TEL AVIV
Getting over jet-lag at dinner on the beach with the ATL Derech Torah class (Mitch, me, Laura and Patrick)
A view from my Tel Aviv hotel room over the Mediterranean Sea-- yay!!
ON THE WAY TO JERUSALEM
Doing my part to re-forest Israel: Planting a tree at the Naot Kedumin Nature Preserve
Explanation of how an ancient cistern was built and how it works (Thuds and booms from a nearby military practice filled the air!)
JERUSALEM
A view over the city
LOTSA WALLS HERE IN JERUSALEM:
The Second Temple Wall
The Western (Wailing) Wall
The wall to keep Palestinian suicide bombers out of Jerusalem
QUMRAN: WHERE THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS WERE DISCOVERED
MASSADA
To give you an idea of scale, we took a 10 minute gondola ride to the top of this famous plateau you see in the distance. The entire population of Jewish 'zealots' (this is where we get the word) committed suicide before the Roman captured their fortress up here. However, what really took my breath away was the Roman engineering: They built a huge ramp-- a small mountain, really-- of stones to breach the walls of the fortress on the other side. They also dug out huge caverns in this plateau which served as cisterns for tons of water they channeled in during the rainy season.
THE DEAD SEA
Covered in healthy, mineral rich mud...
Floating with no support... weird but true!
THE NEGEV DESERT
A camel ride at sunset...
...and a feast with the Bedoins.
THE SEA OF GALILEE
The beach of the kibbutz where we stayed
At sunset...
THE GOLAN HEIGHTS
Where you can have a wine-tasting...
... and a view of Syria from an Israeli bunker on Mount Bentel!
Before becoming fish food in the Jordan River!! (yeah, I took a dunking...)
ON THE WAY BACK TO TEL AVIV
Proof that life goes on: We went grocery shopping the day after this town received a rocket launched from Lebanon.
Haifa Port (yes, Haifa in the news) and the B'hai Temple and gardens
BACK IN TEL AVIV
A couple from our tour group, Leni and Michael, got married on the beach, complete with a hupa, rabbi, singing and dancing!
The whole tour group! Shalom! Next year in Israel!
IN CLOSING...
This is a picture of Kika (my Israeli friend's step mom) and I at her lovely home north of Tel Aviv shortly before she fed me dinner and drove me to the airport. What a wonderful lady and testimony to Israeli hospitality-- Thank you, Kika!
