By Sami & Sydney Rosen
Its Friday the 13th so naturally we found ourselves with the earliest wake up time of all the birthright trips staying at the Eden Hotel. With a 6:45 wakeup call this morning, we left the beautiful city of Tiberius and the Kinneret for our journey to Jerusalem. Our first stop was at Kibbutz Sde-Eliyahu, which is a kibbutz surrounded by the Gilboa Mountains to the West and the Jordan border to the East. It is a unique kibbutz in that it is a religious kibbutz as well as an organic agricultural one. We were able to not only see the farms but taste the fresh organic produce they grow. As we walked and ate the vegetables we learned the hebrew translation for each. Eric Mcgregor said that the celery was so good it didnt even need any ranch dressing! Another unique aspect to this kibbutz is that they breed both bumble bees and honey bees. The bees are used to kill the bugs that attack the fruits and vegetables. This is one of their trademark techniques, outsourcing their bees to over 30 countries.
After our Bio experience at the kibbutz, we made our way towards the holy city of Jerusalem where we will be spending our Shabbat. We stopped at Mt Scopus to take our tourist pictures for all you parents overlooking Jerusalem. Then we headed to the market, Shuk Machane Yehuda where we grabbed a quick bite to eat, mostly falafel and shawarma. One of our Shabbat activities today was "secret moses." We were all scrambling to find a small gift or "matana" for our secret buddy, a challenge for us tourists finding ourselves in the middle of the busy market filled with people trying to buy their last minute items for Shabbat.
As we are writing this, everyone is getting ready to head over to the kotel, where we will be eating dinner and welcoming the Shabbat. I know everyone is very excited about this part of the trip, that now the pictures that we have grown up seeing are going to become a part of our reality. Tonight is an opportunity for us to experience a meaningful Shabbat, free of technology (yes mom and dad, no cell phones or facebook at dinner). Shabbat Shalom!
Its Friday the 13th so naturally we found ourselves with the earliest wake up time of all the birthright trips staying at the Eden Hotel. With a 6:45 wakeup call this morning, we left the beautiful city of Tiberius and the Kinneret for our journey to Jerusalem. Our first stop was at Kibbutz Sde-Eliyahu, which is a kibbutz surrounded by the Gilboa Mountains to the West and the Jordan border to the East. It is a unique kibbutz in that it is a religious kibbutz as well as an organic agricultural one. We were able to not only see the farms but taste the fresh organic produce they grow. As we walked and ate the vegetables we learned the hebrew translation for each. Eric Mcgregor said that the celery was so good it didnt even need any ranch dressing! Another unique aspect to this kibbutz is that they breed both bumble bees and honey bees. The bees are used to kill the bugs that attack the fruits and vegetables. This is one of their trademark techniques, outsourcing their bees to over 30 countries.
After our Bio experience at the kibbutz, we made our way towards the holy city of Jerusalem where we will be spending our Shabbat. We stopped at Mt Scopus to take our tourist pictures for all you parents overlooking Jerusalem. Then we headed to the market, Shuk Machane Yehuda where we grabbed a quick bite to eat, mostly falafel and shawarma. One of our Shabbat activities today was "secret moses." We were all scrambling to find a small gift or "matana" for our secret buddy, a challenge for us tourists finding ourselves in the middle of the busy market filled with people trying to buy their last minute items for Shabbat.
As we are writing this, everyone is getting ready to head over to the kotel, where we will be eating dinner and welcoming the Shabbat. I know everyone is very excited about this part of the trip, that now the pictures that we have grown up seeing are going to become a part of our reality. Tonight is an opportunity for us to experience a meaningful Shabbat, free of technology (yes mom and dad, no cell phones or facebook at dinner). Shabbat Shalom!
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