The Past Two Weeks, Part II (scroll down for Part I)

We returned from our Shabbat well rested and excited to see our JDS friends on Sunday. In the afternoon we travelled to some natural hot springs which were a wee bit stinky, but it was nice to just hang out and catch up with everyone about their respective weekends. We travelled to Ginossar afterwards to a hotel with the best food ever- I would recommend it. After dinner, our group gathered in a conference room to hear a speaker. A traditional looking Orthdox man with a beard and black suit stood before us next to what appeared to be a wooden podium. His name is Noach Greenberg, and I am going to try and explain what he showed us (here is a little bit about him- I googled him and couldn't find much, but if you have a chance you should see one of his shtenders in your lifetime- http://www.bezalel-editions.net/noah.html).

Mr. Greenberg has been working on making an incredible, intricate, extraordinary shtender for the past 25 years of his life. We found out that the podium thing was the shtender- it's a wooden box that holds almost every traditional object necessary to carry out Jewish rituals throughout the day, week, month, and year, all hidden in different compartments. When I say every object, I mean every object, and that means that in this 4 foot tall treasure chest, hand- carved out of wood, was a siddur, tefillin box, candlesticks, kiddush cup, megillah, etrog box, lulav holder, seder plate, device to count the Omer, channukiah, tzedakah box, challah plate and knife, and more. The talk was more like a magic show as Mr. Greenberg pressed latches and revealed each thing one at a time to the gasps of our enraptured group. Seriously, this guy was good- it takes a lot to keep 120 kids quiet for more than an hour. Each piece was ornamented with an artistic inerpretation of one of the 7 fruits of Israel, a tangible translation of the beauty and traditions of Judaism. I really can't capture how amazing this thing was; I think you would have to see it. I heard from one of our teachers that the shtenders run at about $40,000, if that gives you any idea of the work that goes into them (Mr. Greenberg wouldn't tell us the actual cost, so this could be completely wrong, but I would say it was worth it).

On Monday morning went for a hike to a castle fortress. More lovely scenery and an epic encounter with a herd of goats, which we succesfully passed without harm (I am terrified of them- they have scary horns!). Our teacher told us a good story at the end, which I will relate to you now. It has a point, I promise:
Once upon a time there was a man named Yankeleh who lived in some Eastern European town, I forget which one. He was an average guy, poor, Jewish, wife and kids. One day he had a dream about a bridge- he didn't know where this bridge was located- but underneath it was a huge amount of gold. For some reason, even though it was just a dream, he felt compelled to find this bridge and hopefully the gold underneath it. He saved money for months so that his family would manage while he journeyed to find it, and begged his wife to let him go. She did, even though she thought he was crazy. He was gone for weeks, travelling and searching, and finally one day he found the bridge in his dream. Immediately he started digging like a madman, but some policemen saw him and thought he was a deranged homeless person, violating public property. They arrested him. They asked him his name and what he was doing, but Yankeleh was too scared and shocked to answer, so he was taken to the police station for questioning. The chief of police interrogated him upon his arrival, demanding answers. Poor innocent Yankeleh finally blurted out that he had dreamt about the bridge and was just trying to find it and the gold beneath it. The chief of police laughed, and replied "You crazy Jew! I had a dream that some man named Yankeleh had a pot of gold under his stove, imagine if I had gone looking for him!"
After being dismissed from the station and written off as a loony, Yankeleh immediately returned home and dug under his stove, only to find a chest of gold underneath it. He became a wealthy man and he and his family enjoyed health and prosperity.
The point of this story, our teacher told us, is that sometimes you have to go on a journey, to follow a dream, to find something you had all along. For me, I think coming to Israel is that journey; a more Jewish, spiritual side to myself that I never thought I had has been awakened by this country. Anyway, I liked the story.
In the afternoon we took a bus to the old and religious city of Tzfat. It is gorgeous. It reminded me of the Old City of Jerusalem, with all of the floor-to-ceiling white stone everywhere, but also of Greece- there are a lot of turqouise, intricate, curlicued iron doors and windows adorning the buildings and houses. Our teacher told us that the blue was to remind people of the ocean, which led them to think of the sky, which therefore made them think of heaven and G-d, serving as a reminder to aspire to a higher level of living. A nice thought. We went into an old Sephardic synagogue and then walked around the city to look at all of the beautiful art made by its residents. I drooled over lots of beautiful jewelry that I could appreciate but not afford, and ended up purchasing only a mint lemonade. At night we went to Afula for DOTS (dinner on the streets), which is the home of the best shwarma I have eaten so far.

Tuesday was Tel Aviv day. Our group started out in the old city of Yaffo, where Tel Aviv originated, and we discussed the city's founding. Ice cream at nine in the morning at a legendary shop followed a windy walk on the beautiful beach, and then we went to the Shuk, or market. It's like another world, an old world, removed from the bright streets of modern Tel Aviv, which has office buildings, a Renaissance hotel, and a kosher Burger King on its streets. The shuk is dark, crowded, humming with energy, a mix of incredibly fresh food, touristy crap, Israeli-looking clothing, and other random things; no one speaks English, and bargaining is not only permissible but the norm. I did a good bit of hankering for some great Israeli leather sandals, harem pants, handmade earrings, and pomegranate seeds (my favorite food). We then walked to the site of Rabin's assasination, which is smack in the middle of the city. We had a moment of silence for him, and seeing it reminded me that although Tel Aviv looks like any other city, its existence, and Israel's existence, was only made possible because of a lot of sacrifice. I said a silent thank you for everyting and everyone that has helped Israel survive.
At night we attended a really interesting play in which the majority of the cast was both blind and deaf, though some were only one or the other. It was a short play composed of different scenes from the cast's life, and it was very inspiring. Each cast member kneaded and baked a loaf of bread which baked throughout the play, appealing to smell- a sense they possessed. Not only did they share their experiences with us, but they invited the audience up afterwards to share their bread and talk to them. The director spoke about the play afterwards, and most of it was in Hebrew, but I think that this is the only blind and deaf touring cast in the world. Very cool.

I am currently living with about 120 other kids in dorms, and such close quarters lead to the spreading of germs. I was sick on Wednesday, and took the day off to sleep and consume lots of cold meds. Yum.

On Thursday, we went to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. I will talk about that in the next post.