Go North

Today was an incredible day!!!  I went on the Artzeinu Tzafat tour.  Basically,  we went to northern Israel.  We started out and almost immediately crossed the Green Line.  The West Bank is divided into three sections. Section A is Arab,  Section C is Israeli,  and Section B is both.  We drove by Jericho,  and passed many villages.  The tour guide was calling them Palestinians until I complained.  He agreed with me that by calling them that it is giving them legitimacy. We compromised on the name West Bank Arab. These are not horrible, overcrowded refugee camps. We are talking villages where every house has a satellite dish!!!!! We are talking about villages with lots of road side stands with signs in Hebrew to get Israeli business. We are talking agriculture here. And tons of land that isn't developed! The next time you hear the liberal media crying about their plight, just remember that their leaders are the ones holding them back, not the Israelis! Political talk over.

The land we were driving through was desert. I hate the desert in Arizona, which is one of the reasons I won't go back. But this desert was so interesting. There are bushes and hills and at one point I thought I saw a mountain lion. Around that tree though I saw a coyote eating from a carcass. So as we are driving up north, to the right of the bus saw the Jordan river. Across the plains I was able to see Jordan. There is a border fence which consists of two metal fence. The one on the Israeli side has sensors to tell if someone tried to cross it. We reached the check point to go back into Israel proper. How sad. The four chayalim were wearing heavy bullet and slash proof vests. (How do I know, you ask? Because I looked into buying a conceal slash proof vest!) I did breathe a sigh of relief to be surrounded by Yidden again! Onward and upward we go... The scenery began to change with more trees around.  The landscape became very beautiful, with lush green pastures.  Before you knew it, we were close to Tiveria, our first stop. I did get the opportunity to make a rare bracha. If you haven't seen the Kinneret in 30 days, you say the bracha osay ma-asay beraishis. It's a blessing said on something that has been around since G-d created the world. Now how cool is that?  (I thought I was supposed to say shechianu, but that is what the tour guide said.)

I just liked this jeep from the rest stop.  Look at the graffiti ....

Our first stop was at the kever of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNais. I was so happy to be there, since I have his pushka in my house.

From there we headed to the graves of Rabbi Akiva and the Ramchal. On the way there we passed the grave of the Rambam, but we didn't have time to stop. The graves are also on a hill top over looking Tiveria and the Kinneret. The day was so clear that we were able to see the snow-capped mountain top of Mount Harmon.

Our next destination was Amuka. Amuka is famous for being a great place to daven for a shidduch. There are tons of stories of people finding their zivug there. Now if you have ever read any stories about Israel and narrow roads and mountain sides, you'll understand what I am going to say. The whole area we were going to is high up. Each stop brought us higher and higher. Now we were on a mountain road that was so narrow, and a forest on each side. I, of course, was sitting on the scary side, overlooking the drops. Some of the turns have blind spots, and the driver had to honk the horn to warn any coming traffic that we were. I was too nervous to enjoy the views, but not so so nervous that I did manage to snap a picture. One of the absolute coolest thing was this road that is actually an optical illusion. We went down a hill a little ways, and the driver put the bus in neutral. WE ROLLED UPHILL!!!!  I wish I had thought to ask if I could take a quick video of it. Oh well, next time, iy'h.
Amuka was so cold. The grave is up a hill, with lots of walk ways all around. You go into a stone structure that is FREEZING. In the center is something like a bimah with paroches draped on top.
I had a very long list of singles, and I read each one individually, a shidduch fit for this one, a shidduch for that one. I had the rest of my names, and the actual tehillim to say. I hope and pray Hashem will grant them all to find their mates very, very quickly.

Sitting in the chair is supposed to be something special, but I was too busy taking a picture when it empty to actually sit in it!

One more quick stop at another kever (Rabbi Yehuda Ben Ilai).

Finally, we were going to Tzafat. We were running late, but at last!  We toured around a few shuls. These shuls are Sefardi. They are just beautiful. Bright, vibrant colored pictures adorn the walls. Huge chandeliers and more than one Aron Kodesh.

One shul had a safer Torah that is so old, it's only read three times a year. The Arizal Shul has a hole in the bimah where a piece of rocket flew in. The congregation was bowing at that moment, and not a single person got hurt. Amazing!

We wandered around the shops. I exercised a lot of self control, and did not buy tons of things that I would have loved to have bought. I did treat myself to a little hand painted picture of Tzafat. I forgot to say that the alley way where the shops are is a whole experience in and of itself. The stone walk way goes through an alley with a blue plastic roof above.

Loads of little teeny shops just full of the most beautiful artwork, jewelry and more. Each shop is manned by the artist themselves. And I'm telling you, these are incredibly talented people. The last store I went into, I ended up suffering from My-Lipus-Flaappus. Yes, if my husband had been with me, he would have pulled me out of that store a good fifteen minutes before I left, and with all my money in my wallet. The store had some gold necklaces. Yeah, I looked. The guy tried to convince me they were a good price, until I told him I know what I am talking about. We spoke about gold rates and how much he pays and how much I get when I sell. Blah, blah, blah...  I realized I can't leave his store without buying something because I chewed off his ear. He offered me a picture that I don't even like for 50 shekels, and I said yes. I felt too guilty to leave without buying anything. In hindsight, the store where I got the hand painted picture had a stunning one of the Lubavitcher Rebbe with a smile. I wanted it so bad, but I was trying so hard to be good. Oh well, gam zu l'tova - That picture obviously wasn't meant to come home with me.

Gorgeous sunset -

At this point, it was dark. We headed off to Meron with the grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. I felt like I knew where things were, because I've seen so many you tube videos of Lag B'Omer. As I was leaving the grave, three young girls, probably around Shoshana's age, started talking to me. They wanted to tie an orange ribbon on me for Gush Katif. I told them I am going to the Gush Katif museum next week. They were so happy.

I'm now on the bus trying to record all the memories, since there were so so so many of them.

To sum up my day, I saw desert. I saw Jordan and I think I saw Syria. I saw the Jordan river, the Yardain river, and the Kinneret. I saw many graves of Torah giants. Actually, today I saw the Torah come to life, which is what I really wanted to do.  I can't be more pleased with this tour. And no, Artzeinu is not paying me to say this.

Tomorrow is another full day. Actually, this is a super full week. See you tomorrow!