Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period

      By Tanner Smith,     11^th grade,       Illinois

One, two, three, four, five steps. In just these few steps, statistically speaking, I have almost definitely followed the exact path of one of my predecessors. Two thousand years ago Jews would venture forth up the very stairs I climbed, carrying sacrifices for God.

I make it to the top, hit the wall, and search for shade. We proceed down to the fallen Robinson's Arch. I contemplate the path that the cohenim of the Temple would follow. Right above me, two thousand years ago, the great priests in control of the Temple would lead the Jewish people in their daily life.  The modern day leaders of my community have the last name Katz, one of the names indicating forefathers that were cohenim. To think that their forefathers were right next to me, displaced only by time. Just before this we traveled underground in the Old City, into the ancient mansions of the cohenim. Inside we found approximately six mikvaot, the remnants of rich Jewish life, and the cutest cat (we can only assume that he is two thousand years old and has lived there all this time).

It strikes me now how close to history I was. There are four dimensions and I was only separated from my forefathers by one of them. In fact the wall I stood in front of and the steps I walked upon made it through that fourth dimension, calling out to me, saying ‘hello’ in David’s terms.

Israel Museum:  Rome, who survives?, and the oldest and the smallest Tanachim

                by Maya Epstein,     11^th grade,        NJ

On September 21^st, Kitat Yarden traveled to the Israel Museum. We started off our day by talking about the Hasmoneans (more commonly known as the Maccabees) and their dynasty. They started out as a very powerful family and a people that are very loyal to Judaism, but as time went on and there were new descendants they became more assimilationists. They also began forcibly converting people to Judaism, which as we know is a huge No No.    Within about 100 years a group of Jews who fought to protect our Judaism and right to practice became Greeks. 63 BCE was the start of the Roman rule, and the start of some good and bad things in the province of Judea. The Romans actually brought some good things.  For example they brought more civilization, more technology, they built aqueducts, and overall they were good for the economy and for law and order. Although they brought all these good things they also brought about a period of Sinat Chinam (Senseless Hatred), and a time where people were not able to practice freely. Sinat Chinam was the Avodah Zerah of this time period.

During the time of the Roman rule there were 4 different sects of Judaism, each who had senseless hatred towards each other. You had the Sadducees (Priests), Pharisees (Rabbis), Essenes (Messianic/hippy Jews), and the Sikarim (Zealots/Militant Jews). Throughout our trip to the Israel Museum we met some people from these sects to learn about their life. First we met the Priests, and learned that they actually admired the Romans. They were rich and lived in really large houses with many mikves, and they also were not messianic at all. We then met the Rabbis who were the poorest class. They focused on Torah study and cared a lot about oral law and the interpretation of the Torah. They were the most adaptable and thought about what was good for the future of Judaism. Next we met the Essenes. They lived in the Kumran and near the Dead Sea in something resembling a Kibbutz. There were no women allowed. They consistently thought the messiah was coming and would go in the mikve as often as possible, many times before meals and working, to purify themselves for the coming of the messiah. The last group we met was the Zealots who were the ones who wanted to fight and wage war against the Romans. They were the ones held out at Masada and believed that the Romans and liking them meant Avodah Zerah. Only one of these groups survive. I believe it will be the Rabbis because we still have them now.

We also met King Herod, the first Roman puppet king of the Jews. His mother was one of those forcibly converted into Judaism during the Hasomean Dynasty. A puppet king was someone who was Jewish but was loyal to the Romans. This was because the people would trust him but the Romans still had control. King Herod reigned from 37-4 BCE. He was a massive builder, and whatever was built during his time period was called Herodian. The saying we started going by was “Think Herod, Think Big”.

 We have seen many models over the past few weeks, and at the Israel museum there was a huge model of Jerusalem during Roman rule. It used to be behind where the museum is, but once the hotel it was in got sold, the model got sold too. It had to be taken apart and moved piece by piece, and put back together at the museum piece by piece. It is also consistently being fixed as they find new information about what it looks like.

After that we went to a metal sculpture that said אהבה (Ahava, Love). The only thing that could combat Sinat Chinam was Love, only thing that could combat hate was love. We all took a picture together on the sculpture. I had seen this picture from many semesters of EIE students and finally being able to see it and take a picture in it myself made me feel like I was a part of the EIE legacy.

From there we went to the Dead Sea Scrolls. These scrolls were thought to be written by the Essenes. The story of the finding of them goes that the guy was a shepherd and 2 of his sheeps ran into this cave. He threw rocks to get them to come back to the flocks, but instead of hearing a rock hitting a rock was things breaking. Later he came back with his brother and they found these jars with scrolls inside of them. Inside were scrolls with writings from the Tanach and many from the book of Isiah, and writings about the rules of the Essenes. They longest scroll they found was the Book of Isiah. Before they found these scrolls the oldest scrolls were 1,000 years old. Once we found them we know have scrolls that are 2,000 years old.  We went inside where some of the Dead Sea scrolls were as well as where they had some of the tools from the area of the Essenes. Also, where the dead sea scrolls are place are very strategic. It is facing the Knesset to show the connection between the past and the present.

After that we went to where the nano-tanach was. When Barak Obama came to visit, they took him to the Israel museum where they put a lot of displays around. It also customary for leaders of countries to present other countries with a present. Israel presented Obama with the nano-tanach. It is the entire Tanach engraved onto a tiny piece of metal that could fit on the tip of your finger. Every word of the Tanach is on the piece of metal.

Tel Gezer: More Than One Ancient City

Tel Gezer: More Than One Ancient City

by Em Samuels,      11th grade,        Southern California

Today the group and I visited Tel Gezer, one of the most ancient cities in all of Jewish history. However, Tel Gezer is not the ruins of one era, but archaeologists have in fact discovered twenty six layers of separate civilizations, spanning over at least a thousand years. While incredibly interesting, I found myself asking why the hell the staff took us to this place because is was SO hot today... which led me to think, "why did people settle here for so many years?"

This bring me to what we learned today to be known as "The Four D's of Civilization". To build a successful civilization, one must have all four of the following:

1. Drink, or a water source. Originally built by the Canaanites about 4,000 years ago, the city of Gezer has an underground water system. Over the course of many years, the Canaanites chiseled away to create a 40 foot tunnel to access a subterranean water basin, creating sustainability for the city.
   
2.  Dinner, or a consistent food source. Gezer's land is fertile, and the grounds surrounding the archaeological sights are covered in grape vines and olive trees. Having such good agricultural soil and the livestock that were tended by the peole, Tel Gezer was able to thrive for an entire millennium.
   
3. Defense, or a way to protect the city from conquerors. The city of Tel Gezer built an enormous wall surrounding the hill that it was built on, some of which you can still see today. The front gate, the only entrance, was where the citizens of Tel Gezer held their trials and marketplaces, among many other cultural occurrences.
   
4. Dollars, or a stable economy. Gezer was built (26 different times) on a hill about 10 miles from the Mediterranean Sea, right along the ancient trade route that cut from the coast to Jerusalem. It was a minor city, mostly used as a trade stop on the way inland. In fact, if you look to the east, you see Highway 1, the first paved road in Israel, which was built exactly on top one of the major trade routes that runs North to South (parallel to the Judean Hills). 
   

Today we also learned about Canaanite religion and how it coincided with their day to day lives. When these people asked for rain (given that Israel is a desert), they first prayed to their gods. When the rains did not come, they started sacrificing animals. Whenthat didn't work, they kidnapped women and held them as "temple prostitutes" who had sex with powerful men in order to please the gods' sex drives. When even that did not work, they began sacrificing their own children. Because of all of these reasons, theTanakh condemns the Canaanite lifestyle, and even forbids Jews from intermarrying with them. Below is a picture of the alter where baby boys were sacrificed.

So today was quite eventful. I hiked through hot, dusty hills to see some of the most important physical evidence of ancient life in the Holy Land. I sat with my back against the walls of a 3,000 year old building and learned some very interesting facts about why Jews have lived in this specific area for all of these years.

Em Samuels has her own blog about time in Israel at:

http://eminisrael2016.blogspot.co.il/

The Amazing Book Report Project!!

By David Alon,    NFTY-EIE

For the past 5 years at EIE, the students in my Jewish history class have participated in a comprehensive book report project.  Each student has chosen a book from my own library that I read once and inspired me in some way.  The topics covered by the different books cover a broad range of events and ideas in the monumental history of the Jewish people.

Here below is the updated list of the all the books that the students in my class have the option to choose from.  I offer a brief description of each one and why it is essential for understanding the Jewish people and Israel.

The Chosen by Chaim Potok.    (fiction)  Moving story of two orthodox boys, both gifted students, growing up in Brooklyn in the 1940s-50s.  One is modern orthodox whose father is a leader in the Zionist movement, while the other is ultra-orthodox and is expected to succeed his father as the rabbi of a large Hassidic sect which opposes Zionism.

Valley of Strength by Shulamit Lapid.    (fiction)  Story of a middle-class young woman who escapes the pogroms in Russia in 1882 and becomes a pioneer in one of the early Zionist agricultural colonies of the First Aliyah, and her romance with one of the veteran pioneers.  The plot focuses on the challenges that beset the Zionist pioneers in their attempt to create a new national identity for the Jewish people in their ancient homeland.    

Start-Up Nation  by Saul Singer & Dan Senor.    (non-fiction)  An in-depth look at how Israel has emerged as a world leader in science and technology through the sheer ingenuity of its people.  Looks at the different aspects of Israeli history and society that have triggered a thriving hi-tech economy.   

Fear No Evil  by Natan Sharansky.    (biography)  Gripping account of Natan Sharansky's years of imprisonment in the 1970s-80s in the Soviet Union for his pro-Israel and human rights activism, and the international campaign led by his wife to secure his freedom so he could ultimately make aliyah to Israel in 1986.  This book is central for understanding the struggle for Soviet Jewry.    

Exodus  by Leon Uris.    (fiction)  Famous novel depicting the birth of the State of Israel.  Though fictional, it is filled with historical detail.  Loosely based on the well-known story of the Exodus ship of Jewish refugees after WWII trying to break the British blockade of Palestine.  This book is written in suspenseful style reminiscent of a Hollywood script. 

The Vanishing American Jew  by Alan Dershowitz.   (non-fiction)  A controversial look at the incredible economic and professional success of American Jews, while analyzing the challenges of assimilation and inter-marriage that are a direct consequence. This book was written in mid 1990s as a reaction to the author's son's decision to marry a non-Jew, and raises thought-provoking questions about the future of Jewish identity in the U.S.        

History On Trial  by Deborah Lipstadt.    (non-fiction)  Deborah Lipstadt is a professor of history and Holocaust studies who published a book attacking some well-known anti-Semites for openly denying the Holocaust.  She was subsequently sued for libel in a British court by David Irving, one of the Holocaust deniers she singled-out.  She writes about her experience as a defendant in the year 2000 in which the history of the Holocaust was literally put on trial.

World Perfect:  Jewish Impact On Civilization  by Ken Spiro.   (non-fiction)  Rabbi and historian Ken Spiro traces the origins of modern democratic values to the revolutionary ideas first put-forth by the Jewish people in the Tanach.  With wit and insight, he compares Judaism to other great civilizations of the past and is astonished to learn that it is Jewish ideas that became the pillars of Western Civilization.

From Beirut to Jerusalem  by Thomas Friedman.    (non-fiction)  Ground-breaking and controversial best-seller by a Jewish-American journalist who spends years reporting out of Lebanon and then Israel in the 1980s.  Published in 1988 but still relevant today, it gives an in-depth look at the unpredictable turmoil of the Middle East and also a critical look at Israel's miss-steps in Lebanon in 1982 as well as the intifada in the West Bank & Gaza in the late 1980s.  Essential for a deeper understanding of MidEast current events + written in very engaging manner.        

Mila 18  by Leon Uris.    (fiction)  Suspense filled historical novel based on the true story of the famous Warsaw Ghetto uprising against the Nazis in 1943.  This book tries to recreate for the reader the conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto and daily dilemmas that people faced.  Like Exodus by the same author, Mila 18 reads like an edge-of-your-seat Hollywood thriller.

My Promised Land  by Ari Shavit.    (non-fiction)  A sobering and critical look at both the triumph of Zionism + the State of Israel, and the tragedy of the on-going Arab-Israeli conflict.  The author writes a lot about the Palestinians too and the hardships that resulted from becoming refugees following Israel's War of Independence in 1948.  Told from an un-apologetic leftwing point-of-view, but attempts to give an objective look at Israeli history and society.  Extremely well written as the author tries to get inside people's heads and explain Israel to the rest of the world.

The Jews of Silence  by Elie Wiesel.    (non-fiction)  Originally published in the 1960s, Elie Wiesel writes of his visit with Jews living in the Soviet Union and attempts to make their desperate plight known to the outside world.  He is able to gain an understanding of how Jews have managed to keep some semblance of an identity despite the brutal oppression by the Soviet communist regime.           

Scapegoat  by Eli Amir.    (fiction)  Poignant story of a teen-age boy who immigrates to Israel from Iraq in the 1950s.  Though his family lives in a crowded transit camp, he is sent with a group of Iraqi Jews to live on a kibbutz where he is unfamiliar with the Ashkenazi customs and the world of labor-Zionist, socialist ideology.  This book gives a good insight into the experience of Mizrahi Jews in the early years of the State of Israel.

The Lost:  A Search for Six of Six Million  by Daniel Mendelsohn.    (non-fiction)  This book reads like a mystery that slowly comes together as the author traces the fate of his relatives who perished in the Holocaust.  Although he grew up in the U.S. with minimal Jewish identity, he wanted to go to the Ukrainian village where his family came from and find out what really happened.  The book takes the reader on a journey to different countries to meet the survivors who can help piece together the real story of the author's family.    

Still Life With Bombers  by David Horovitz.    (non-fiction)  Published in 2004 at the height of the Second Intifada, the author tries to explain what it's like living in Israel and raising a family with small children in an age of terrorism.  This book is about the disillusionment that stemmed from the failure of the peace process from 1993-2000, and how the resiliency of the Israeli people allowed the nation to overcome a deadly wave of suicide-bombing from 2000-2004.

The Red Tent  by Anita Diamont.     (fiction)  This book spent weeks on the best seller list.  A new take on the Hebrew Bible, this book retells the events of the Book of Genesis from the narration of Jacob's only daughter Dinah.  To those who read the Tanach, Dinah is a minor character who is raped in the city of Shechem and later avenged by her brothers.  In this version, the author is able to inject a woman's point-of-view into a male dominated story and cast a new light on how we interpret the Bible.    

Like Dreamers  by Yossi Klen HaLevi.     (non-fiction)     This gripping account offers a window into the soul of modern Israel.  The author traces the lives of 7 Israeli paratroopers who liberated the Western Wall in the Six Day War in 1967 and follows their development all the way to 2004.  The main characters range from kibbutznik peace activists to religious West Bank Settlers, both sides believing that their way is the utopian vision to secure the Jewish future.  A must read for anyone wanting to learn in depth about the divisions and also the unifying elements in Israeli society.

The Haj  by Leon Uris.  (historical fiction)  From the same author as “Exodus” & “Mila 18”.  This novel tells the story of a family of Palestinian refugees who are displaced by Israel’s war of independence in 1948.  Attempts to show the complex reality of both inter-Arab conflicts and Jewish-Arab conflicts.  A very important book for understanding the Palestinians and how the past has shaped the current reality in the Middle East.

Ally  by Michael Oren.   (non-fiction)  Written by Israel’s former ambassador to the U.S. during the Obama years.  An insider’s look at the tension between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Iranian nuclear program, the West Bank settlements, and clashing world views.  As essential book for understanding the complex U.S.-Israel relationship.  Just published in 2015.              

Beaufort  by Ron Leshem   (fiction)  Translated from Hebrew.   Intense novel depicting a group of Israeli soldiers manning an isolated outpost in southern Lebanon in the year 2000 as the Israeli army prepares to withdraw in the face of constant attacks by the Hezbollah terror group.  Gives a personal account of the daily dilemmas and tensions that IDF soldiers face, and the complex geo-political situation between Israel and Lebanon.        

Konin.  A Quest  by Theo Richmond     (non-fiction)   This book describes in vivid detail a small Jewish town in Poland before the Holocaust and succeeds in reconstructing what daily life was like.  The author’s parents grew up in the town of Konin which inspired him to go an exhaustive search for other old ‘Koniners’ around the world to gather information about the town and its fate.  While not exclusively about the Holocaust, the book does devote a good deal of time to what happened to the Jews of Konin during the WWII.  This book is absolutely essential to anyone trying to understand what Jewish life was like in Poland pre-WWII.

NFTY-EIE Tel Aviv Graffiti Tour

by Nathan Apel,         11^th grade,    Ontario Canada

April 11, 2016

Welcome to your own personal simulation of NFTY-EIE’s Graffiti Tour through the neighbourhood of Florentine, Tel Aviv. Your guide, and resident of Florentine, EIE Jewish history teacher Aaron Gertz, has immense knowledge on the topic of graffiti. Florentine is currently undergoing a process known as gentrification (the process of renewing/ rebuilding deteriorating areas). A common product of gentrification is artists moving in, followed by the gay community, then students, then couples, and conclusively, the settling of families. Florentine is presently in the first part of this process, therefore LGBTQ flags and Israeli flags are common spectacles that are often promptly placed upon balconies and windows.

The tour commences with an introduction of our first graffiti artist of the day, “Kislev”. Kislev is the most highly acclaimed graffiti artist in Tel Aviv, and has been given the moniker of the “Israeli Banksy” (Banksy is a world famous graffiti artist who focuses on political/social issues). The following painting illustrates an elf (Kislev) with spray can in hand, floating towards another elf (Banksy) while being carried via balloons of love. The works of Kislev are easily identified by his signature logo of an elf.

 

Gigantic Tel Aviv street mural painted by graffiti artist "Kislev" paying tribute to "Banksy"

An interesting phenomenon in the graffiti community is prominent artists working together. An example of this is BabyK who is a Frenchmen, but his works are frequently found across Florentine. Likewise, there is a Polish group who painted a sickly looking animal to spell out “ospa” (plague). Tel Aviv is an attractive destination for groups of graffiti artists because there are no strict graffiti laws. Small fines are issued when caught and sometimes police officers will not even punish the artists. Here, Aaron told a story of an artist, whom when caught, simply explained to the authorities the art he was creating and was left in peace for its completion. As a result, other than New York City, Berlin, and London, Tel Aviv has become one of the most pursued canvases for graffiti in the world.

Baby K graffiti

Tel Aviv street art by Polish graffiti artists OSPA

During the remainder of the tour I will be guiding you through eight significant pieces of graffiti and some of their respective artists. Firstly, there is an artist that goes by the name Dede who did a collaborative piece with his friend Wonky. Wonky is known for his depictions of strange looking monkeys and Dede is known for using Band-Aids; these Band-Aids are a metaphor for not being able to completely fix emotional scars. Dede’s service in the combat unit of the Israeli army, where he had to deal with difficult situations, lead to this re-occurring theme in his artwork.

Dede and Wonky collaborated on this mural in Tel Aviv's Florentine neighborhood

A unique graffiti style is that of Vered Dror, who uses braille. This type of artwork originated from when Vered was in Zagreb, Croatia for a graffiti competition. After days of planning her masterpiece for the competition, she noticed public places vandalized with swastikas painted on them. Vered Dror asked several locals why nobody was cleaning these horrific symbols up and everyone answered by simply saying “I didn’t notice”. Outraged, she abandoned her previous plan for the graffiti competition and placed all around the city a single statement in braille: “I didn’t notice, I didn’t see a thing”. Vered went on to unanimously win the competition.

braille graffiti created by Tel Aviv street artist Vered Dror

 Graffiti artists in Tel Aviv are very proud of their city. As a result, an artist’s pride is often reflected in one’s art work. For example, MAS972 is a graffiti artist whose name (972) is the country code dialed when calling Israel. Also, 035 (either 03 or 05) is the landline number for Tel Aviv whose work can be easily spotted all around the city.

"035" standing for the two telephone area codes of the Tel Aviv area

On a side note, due to the large gay community in Tel Aviv, graffiti expressing gay pride is not an unusual sight. One of the wittier pieces is an image depicting Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street embracing each other saying “Hi kids, we are getting married!”

Arik and Bentz (the Israeli Bert and Ernie) appear in graffiti announcing they are getting married

           

MAS972 takes his name from the country code for dialing Israel

           As we approach the conclusion of the graffiti tour there is a focus on political art. Firstly, is the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the fifth and ninth Prime Minister of Israel. The image depicts Yitzhak’s assassination illustrating the crosshairs of the sniper on his head. The painting was created in Yitzhak’s honour and commemoration. Secondly, there is a slogan relating to conflict between Jews and Arabs. When first sprayed, the slogan translated to “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies” יהודים וערבים מסרבים להיות אויבים, However, someone vandalized it to say “Jews and Arabs are enemies” יהודים וערבים בטח אויבים. Later, one of EIE’s Jewish History teachers, Evan, changed it again to say “Jews and Arabs are not enemies” יהודים וערבים לא אויבי.  Good job Evan!

street art in Florentine neighborhood depicting the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin on Nov. 4, 1995

         

The slogan "Jews and Arabs Refuse to be Enemies" graffitied on a wall in Tel Aviv

   

         The remainder of the day was spent learning about cultural Zionism, the revival of Hebrew, and Jewish identity in Israel through viewing giant mosaics, a model of Tel Aviv, and doing a street survey. My friend Ben Adler writes about these topics in his blog. Tel Aviv is a beautiful city and I thank you for joining us on our graffiti tour!

Nathan Apel,  NFTY-EIE Spring 2016

Zionism Tiyul:  Chalutzim and Kibbutzim

By Tamar Jacobsohn,   11^th grade,   Bethesda MD

Another exciting day in the lives of Mishpacha Kitat Oren:

We woke up at 6:15 and were greeted with a two hour bus ride up to Kfar Tavor in the North. When we arrived, our first stop was the Aliyah Museum. We explored what life was like in a Moshava which is a zionist agricultural settlement. The Chalutzim, or pioneers in an organization called BILU, that came to Israel created Moshavot with hopes and dreams that Israel would become an Am  עם, not just a group of individuals. This was during the 1^st  Aliyah between 1881 and 1903, however there were still difficulties during this time period. These Chalutzim, who were labor Zionists, faced issues like going into debt to their benefactors like Baron Edmund de Rothschild, drought and malaria. We also saw this in an interesting, but poorly dubbed movie in a 360 degree theater.

Our next stop was a quick drive to a beautiful overlook onto the Kinneret. David showed us a picture of the very same place looking incredibly different from 1908. We also read writings from the "American Shalom Aleichem" (AKA Mark Twain who visited the same site in 1867) explaining the previous ugliness of the gorgeous place we laid eyes upon. We took a quick stop for lunch on a Kibbutz with a date store. So many tamars!

The third stop, the Kinneret Cemetery, was a modern cemetery just a few hundred meters from the shore of the Kinneret’s blue waters. One person that we looked at that was especially touching to me was Rachel, a famous Hebrew poetess. Her gravestone was extremely beautiful and next to it was a box labeled “Shirat Rachel.” I found it amazing that people could read her poems just next to her gravestone. 

Our last stop of the day was a mock Kibbutz built to look like the first proto-Kibbutz. The Kibbutz seemed to mimic the explanations we have received about the first Kibbutzim. Kibbutzim stemmed from the second Aliyah from 1904-1914. They were based off of socialism, but not specifically the Russian type of socialism. The spiritual father of labor Zionism, who David pointed out to us in the Kibbutz named A.D. Gordon believed in the religion of labor. He said physical labor would lead to the redemption of the land. The Kibbutzim that stemmed from the labor Zionist movement were centered around sharing absolutely everything, down to the underwear. The Chader Ochel was the central place where meetings were held, but there were still a lot of difficulties there like money, productivity, education, work roles, gender, property and security. 

This time period brought an extreme amount of Zionists into Israel to start building the country’s population. I believe these people were strong to pick up their lives and move to a foreign land as well as determined to fulfill “Shivat Tzion.”

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The Mother of All Tiyulim

by Hannah Karpin, 11th grade, Southern California

We started off the morning at a Crusader’s Fortress in Kohav HaYarden and learned about the First Crusade that took place from 1096-1099. During the Islamic rule over the land of Israel, Pope Urban II gave a unifying speech that inspired Christians to take over the region. This barbaric, violent crusade initiated all of the other crusades that followed. The crusaders fought from fortresses like the one we visited. They were spread out on mountaintops in order to give the impression that the army was a lot bigger than it actually was. 

Next, we stopped at Kibbutz Afikim for lunch in their Hadar Ochel on the way to Tzfat to learn about Jewish Mysticism. We learned about the Zohar, which according to tradition was written by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi) and was a mystical commentary on the secrets of the Torah. The traditionalists would argue that the Zohar was written on a mountain top by Tzfat. The modernists, on the other hand, would say that the Zohar was written by Rabbi Moshe DeLeon in Spain in the 14th century. The Zohar inspired the mystical ideas of Kabbalah (literay "receiving") that was invented by the Rabbis in Tzfat. The main requirements of studying Kabalah are that you are Jewish, male, married with kids, and extremely knowledgeable of the Torah. We visited a few synagogues to see where the Jews prayed hundreds of years ago. A fellow Jew politely interrupted our lesson to sing us his creative versions of Jewish prayers. At another synagogue, the praying Jews felt disgraced by the fact that girls entered their Beit Knesset and they rudely kicked us all out. We encountered many different types of people on this tiyul but it was an interesting experience.

After a long day of learning, we stopped at a farm on the way back to Tzuba for a dinner of cheese platters and cheese pizza before calling it a day. As David says, this was the “Mother of all tiyulim”.