Wednesday, November 6
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| The mountainside town of Tzfat, facing Mount Meron |
Today we explored the mystical city of Tzfat. Tzfat is an
enchanting and conservative town located on a mountain overlooking Mount Meron.
The town is riddled with local tales and fables. We walked down what may even be the Narrowest Alley in Israel,
the Middle East or even the Universe. Our guide, Iftach, told us a story about a
lady that used to bring two cups of tea into the alleyway every day, and enjoy
one cup of tea to herself and wait. When asked why she would always bring an
extra cup of tea, she replied that when the Messiah rises (as she believed it
would happen from Mount Meron), she thinks he will want to stop for tea and
sustenance on his way to Jerusalem, and she was prepared for the Messiah to
arrive any day now.
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| Messiah Alley in Tzfat |
We met with Abraham, an artist who spoke with us about the
Kabbala, and showed us some artistic graphic interpretations of the philosophy. The
basics, as I gathered, is that all of the good in the world is broken into
pieces, and the goal of Kabbala is that by doing good deeds, we can piece the
innate goodness of the world back together again. The expectation is not that
there is ever a finite point where this journey will be complete, but that the
aspiration to this end point brings the soul closer to enlightenment. Or so I
gather.
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| Just random art lurking around the corner |
Abraham also thought that a person’s name influences the
person they will be. This was ironic when later in the trip one of the group
members Adam met some people who knew an Adam by the exact same name, in the
same line of work.
We entered the local synagogue, then visited a candle store that made many skillful and
entertaining wax sculptures, definitely a great souvenir spot. There were some
chachka stores nearby (see Chachka: n. 'stuff you shouldn’t have bought’). We had lunch in
Tzfat, the usual options of shwarma, falafel, sandwiches or pizza. Then we took
the long bus ride back to Tel Aviv.
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| This wax masterpiece was just the tip of the iceberg... really, there is an even bigger iceberg and more animals below it! |
Upon arrival in Tel Aviv, we visited the Hall of
Independence for a lecture about Zionism and the significance of Israel gaining
its independence as a Jewish state. It was unanimous opinion that the lecturer
seemed a bit, uh, passionate. But the main point was still relevant albeit only
considering the Jewish perspective. Essentially, I think the purpose of this
visit was to describe how Israel is an important part of the safety network of Diaspora
Jews, and that though our home countries may protect us as citizens, they won’t
necessarily always protect us as Jews
- which has historically been proven several times.
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| Inside the Hall of Independence in Tel Aviv |
After checking into the hotel and having dinner, it was time
for a night out on the town in Tel Aviv. Now, we were on a birthright tour, and
at the start of the tour they make you sign a bunch of paperwork about drinking
responsibly and restrictions that apply during the tour. They are serious.
Anyway, we were able to go to a bar for under 2 hours, but since we went as a
large group, when we got to the bar the party scene escalated fairly quickly
anyway. Some people chose to go have coffee elsewhere, but most of us went out to
drink and dance. Leaving the bar early wasn’t really an issue, since we
continued the party back at the hotel until pretty late. I’d already learnt by
this point that I wasn’t going to sleep properly until I was back in Toronto.
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| Just one more picture of beautiful Tzfat |
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