cardo, an aqueduct, a theater, and bathhouses. Among these places were many, many mosaics. There were mosaics along the streets made of simple geometric designs and then in many buildings you could find more detailed geometric designs such as this one.



However, in some buildings, the mosaics consist of intricate scenes. My pictures don't do these justice but here is one example.



In the "mansion" you find what is often called "the Mona Lisa of Tsipori" which is just one section of a huge, floor-length mosaic.



In this huge mosaic, the tiles are much smaller and the details more pronounced. This work was done by a true artist. Here is just one more example, and again, my pictures just don't do the work justice.



I super highly recommend a stop here. If you are, like me, a lover of mosaics this will be one your favorite spots. However, if you are not, the ancient remains located in this city are still wonderful and in my opinion, rival Beit She'an and Cesarea.

#3 -- Beit Alfa
This is a very quick stop but also a very worthwhile one. First, don't get lost like we did by entering into the Beit Alfa kibbutz, the Beit Alfa you want is actually in the kibbutz next door called Hetzi-Ba.

Beit Alfa is the ruins of an ancient synagogue that dates as early as the sixth century BCE. What is amazing about this synagogue is that its main floor was a huge mosaic. Curious, however, is that the center of three panels depicts a zodiac wheel -- not a symbol one would normally equate with Judaism.



As you stand and ponder this strange development, a screen comes down from the ceiling and a movie airs that explains why such a design might have been considered as part of a synagogue mosaic. The answer -- because it was a cool thing to do at the time.

The designs in both the center panel that holds the zodiac wheel and the other two bands that host more common Judaic symbols such as menorahs, lions, etrogs (in the top panel) and the scene of the binding of Isaac (in the bottom panel).


The mosaic itself is fascinating and the movie is a must to see if you visit here. What's also interesting about the mosaic, and the movie addresses this, is that the figures of people are what the film calls "naive," meaning simplistic and without depth or perception (more like a children's drawing). This is an interesting contrast to the "Mona Lisa of Tsipori" who has such fine details. Again, I apologize for my poor pictures.

#4 -- Ayalon Institute
Matt and I actually first heard about the Ayalon Institute about four years ago and ever since then it was a place we really wanted to visit. It does perhaps seem odd that we have been in Israel for nearly a full year and we had yet to see this place. My only excuse is that since it is not located in a big city, Matt and I hadn't been able to figure out a convenient way to get there until now. Thank goodness for rental cars!

The Ayalon Institute was a secret ammunition factory that was camouflaged from the British by putting it underground, in the middle of a kibbutz. The factory was rectangular in shape (about 300 square yards) and built into the ground. The main entrance/exit into the factory was hidden under a commercial-sized washing machine which moved to reveal the opening and stairs downward. The washing machine was so loud in and of itself that it hid much of the noise coming from the machines that made bullets downstairs.


The other side of the factory had an exit that was hid under a bakery, but since it took 45 minutes for the oven to be opened and 45 minutes for the oven to be replaced, this opening was only used to move the huge machines that were in the factory.

The story is really amazing. The factory was in production from 1946 until the beginning of 1949 and was never discovered. The tour guide was awesome and she told us many fascinating stories about how they kept the secret and about several near discoveries. Even though Matt and I had heard the story before we got there, the Ayalon Institute was definitely worth visiting.

#5 -- Beit She'an
I had been hearing about Beit She'an for weeks before we were able to go see it. We've had a number of friends make trips to northern Israel lately and everyone had come back very impressed with Beit She'an, many said they liked it much more than Cesarea. So it was so very nice to finally get to see it.

Beit She'an includes already excavated ruins of an ancient city as well as a tel, a tall hill that is the as-yet unexcavated remains of ancient cities that had been built one on top of another until the most recent city or city's remains are even hundreds of feet about the surrounding plain.

The ruins at Beit She'an go back as far as 5,000 BCE. It was a large city that had been conquered and lived in by many of the big civilizations over the last 7,000 years. It is also the location where Saul and his sons' bodies were displayed on the city walls.

The excavated portions of the site are an amazing look back into the past. There is a colonnaded road,


huge bathhouse,


and amazing remains of an amphitheater.


There are also a few rooms that still contain intricate mosaics but they are not as easily viewed as the ones at Beit She'arim.

Lag B'Omer

The thirty-third day after Passover is known as Lag B'Omer. The period from Passover until the holiday fifty days afterwards, Shavuot, is called the Omer and is a semi-mourning period in the Jewish calendar. Traditionally during this time weddings and parties are not held and hair is not cut (as a symbol of mourning).

However, the 33rd day (the Hebrew letter Lamed represents 30 and the letter Gimel represents 3 so L'G or Lag is 33) of the Omer is a day of celebration (attributed to various positive historical events on the day) and weddings and haircuts are encouraged.


Part of the festivities of Lag B'Omer include bonfires. While we were traveling last week, we saw several groups of children with shopping carts full of wood scraps. We wondered why o many kids were carting around wood and then it dawned on us that Lag B'Omer was coming and thus so were the bonfires.

Last night was the start of the day-long holiday and so shortly after sunset, the park began to fill with campfires (there really weren't any fires large enough that we saw that I would confidently call a bonfire) and the air filled with smoke. We walked around the streets of our neighborhood and into the park to see children and families lighting all sorts of wood on fire. Then, we found a big pile of pallets that were apparently strategically provided by someone to encourage fires. From that pile, many kids were filling up shopping cards to build their fires or to add more fuel.


Happy Lag B'Omer!

Matt & Jen Tours Inc.

Jen and I just returned from a five-day trip to the northern part of Israel, a land we had not yet seen. It was an exhilarating trip and while photos and extended stories will be posted soon here on the blog, I wanted to take this opportunity to provide an overview of our trip in the style of literature known as "tour planner."

Day One - Sunday

• Depart from the comfort of your Jerusalem apartment and walk downtown to pickup your rental car; experience what Israelis attempt to call "waiting in line!"
• Navigate back to your apartment to pickup luggage and then depart from Jerusalem toward the north.
• Experience the amazing theme park "Mini Israel," a miniature reconstruction of historic buildings throughout the Holy Land. Arrive a half hour before opening - time at your leisure!
• Explore Tel Meggigo, the ancient town also called Armageddon - according to Christian theology to be the location of the climatic battle between good and evil at the end of days! Walk through the first of many water system caverns on this trip.
• After searching on several wrong roads due to confusing signs, arrive at Bet Alpha National Park and explore the ruins of a synagogue from the sixth century. See the intricate mosaic floor.
• Travel to the incredible Bet She'an National Park, the ancient Egyptian, Jewish, and Roman capital city of the region. Explore the Roman city and enjoy sitting amongst the vomitoriums (hallways, not rooms for vomit!) in the 7,000 seat outdoor theater!
• Drive miles and miles up a one-lane mountain highway to arrive at a Crusader-era fortress at the top of a hill 50 minutes before closing, only to be told that entry is not permitted after 4 p.m.! Drive back down the hill.
• Arrive in the underdeveloped tourist city of Tiberias and visit the tomb of Rabbi Meir. Enjoy a private dining experience in one of Tiberias' finest kosher restaurants. Overnight in Tiberias at the formerly luxurious Hotel Astoria, located nowhere near the minimal attractions of Tiberias.
  

Day Two - Monday

• Depart your hotel for the drive to the mystical city of Tsefat (Safed). Experience the street system, likely developed by Kabbalists themselves to confuse demons or to keep the evil eye out of the Jewish Quarter.
• Explore the maze-like streets of the Jewish Quarter in old Tsefat and look inside several old synagogues tied to famous Jewish scholars.
• Visit the Safed Candle Factory and gaze adoringly at the overpriced pieces of wax.
• Continue north. No, even more north. Nope - still not far north enough. Continue north to Kiryat Shmona, the city that 9 out of 10 Katyusha rockets prefer over any other city in Israel! It's the city you heard about in the news every day last summer - it's a famous place!
• Visit the memorial and cemetery at Tel Hai in honor of the Jewish fighters who died in a 1920 battle against local Arabs.
• Even farther north than Kiryat Shmona is Metula, the northernmost town in Israel. Delightfully charming, this town of 1400 sits almost on top of the Lebanese border! Enjoy the peace and serenity of this adorable town (rated the "Second Cutest Town" by Jen) as the only visitors during your stay.
• Heading south and away from the threat of Lebanese incursion, head toward the Hermon Stream Nature Reserve, a.k.a. Banias or Panias. This beautiful setting of nature trails and waterfalls will delight the whole family!
• More history awaits! Located amid magical mountain scenery on the slopes of Mt. Hermon is the Nimrod Fortress, one of the largest and most impressive fortresses from the Middle Ages in the Middle East!
• Drive south along the border highway through the Golan Heights and stop at the overlook to view the large and impressive Syrian ghost town of Kuneitra or Qunaitra, abandoned by Syria after the Six Day War.
• Stop in Katsrin and visit the archaeological museum there to learn about the history of Gamla, the Jewish town under siege by the Romans.
• Travel to the sacred Jordan River and while on its banks, explore the ancient community of Tel Beit Tsaida.
• Walk along the promenade in Tiberias along the Kinneret, a.k.a. the Sea of Galilee. Participate in a private screening of the "Galilee Experience," a 37 minute multi-media presentation on the thousands of years of history of this historical region. Before buying your ticket, be warned by a friendly salesperson that the movie contains seven minutes about the life of Jesus.
• Overnight in Tiberias.

Day Three - Tuesday

• Travel cross-country to the beautiful Mediterranean Sea coast.
• Visit historic and ancient Acco (Acre), including the Citadel, Underground Prisoners Museum, the Turkish Bath, the Sea Wall, and even the Al Jazzar Mosque!
• Continue south to Haifa and see the key sights there - the Bahai Gardens, Elijah the Prophet's cave, the Maritime Museum.
• Evening at leisure! Perhaps visit the Grand Canyon (a play on words because the word "canyon" in Hebrew means "mall,") said to be the largest mall in the Middle East! See a movie and relax after three days of driving and traveling like crazies.
• Overnight at the once plush Hotel Marom in Haifa.

Day Four - Wednesday

• Drive through the beautiful natural and human-planted forests of Carmel National Park. Stop at the Carmelite Monestary for 23 seconds for the view of the location where Elija the prophet battled the priests of Baal!
• Continue traveling through the park and experience the phenomenon of encountering a large Arab city in the middle of a densely forested national park.
• Spend the morning at the amazing Beit She'arim, an ancient Jewish community that contains dozens of burial caves to explore, including the burial site of the famous redactor of the Mishna, Rabbi Judah haNasi!
• After Beit She'arim, visit the outstanding ancient town of Tsipori. There, you'll explore brilliant mosaics, a Roman theater, a Crusader fortress, and an ancient synagogue.
• Then, drive through the charming modern Jewish villages of Beit Lechem haGililit and Alonei Aba, both located on former Templar sites from the early 20th century.
• On the way back to Haifa, visit the non-grand canyon, a small indoor shopping center.
• Then, afternoon at leisure and be forewarned - if one should happen to take a nap, the maid might just walk right in! Overnight in Haifa.

Day Five - Thursday

• Say l'heitraot (goodbye) to Haifa and drive south to visit what is said to be Israel's most beautiful beach. Discover that it's a little bit more difficult to get to than originally thought and arrive at a secret military installation not found on the map! After being directed to the beach, discover that the beach is not yet open for the day.
• Continue south to Zikhron Ya'akov, rated #1 most adorable town in all of Israel by Jen.
• While there, visit the Aaronsohn House–Nili Museum to learn about the anti-Ottoman spy ring established in the town during World War I.
• Then, visit the First Aliyah Museum, which charts the history of the first wave of Jewish immigration to Israel from the 1800s to early 1900s.
• Continue south along the Mediterranean Coast to Caesarea, the place the tour books say is said to, "feel rather like a tour-bus unloading zone." Enjoy the splendor of an ancient site developed for tourists. Despite the underwhelmingness of Caesarea, do stop by the Roman aqueduct, which is truly impressive.
• Neaing the end of our tour, be sure to be on time for the 3 p.m. English tour at the Alaylon Institute, an amazing historical site that is not to be missed! The institute was the home of a secret bullet manufacturing plant in the years before Israeli independence.
• Heading home to Jerusalem, stop at Beit Hertzel, which wasn't really Hertzel's house anyway and the Burma Road, located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
• Overnight in Jerusalem at home.

Day Six - Friday

• After a week of driving in Israel and never going the wrong way down a one-way street, screw up and do so in the city you've lived in for nearly a year. Have the wonderful experience of an Israeli police officer coming up to your car and yelling at you in Hebrew. Be sure to play the role of ignorant foreigner and just receiving a gentle admonishment. Return rental car. Walk home. Whew!