Sunday Tel Aviv, Haifa and the Druze

Sunday morning began with a beautiful breakfast overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The scenery was almost matched by the copious assortment of food options: cheeses and creams of every sort, still warm breads and sweets (such a chocolate bubka!), fresh from the farm veggies, eggs, and God knows what else I’ve forgotten – though I’m sure I ate it.

After stuffing ourselves (already a theme of the trip…), we boarded our buses, kids in one bus, everyone else on the other bus. Our first stop was Rabin Square. It is odd, actually, that the memorial to the slain prime minister is so unimposing and plain. I’m not sure why; perhaps it says something about how Israel may still feel some residual shame about how a Jewish leader was gunned down by a Jew. Regardless, it was a solemn place to start the tour.

From there the buses split off. The kids went to Haifa to the Alon School, with whom Beth Avodah has had an ongoing relationship, including a video conferencing dialogue. I’m going to ask Becky Oliver to report on just how well it went and what they did. The word is that the experience was fantastic, that the connection was a strong one. More on that later.


The other busload went off to Independence Hall Museum, the very place where Ben Gurion declared in 1948, that Israel was a sovereign state. There is a lovely retelling of the story of that fateful day by a great museum employee with a dramatic flair, which we all enjoyed. We were also inspired when, after hearing an audio tape of the event which includes the rabbi present leading everyone in shehecheyanu, we all rose and sang Hatikvah. Wow. All of us had goose bumps and chills and probably a few tears, too. It was so inspiring, reminding us of how much chutzpah and strength and determination the founders of Israel evidenced not that long ago.

After admiring the Bauhaus architecture of Tel Aviv we continued on to Haifa, winding through the mountains up to an incomparable view of the port of Haifa and the gorgeous Bahai Gardens. In the cool afternoon air it finally began to dawn on us – we’re in Israel!

This point was driven home even further when we stopped in a Druze village. Who are the Druze? I’ll leave it to you to Google the word (or link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze). We enjoyed their hospitality and their unique worldview and their cookies and other treats.

A couple hours later, we arrived at Kibbutz Kfar Giladi which looks and feels like a Maine summer camp. The dining room was right out of a camp mess hall, though the food was better. The rooms are rather, how should I say it, rudimentary. Each room has 2 single beds of unknown age, an adequate shower and a dorm refrigerator. Luxurious it ain’t. But, at the end of a glorious day like this, it hardly matters.