By: Zach Marks
More breakfast pasta!
We checked out of the hotel on the Sea of Galilea today. As a side note, this hotel's lobby was on the top floor and all the levels with rooms were below it. This led to much sentence confusion when people would say they're going up to the room and realize they meant going down and then get flustered and realize it didn't matter.
The the #LoadSquad used its best engineering skills to pack up everyone's luggage back into the bus. It took much finagling but in the end we prevailed and fit all the suitcases in once more. We then boarded the bus to visit our 3rd of the 4 holy cities, (having already visited Tiberias and Tzfat) Jerusalem.
Most of our morning hours were spent on the bus traveling towards Jerusalem. As our guide Daniel pointed out we saw the scenery start to transition from green to more brown as we got closer to Jerusalem. To those not accustomed to Israeli geography we went from the northeast corner down south towards the West Bank of the Jordan where Jerusalem lies, about halfway down the country.
We see our first Bedouin encampment, which look like the way shanty towns are described. They used to be nomadic sheep and goat herders. Now they still had their flock however their settlements are slightly more permanent. The UN (United nothings as the Israeli cowboy from Cleveland called it when we visited the kibbutz) makes and sends materials and constructs their structures for them in some places. We see many flocks, and Daniel points out all those lines we see going up the sandy mountains are made by the flock going up the mountain single file as they're being herded.
After an hour and a half of driving, we arrive at pit stop about 45 minutes from Jerusalem. Where I see my first ever real life camel. It was sitting so still and in the typical camel position I thought it was a statue. Someone was like that camel smells, I was about to make fun of them and then the camel got up and I ate the words that had yet to come out of my mouth.
We were told to get some snackage because it might be a bit before we got lunch. I decided to forego the usual sodium filled roughage for some dried mango. I completed my first successful haggle when the vendor told me 25 scheckels and I skillfully outmaneuvered him by doing the classic businessman's lie and telling him I had less money than I did. We eventually met in the middle and I parted with 20 schecks and received a container of candied mango. Needing some savory with my sweet I purchased a falafel and didn't haggle because I was exhausted from my last endeavor. (Also scheckels are about 4:1 to a dollar, like quarters)
I can't be too sure what falafel is because it's chik peas but it's hot, unlike hummus, and its crispy. It's like a fried potato ball, but it's chik peas (or so I'm told). After some iced coffee and fries from a friend's tray (the best kind; other people's fries) we hop back on the bus after Eric takes some sweet pictures of the camel for later use.
We bump some musica on the drive over, with a little Bohemian Rhapsody to get the whole team on the same page. In between discussion of Freddie Mercury's vocals, Daniel explained a little bit about the scenery around us. The road we took was less than a mile from the border road and at its closest about 500 feet. We saw the lush Jordan valley give way to the tan scenery described before (the chronology of these past sentences is askew but you get the gist of it).
There are scenic views on every bus ride and although it is valuable time that could be spent catching up on much needed sleep, instead I stay up and stare at the window. Sometimes I make notes to make these blog posts easier so I don't have to recall the entire day at the end of the night, and I also write a journal for myself. It gets a little repetitive but it's worth it for future me to be unable to read my handwriting.
Anywho, we arrive at a "settlement" outside of Jerusalem. Settlement is a misnomer, these cities have more people in them than most places in Florida. Ma'aleh Adumim which translates to the Red Heights. We get to a scenic overlook with some grass and take our pictures and ooo and ahhhh. Our guide for the area Shelly meets is there and in many respects she reminds me of my own mother in some of her mannerisms and I realize it's true what my dad says. "We all marry the same woman and have the same mother" many of my father's words of wisdom seem to make more sense as I get older and experience more. But half the time it's just mishagas.
She gives us a brief history lesson, and to see if we were paying attention she then asked us questions with Hannukah gilt as an incentive for correct answers. We got all of them right first try, Mayanot 119 represent. We then get on the bus, Shelly takes over as our tour guide as Daniel takes a well deserved break. She shows us around her town, she has 3 children she raised in Israel. Shelley, like many of the people we meet, is a transplant from the US, who moved here shortly after their college years (I wonder if they're trying to tell us something).
We are going to visit a candy factory where Israelis and Palestinians work side by side and the managers are both Palestinian and Israeli. I forgot the name of the brand but Rabbi Chaim will edit that in (or leave this here for chuckles). They work side by side and there are no problems, but we are told they tend to tiptoe around mentioning geopolitics at work. We get to sample some candy and they give us way too much mint chocolate (the worst kind). We see where all the magic happens, and it's not quite as musical as Willy Wonka but we did sing Abanibi many times. Abanibi is my new favorite song, it's got quite the 70s funk vibe to it.
Shelley left us as we dropped her off and she invited any of those extending their trip to stay at her house for free if they would like. We then made our way to the holy city of Jerusalem. As you are coming from the north there is a tunnel and when you come out of it the skyline of Jerusalem smacks you right in the eyeballs and it's quite a sight to see what Jews have been praying about returning to for thousands of years right in front of you.
We've been told this by almost everyone we speak to how Jews have been wandering these parts for millennia and you get to experience it along with the wonders of the 21st century. It reminds me of Milan in the way that the history is so well preserved in the ancient structures, but with even more history. The high rises and light-rail go right alongside the walls of the old city.
We had some burgers at Rabbi's favorite burger place, burger bar. They were good, overpriced but good and quite filling. Then we made our way to the Kotel, the Western Wall. Rabbi Chaim put it into perspective. When Jews pray they always face towards Jerusalem and there is a reason. Jerusalem is where Jacob's ladder is, the place where Earth meets heaven and our prayers from around the world rise up to G-d.
For me it was especially powerful being at the Wall. My Grandpa who I never got to meet, was on a trip with my Mom and Grandma and they traveled Europe and Israel was on the itinerary. They stopped in Egypt in order to see the pyramids and Sphinx etc. My grandpa became ill of a condition he later died of and after Egypt he decided he could go no further and they never made it to Israel. Akin to Moses leading the Israelites to the promised land, my grandpa got right to the edge and was unable to enter.
My Mother and Brother went to Israel on a trip with our synagogue 7ish years ago and they said they felt the presence of my Grandpa Ben when they were at the wall and when they met up after being separated they said they both had a sense that they shared the same feeling and experience that Grandpa Ben got to Israel through them. I didn't disbelieve them but I had a hard time buying into this mysticism.
I'm not sure if you are supposed to share your prayer in the wall with the world (like telling someone what you wished for on your birthday means it won't come true) but I'll share it with you. The first thing I wrote was about going to the wall because my grandpa never got the opportunity. Then I wrote about how I was there for my father who has yet to make the trip. For my grandmother who also hasn't been. I was there to connect with what my mother and brother had already experienced. There are many important people in my life but these are the ones that mean the most.
There is a picture on my grandmother's mantle that has a picture of my grandpa Ben in her den area and it is what I always look at when I'm not directly addressing her. He has his hands in his pocket, turned to his right side with the beginnings of a smirk on his face. We got to the wall and I wrapped Teffilin and put my head and arms against the wall. When I did this after closing my eyes and reciting the Shemach I kept my eyes closed.
After I said the Shema, that picture of my grandfather came alive in my head and he took his hand out of the pocket, made the smile that always looked like it was about t appear on his lips and I felt it. I can't describe what IT is but, I know I was a part of what Jews and people of all religions (or lack thereof) feel when they visit this holy site. I then had similar thoughts/visions of all the other immediate family members I mentioned reacting to me connecting to this feeling, and it was magical. I took a step back from the wall and stood about 100 yards away and just took it all in. It was a supremely emotional experience and after leaving the area directly in front of the wall I called my mom. She was in the middle of administering a test (she's a AP government and politics teacher, and also economics). She took a step outside and we had quite the emotion filled conversation and she felt what she had felt at the wall again through me. I called my brother and also had a similar experience.
I haven't called my Dad yet because he hasn't had the experience to connect with it, and if you know the guy you know he's not the type to be easily moved. I also wrote on the prayer that I didn't want my child(ren) to write on their prayer to put in the western wall "for my grandpa who never made it to Israel." I'll have to actually have the conversation to convince him he needs to schlep all the way out here, but this is my way of getting the ball rolling.
After this point we were lucky enough to bar and bat mitzvah some members of our group who had yet to be b'nai mitzvahed. This entailed much celebration, hard candy throwing, and of course chair raising. I was very happy to be able to sing Tsimatov, and Mazel tov more than once! I shared my experience about my grandpa with one of the individuals on my trip and it made them think of their father and I could see the emotion had affected them in a similar way that had affected me. It was a powerful moment to walk away from the western wall feeling, similarly to the mikveh, different and better for it.
If there is any doubt from any of those reading whether or not it is worth it to make it to the ancestral homelands, I can not stress enough how powerful the experience CAN be. This brings up another point, I was easily convinced but, you just buy in. Don't act incredulous, don't kvetch and moan, listen to what the tour guides, the natives, the soldiers, and do more than listen, ask questions and WANT to be a part of it. If after an honest effort it isn't for you, I understand. However, you owe it to yourself to try.
I don't know how many of my peers have had a similar or as powerful feeling as I have had, but I hope I can provide a blueprint for attempting to achieve what might seem unattainable; A connection to our ancestral homeland.
We then had 6 Bar and Bat Mitzhvah's!!! It was an amzing and uplifting moment for the group throwing candy, dancing & lifting the Bar & Bat Mitzvah boys ang girls on charis!!!
Off to the hotel for some dinner and chill!
More breakfast pasta!
We checked out of the hotel on the Sea of Galilea today. As a side note, this hotel's lobby was on the top floor and all the levels with rooms were below it. This led to much sentence confusion when people would say they're going up to the room and realize they meant going down and then get flustered and realize it didn't matter.
The the #LoadSquad used its best engineering skills to pack up everyone's luggage back into the bus. It took much finagling but in the end we prevailed and fit all the suitcases in once more. We then boarded the bus to visit our 3rd of the 4 holy cities, (having already visited Tiberias and Tzfat) Jerusalem.
Most of our morning hours were spent on the bus traveling towards Jerusalem. As our guide Daniel pointed out we saw the scenery start to transition from green to more brown as we got closer to Jerusalem. To those not accustomed to Israeli geography we went from the northeast corner down south towards the West Bank of the Jordan where Jerusalem lies, about halfway down the country.
We see our first Bedouin encampment, which look like the way shanty towns are described. They used to be nomadic sheep and goat herders. Now they still had their flock however their settlements are slightly more permanent. The UN (United nothings as the Israeli cowboy from Cleveland called it when we visited the kibbutz) makes and sends materials and constructs their structures for them in some places. We see many flocks, and Daniel points out all those lines we see going up the sandy mountains are made by the flock going up the mountain single file as they're being herded.
After an hour and a half of driving, we arrive at pit stop about 45 minutes from Jerusalem. Where I see my first ever real life camel. It was sitting so still and in the typical camel position I thought it was a statue. Someone was like that camel smells, I was about to make fun of them and then the camel got up and I ate the words that had yet to come out of my mouth.
We were told to get some snackage because it might be a bit before we got lunch. I decided to forego the usual sodium filled roughage for some dried mango. I completed my first successful haggle when the vendor told me 25 scheckels and I skillfully outmaneuvered him by doing the classic businessman's lie and telling him I had less money than I did. We eventually met in the middle and I parted with 20 schecks and received a container of candied mango. Needing some savory with my sweet I purchased a falafel and didn't haggle because I was exhausted from my last endeavor. (Also scheckels are about 4:1 to a dollar, like quarters)
I can't be too sure what falafel is because it's chik peas but it's hot, unlike hummus, and its crispy. It's like a fried potato ball, but it's chik peas (or so I'm told). After some iced coffee and fries from a friend's tray (the best kind; other people's fries) we hop back on the bus after Eric takes some sweet pictures of the camel for later use.
We bump some musica on the drive over, with a little Bohemian Rhapsody to get the whole team on the same page. In between discussion of Freddie Mercury's vocals, Daniel explained a little bit about the scenery around us. The road we took was less than a mile from the border road and at its closest about 500 feet. We saw the lush Jordan valley give way to the tan scenery described before (the chronology of these past sentences is askew but you get the gist of it).
There are scenic views on every bus ride and although it is valuable time that could be spent catching up on much needed sleep, instead I stay up and stare at the window. Sometimes I make notes to make these blog posts easier so I don't have to recall the entire day at the end of the night, and I also write a journal for myself. It gets a little repetitive but it's worth it for future me to be unable to read my handwriting.
Anywho, we arrive at a "settlement" outside of Jerusalem. Settlement is a misnomer, these cities have more people in them than most places in Florida. Ma'aleh Adumim which translates to the Red Heights. We get to a scenic overlook with some grass and take our pictures and ooo and ahhhh. Our guide for the area Shelly meets is there and in many respects she reminds me of my own mother in some of her mannerisms and I realize it's true what my dad says. "We all marry the same woman and have the same mother" many of my father's words of wisdom seem to make more sense as I get older and experience more. But half the time it's just mishagas.
She gives us a brief history lesson, and to see if we were paying attention she then asked us questions with Hannukah gilt as an incentive for correct answers. We got all of them right first try, Mayanot 119 represent. We then get on the bus, Shelly takes over as our tour guide as Daniel takes a well deserved break. She shows us around her town, she has 3 children she raised in Israel. Shelley, like many of the people we meet, is a transplant from the US, who moved here shortly after their college years (I wonder if they're trying to tell us something).
We are going to visit a candy factory where Israelis and Palestinians work side by side and the managers are both Palestinian and Israeli. I forgot the name of the brand but Rabbi Chaim will edit that in (or leave this here for chuckles). They work side by side and there are no problems, but we are told they tend to tiptoe around mentioning geopolitics at work. We get to sample some candy and they give us way too much mint chocolate (the worst kind). We see where all the magic happens, and it's not quite as musical as Willy Wonka but we did sing Abanibi many times. Abanibi is my new favorite song, it's got quite the 70s funk vibe to it.
Shelley left us as we dropped her off and she invited any of those extending their trip to stay at her house for free if they would like. We then made our way to the holy city of Jerusalem. As you are coming from the north there is a tunnel and when you come out of it the skyline of Jerusalem smacks you right in the eyeballs and it's quite a sight to see what Jews have been praying about returning to for thousands of years right in front of you.
We've been told this by almost everyone we speak to how Jews have been wandering these parts for millennia and you get to experience it along with the wonders of the 21st century. It reminds me of Milan in the way that the history is so well preserved in the ancient structures, but with even more history. The high rises and light-rail go right alongside the walls of the old city.
We had some burgers at Rabbi's favorite burger place, burger bar. They were good, overpriced but good and quite filling. Then we made our way to the Kotel, the Western Wall. Rabbi Chaim put it into perspective. When Jews pray they always face towards Jerusalem and there is a reason. Jerusalem is where Jacob's ladder is, the place where Earth meets heaven and our prayers from around the world rise up to G-d.
For me it was especially powerful being at the Wall. My Grandpa who I never got to meet, was on a trip with my Mom and Grandma and they traveled Europe and Israel was on the itinerary. They stopped in Egypt in order to see the pyramids and Sphinx etc. My grandpa became ill of a condition he later died of and after Egypt he decided he could go no further and they never made it to Israel. Akin to Moses leading the Israelites to the promised land, my grandpa got right to the edge and was unable to enter.
My Mother and Brother went to Israel on a trip with our synagogue 7ish years ago and they said they felt the presence of my Grandpa Ben when they were at the wall and when they met up after being separated they said they both had a sense that they shared the same feeling and experience that Grandpa Ben got to Israel through them. I didn't disbelieve them but I had a hard time buying into this mysticism.
I'm not sure if you are supposed to share your prayer in the wall with the world (like telling someone what you wished for on your birthday means it won't come true) but I'll share it with you. The first thing I wrote was about going to the wall because my grandpa never got the opportunity. Then I wrote about how I was there for my father who has yet to make the trip. For my grandmother who also hasn't been. I was there to connect with what my mother and brother had already experienced. There are many important people in my life but these are the ones that mean the most.
There is a picture on my grandmother's mantle that has a picture of my grandpa Ben in her den area and it is what I always look at when I'm not directly addressing her. He has his hands in his pocket, turned to his right side with the beginnings of a smirk on his face. We got to the wall and I wrapped Teffilin and put my head and arms against the wall. When I did this after closing my eyes and reciting the Shemach I kept my eyes closed.
After I said the Shema, that picture of my grandfather came alive in my head and he took his hand out of the pocket, made the smile that always looked like it was about t appear on his lips and I felt it. I can't describe what IT is but, I know I was a part of what Jews and people of all religions (or lack thereof) feel when they visit this holy site. I then had similar thoughts/visions of all the other immediate family members I mentioned reacting to me connecting to this feeling, and it was magical. I took a step back from the wall and stood about 100 yards away and just took it all in. It was a supremely emotional experience and after leaving the area directly in front of the wall I called my mom. She was in the middle of administering a test (she's a AP government and politics teacher, and also economics). She took a step outside and we had quite the emotion filled conversation and she felt what she had felt at the wall again through me. I called my brother and also had a similar experience.
I haven't called my Dad yet because he hasn't had the experience to connect with it, and if you know the guy you know he's not the type to be easily moved. I also wrote on the prayer that I didn't want my child(ren) to write on their prayer to put in the western wall "for my grandpa who never made it to Israel." I'll have to actually have the conversation to convince him he needs to schlep all the way out here, but this is my way of getting the ball rolling.
After this point we were lucky enough to bar and bat mitzvah some members of our group who had yet to be b'nai mitzvahed. This entailed much celebration, hard candy throwing, and of course chair raising. I was very happy to be able to sing Tsimatov, and Mazel tov more than once! I shared my experience about my grandpa with one of the individuals on my trip and it made them think of their father and I could see the emotion had affected them in a similar way that had affected me. It was a powerful moment to walk away from the western wall feeling, similarly to the mikveh, different and better for it.
If there is any doubt from any of those reading whether or not it is worth it to make it to the ancestral homelands, I can not stress enough how powerful the experience CAN be. This brings up another point, I was easily convinced but, you just buy in. Don't act incredulous, don't kvetch and moan, listen to what the tour guides, the natives, the soldiers, and do more than listen, ask questions and WANT to be a part of it. If after an honest effort it isn't for you, I understand. However, you owe it to yourself to try.
I don't know how many of my peers have had a similar or as powerful feeling as I have had, but I hope I can provide a blueprint for attempting to achieve what might seem unattainable; A connection to our ancestral homeland.
We then had 6 Bar and Bat Mitzhvah's!!! It was an amzing and uplifting moment for the group throwing candy, dancing & lifting the Bar & Bat Mitzvah boys ang girls on charis!!!
Off to the hotel for some dinner and chill!