Boker Tov!
Today, we are in Tel Aviv.  We visited Independence Hall and our Guide for Independence Hall was just wonderful.  He was inspiring and explained what independence for the Jewish state meant in the most compelling way.  He described what it was like at the time, showed us the room, the document and the signatures.  His presentation ended with a replay of Ben Gurion's address to the new country declaring a Jewish state in the land of Israel.  After the address and the Shechiyanu from the Chief Rabbi at that time, the sounds of Hativkah arose and we stood and sang the national anthem.  I'm telling you... it touched your soul.  It was so inspiring.  I'll post pictures as soon as I get home. 

Later in the day, we had rain and then hail.  In just 9 days, we've seen all types of weather!  We are gathering back at hotel Dan Panarama and then heading for dinner and then the airport.

Farewell Israel ... until next year. 
- Joyce

Boker Tov!  We say Shalom to Jerusalem and head north toward Tel Aviv, with two stops along the way, Megiddo and Caesarea. Megiddo is a large archeological site of about 15 acres.  There were 20 cities that were built at Megiddo – one above the other over the course of 5,000 years of continuous occupation.  We learn that Megiddo is in a strategic place and inhabited during the Neolithic period to today where there is a kibbutz (Kibbutz Megiddo) adjacent to the Tel.

The first written account of Megiddo occurs in the Late Bronze age during the time of Pharaoh Thutmose III (1479 BCE). This area is mentioned in the Jewish Bible in Joshua 12:21.  Both Joshua and Judges relate that the Canaanites inhabited the city.  Several structures are attributed to Solomon (1Kings 7:9).  The city continued to be attacked and taken over by the successors and in 733 BCE, Israelite Megiddo was destroyed by Assyrian king Tiglath Pilsa. Romans took over the city and then Napoleon.  This site is important to Christians because in the New Testament book of Revelation mentions the site as the last great battle of the world.  Christians come from all over the world to pray at the site and while we are looking at the ruins, we see two large Christian groups. 

We have lunch at a mall in modern Caesarea.  A few folks head over to McDonalds and Jackie orders a Mc Kabob (see picture).  She gives me the container the Mc Kabob comes in.  The package shows the Hebrew letters for Mc Kabob and on the back, there are instructions in Hebrew, Russian, and Arabic.  It cracks me up and I take pictures of the container and you will see them here on the blog.

Ancient Caesarea was once the site of a Phoenician port and over the course of 12 years, Herod built Caesarea to be the grandest city other than Jerusalem in Palestine.  This is another city that had different cultures building on the previous foundation.  For Jews, this is the site where Rabbi Akiva was killed by the Romans during the Bar Kochba revolt in 135 CE. 

What I didn't know was that Caesarea is very important to Christians because there are inscriptions found here of Emperor Tiberius and Pontius Pilate providing archaeological evidence of Pilate’s existence.  While we are visiting Caesarea we are in the middle of a very large group of Nigerian Christian pilgrims visiting the site. 

By evening we drive to Tel Aviv and settle into the hotel.  Tel Aviv is a very metropolitan society - very European in style.  Tomorrow, we will be exploring more of Tel Aviv and visiting the Museum of the Diaspora and Independence Hall.  We will also shop and have a farewell dinner before heading for the plane. 

I will try to squeeze in one more blog before getting on the plane.  Otherwise, I will update the blog once more when we get back to Santa Clarita.  Thank you for reading and for your comments.  Here are my pictures of Megiddo and Caesarea.

Boker Tov! It's Shabbat in Jerusalem! There are very few vehicles on the street and the majority of stores and restaurants are closed. The Tour group divides up.  Some take the Tour bus to walk through Jerusalem's Old City and a few others walk to the Hebrew Union College for Shachreit (morning) service. The service is very nice and the melodies are very familiar, but I'm taking mental notes an how the service is conducted, I think there are some ideas we might be interested in the New Prayer Book.  While we were at HUC, we also check out the Reception area.  It is really beautiful with big windows overlooking Jerusalem and the surrounding wall.  Around 1:30, the tour is reunited and visit the Israel Museum, the only tourist attraction that is open on Saturdays.  We see some of the artifacts from Qumron and the Dead Sea Scrolls.  We also bump into the San Diego tour at the Israel museum

After dinner, some Tour members go shopping at Ben Yuhuda street .  Since I have a shopping list. I indeed get lucky finding many of the gifts; the rest I will have to find when we are in Tel Aviv. Since it is Shabbat, I have no pictures of the day..  It has been a relaxing day, but now it's late and I'm tired.

Lilah Tov

Erev Tov (good evening)!  We got back to the hotel after Shabbat started, so Friday's blog was slightly delayed.  It is now after havdalah and I'm going to quickly outline Friday's trips and put up some pictures.  I'll add more to Friday later after I go to Ben Yehuda Street to shop.

Friday, was a day to see historical wonders, natural wonders, and spiritual wonders.  The weather is beautiful.  We are at the wall (near Robison's arch) in Archeology Park for Shachrit service and the Bar Mitzvah of Max Schwartz.  Our friend from Har El synagogue, Chazan Evan Cohn, meets us with a Torah and his guitar.  The service is wonderful.  Max reads beautifully and we are able to touch the wall during the service.  It is a very special moment.  Since I left my camera on the bus, I don't have any pictures to upload of Max's Bar Mitzvah at this time, but I know his parents have pictureds..

After that, we tour Archeology park and see the new finds the archeologists have uncovered.  Then back on the bus to Masada.  At Masada, some members of the tour chose to walk up the snake path.  I was going to walk up the snake path with the others, but I chicken out after standing at the bottom and looking up at this imposing rock face some 1200 feet up.  Others continue up and all who set out to walk make it to the top.  You will see many pictures from Masada.  It is an amazing site, first as Herod's Palace and then as the last stonghold of the Jewish Revolt.

We then head toward the Dead Sea and some tour members enjoy floating on the Dead Sea and others head to the Mineral bath which also makes you float, but it is warm like a spa.  The hot mineral bath is wonderful treat for those who walked up Masada.

We are running late, and have to pass Qumron and head back to Jerusalem where we are visiting the Western Wall for the beginning of Shabbat.  We cover our heads and take our prayer books and notes to the wall.  We have only seen the Kotel Plaza in daylight and this is the first time, we've been here at night.  The wall and surrounding buildings are awash in light.  As we approach the Kotel Plaza, the noise surrounds you as it echos all through the plaza.  It is crowded and busy and everyone is praying, singing, or dancing.  The group divides between Men and Women and we walk carefully as observant Jews will walk backward as they leave the wall so as to not turn away from the wall.  So we slowly make our way through the people to the wall and wait.  As someone backs away from the wall, another person walks foward to take their place and you move up.  Finally you are at the wall.  Because there is no photography allowed during Shabbat and Shabbat has already begun, I don't have pictures of this or of me putting my note in the wall.  So MP you have to believe me (I do have witnesses) that your note was inserted in the wall.  We say prayers from our prayer books and walk backward from the wall like the others.  You can't help it.  The wall is so large - you feel spiritually surrounded.  It is really special and words fail to adequately express the wonder I felt.  We get back on the bus and head for the hotel.

The hotel has a place to light candles for Shabbat and we end the evening with Shabbat dinner where our Chazan Evan Cohn and his family join our Synagogue family and some members from the San Diego Natural History Tour (the curator and the director of the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit and other museum members) and leads us in prayer and song.  It is a terrific day.

Boker Tov! We awake to a beautiful day at Kibbutz Nof Ginnosar.  We eat breakfast and visit The Ancient Galilee Boat.  You can learn more about this boat at www.jesusboat.com.  It took 11 years and its really amazing the technology and creativity it took to remove the boat from the lake and preserve this artifact from the first century BCE.  Analysis of the size of the boat seems to indicate that this is the type of boat referred to in the Gospels and might have been in use among Jesus' disciples.  The boat certainly provides a view of the Galilean seafaring that occurred in the first century and we see many Christian tours visiting the Yigal Allon Center where the boat is on exhibit.  We say Shalom to the Kibbutz and head toward Tiberias, the city we could see from across the lake. 

Tiberias is an ancient city and we stop at two places.  One is Hammath Teberias and the other at the tomb of Rabbi Maimomides.  At Hammath, we view the ruins of an ancient synagogue and see where the archeologists reconstructed the tile floor. (picture) The mosaic floor belongs to the Severus Synagogue built in the 4th century and destroyed in the 5th century. 

From Tiberias we head away from the Kinneret (Gallilee) toward Tzfat (aka Safed).  It is a wonderful city high in the mountains (2,790 feet) and very close to Lebanon.  This area was hit by Hezbollah bombs in 2006.  We are glad to see that the damage was minimal.  While an ancient city, Jews began to come here in large numbers when they were expelled from Spain.  The city is most closely associated with Jewish Learning and Jewish mysticism know as the Kabbalah. Today, the city is known for its art and ancient synagogues. 

From Safed, we continue westward toward Haifa. Haifa is mentioned in the Talumdic literature as a well-established Jewish community.  Well, you can say that about Haifa today. Haifa is a large bustling city, with traffic, big buildings (picture), and a shipping container port.  We can see the Mediterrean Sea and the city is beautiful.  Haifa was the scene of many confrontations between the British who tried to keep Jews from entering Palestine and the Haganah who were smuggling in immigrants and survivors from the holocaust.  Haifa is also the main center for industry and science and is also the world headquarters for the Baha'i faith and we got a chance to view the amazing Baha'i gardens.  (picture)

We leave Haifa, and head south toward Jerusalem.  As we head down the mountains toward sea level, we see the sun setting on the Mediterrean.  What a day, we had the opportunity to see dawn on the Sea of Galilee and we see the sun set on the Mediterrean.  We arrive back in Jerusalem via the Toll Road and scramble to dinner and then to bed.  We have early day with Shacharit (morning) service with a Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall.

Liliah Tov!

Boker Tov!  It looks cold and dreary outside as we pack up and leave Jerusalem.  We head east toward the Judean Desert.  Soon we are riding in bright sunlight and looking at green hillsides and small villages and farms.  We are driving through the Israeli controlled West Bank as the Dead Sea comes into view, and then we take a sharp left and head north toward the Sea of Galilee or Kinneret as the Israelis call it.  Soon we are at Bet She’an. 

Bet She’an is a small city - a moshav with a supermarket, schools, farms, etc.  It has a wonderful history - an imposing and amazing archeological site.  It is one of Israel’s national parks extending over 400 acres and is a current archeological site run by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Major excavations have been carried on here since 1986.  Bet She’an had been settled from the Late Canaanite period, by the Egyptians, the Philistines, the Jews under King David, the Assyrians, the Romans, and then in the Byzantine period, the city became largely Christian. The archeology work continues uncovering the impressive remains of the ancient city such as the row of columns, the theatre, and bathhouse. 

From Bet She’an, we visit one of the oldest Kibbutz settlements in Israel, Ein Gev at the shore of Kinneret.  It is a beautiful kibbutz and we had a leisurely lunch outside overlooking Kinneret and we could look across the lake toward another ancient city, Tiberias.  The weather is PERFECT … so different after the cold and snow from just yesterday!  After lunch we get to tour the Kibbutz which is a farm, a tourist site, fishing village, and artist colony.   

From Ein Gev, we head north toward Qasrin – an ancient Talmudic village.  We see a restoration of the town’s magnificent synagogue.  It is an terrific example of synagogues of the Golan during the Byzantine period.  Synagogues in that time were more of a Beit Midrash, house of study than a house of prayer.  Part of the town and homes are also being restored. (picture)  We learn about the Talmudic scholars and their contribution to Jewish life and Jewish thinking.  There is a school group there followed by a guard with a rifle.  Jeff is standing next to the guard and has no idea. (picture)

It is late afternoon as our bus stops at the Golan Heights Winery. (picture) We taste some excellent wines and buy some too!  We then head over to a Olive Oil factory also in Qasrin and learn about olive oil as an ancient practice in Israel and taste and buy some olive oil from today’s modern oil extraction techniques.  We now head south back to Kinneret and the Nof Ginosar Kibbutz

It is dark when we get to Nof Ginosar Kibbutz – our home for the evening.  We are bushed and jet lag has taken hold.  After dinner, all we want to do is sleep.   Nof Ginosar is a kibbutz that provides a hotel and a museum.  This museum tells the story of an archeological find … the uncovering and restoring an ancient fishing boat that has been dated to the time of Jesus.  Many Christian groups are here from all over the world and it’s interesting to meet them.  The TBA Tour will visit the museum tomorrow morning before we depart for Tiberias and Tsfat.

I'm falling asleep at the keyboard.  Lilah Tov!

Boker Tov!  Wow, it is really snowing!  Wet snow with big flakes.  From the hotel, you see a pine tree and a palm tree covered in snow (picture). By 9:00,  Hillel and Rabbi (see picture) announce that some of the stops for this morning have been cancelled due to the snow.  Our driver, Rami, is very worried about driving the bus in the snow and schools in Jerusalem are closed.  Some museums and other tourist spots are not open as employees are having problems getting to work in the snow.  By 9:30, we have a new plan. We will bundle up and walk to the King David Hotel (a wonderful site and full of history of the British occupation) and then on to the Union of Reform Judaism.  The campus houses an archeological research center with an excellent collection of artifacts from Tel Dan – an ancient site that we will visit later in the week. 

By noon, it has warmed up 2 degrees and while there is still snow on the ground, the falling snow has now turned to rain and we get on our tour bus to the Kotel (Western Wall).  We have tickets for the Wall Tunnel at 1:30 and must hurry. We enter through Dan Gate and find ourselves at Archeology Park on the way to the Kotel Plaza.  The Kotel Plaza is not very crowded and instead of “black hats” we see umbrellas.   We tour the Tunnel Wall and it is amazing cavern of twists and turns as we walk underground along side the wall around Jerusalem. Inside the tunnels are  We arrive out from the tunnel and walk through part of the Christian quarter and exit at Lion’s Gate (see picture below).

We finish the day at Yad Vashem.  The museum is a gripping and sobering experience and many of our tour members gain a unique perspective on the importance of Zionism.  We return to our hotel and meet for dinner at a nearby restaurant called“Little Italy.”  By the time dinner is over and we return to the hotel, it is not raining anymore.  We have had a day of weather (wind, ice, cold, snow, rain, fog) and it has quite adventurous trying to get around Jerusalem. 

While it is still cold and there is a remote chance of snow in the forecast tomorrow, we expect it will be better weather, albeit cold as we head north to the Golan.

Lilah tov!

Boker Tov! (Good Morning) we got on our van Sunday morning and arrived at the Bradley Terminal where we stood in a long line at AlEl. At the terminal, we saw policemen with semi automatic rifles. Aparently some increased security. Our flight left LAX around 1:30 pm Sunday and arrived in Israel at 2:30 p.m. Monday. While we land in sunlight, the weather begins to change quickly and the wind whips up and continuing the tradition from the 2006 tour, Temple Beth Ami brings rain and perhaps in a one-up-manship to the 2006 tour, we may even bring snow to Jerusalem. We look tired and the weather is getting worse. So we get into the bus and quickly stop at a hilltop overlook and gaze at Jerusalem. The rain has stopped for a moment and it is very cold and windy. We say the Shechyanu - thanking God for bringing us here to this place. Immediately after the blessing, it begins to rain again. We continue to our hotel and unpack. It is still windy, rainy, and very cold. We can hear the wind through the windows. As I write this at 11:50 p.m. it is not snowing ... yet. Our Tour guide, Hillel has plans that we will walk Jerusalem if there is snow. I'm hoping for snow. The Dan Panorama Jerusalem is very nice and dinner is great. We try to stay up but after dinner, the group slowly disperses for bed. I spend an hour trying to upload pictures but alas, the size is too big... I have finally figured out how to crunch these photos. So I'm about to sign off (12:45 a.m.) and I went to the window to check on the weather (it seems quiet) and guess what... it is snowing... So I get to see the snow before my tour group. Tuesday will be interesting... How about that... snow in Jerusalem. Lilah Tov! (good night)

Details, details... too many things to remember... Do we have a converter?  What are we bringing on the plane?  How cold is it in Israel?  Is it really going to be in the 30's?