OUR LAST DAY HERE

We are leaving to go home tonight and will be back in the USA Sunday am very early. There are still lots of things for me to tell you about. Of course, there are alot of things I missed and I hope to be able to show you my pictures and tell you more stories. The only way, though to appreciate and understand Israel is to actually experience. I can't tell you how happy I am to have been able to see this place up close.
After Petra and our first night at the kibbutz of Hagosshrim, we went to visit an elementry school in Kiryat Shmona, one that is supported by the Jewish Community Fund of San Francisco. This school is in a very poor area of the Galilee. It is also not far from the Lebanon border. Therefore the school has a bomb shelter beneath it. Actually almost all buildings and even homes in Isreal have bomb shelters. How would you like to be constantly reminded of the presence of war with a bomb shelter under your home? A couple of years ago these children and their families had to spend almost a month in bomb shelters due to the recent Lebanon war. The shelter at the school is for short term use until the parents can pick up their children. It is three of four rooms. brightly painted with comfortable pillows, a library, VCR, and other things to distract the children. I felt very stiffled in this place and can't imagine having st spend time in a place totally cut off from the outside. Many of the children have become traumatized by the threat of war and panic when any kind of an alarm goes off. They know they have 30 seconds to get into the shelter if the sirens go off notifying them of incoming bombs. Much of this area was damaged by Lebanonese bombs years ago. They are still in the process of repairing much of the city.
Later we met with a former divisional commander of the Central Sector, Colonal Kobi Marom who showed us the Lebanonese borders and explained the situation at this point.
We had lunch at his restaurant (of course) and then took a peaceful hike through the Tel Dan Nature Reserve located on the largest tributary of the Lordan River and the Biblical settlement of Dan. This was a very lush, green peaceful area with the sound of running water and the presence of trees and lots of other greens and wild life.
The end of our day found us touring in jeeps climbing to the Golan Heights in the footsteps of the IDF soldiers and their battles in the six day war with Syria. We were also able to enjoy the natural scenery and gain an isight into the strategic complexity of the Golan.
Back to the kibbutz for dinner and a short lecture by a woman from the Kibbutz who tried to explain where the Kibbutz was going to be in the future.
We then each received awards for taking this trip. Mine read: I celebrated my anniversary 10,000 miles from my husband award".
Yestereday we went to Safed, a center of Jewish mysticism and a great artist's colony, then to Tel Aviv where we had lunch, visted a great street fair, market place and noticed the difference in the modern city versus wehre we have been. See you at home. .

IF THIS IS TUESDAY WE MUST BE IN PETRA

This is now the second time I have written this part of my story. My computer genius erased my first draft while trying to help me to add pictures. So.......right now we are at a guest house at Kibbutz Hagoshrim, in the upper Galilee. Yesterday though was the most spectacular day so far. We were awakened early boarded a bus to the Jordanian border where we surrendered our passports to Israeli official for stamping. We walked through a gate, then about 100 yards where we went through another gate into the country of Jordan. Again they checked our passports. We boarded another bus with a guide from Jordan who took us two miles to the 1800 year old Nabatean city of Petra, recognized as one of the Ten Wonders of the World. We first walked about one kilometer to an area called the siq which is a pathway between tall cliffs which are very tall, very beautiful and very interesting. Emerging from the siq in another kilometer we came to an area called the Treasury. This huge building is carved with different, interesting designs from different eras.
From here we went a little further to see more interesting wonders. There were also vendors selling trinkets. I bought two small bottles with sand designs inside. The man wanted $8.00 a piece. I was able to bargain him down to 2 for $5.00. Who knows who the next guy paid, maybe a dollar!
Those in our group who were not able to make the hike down took chariots, small carts pulled by a horse, holding a drive and two passengers. Those without back problems before sure had them afterward after going over the cobble stones some dating back thousands of years.
After the hike up, we had lunch at a local hotel, and then raced back to the border so that we could get across before six o'clock. Jordan is a very poor, very brown, very dry country. We were near the town of Aman, near the Mediteranean Sea. It was quite a contrast to Eilat, where our hotel was, a very affluent city.
I was so tired last night, that I didn't even eat dinner, just showered and into bed by 9:00.
This morning we were again awakened early for a flight to Tel Aviv where we again boarded a bus and went to Caesarea one of the Land of Israel's most important cities during the Roman Period. . .more archeological ruins.
We had lunch at Zichron Ya'acov. one of the first communities extablished by the early Zionist pioneers.
After lunch, on our way here, we stopped at another Kibbutz that had a shoe and sandel outlet. We do have to help the Israeli economy, after all.
Tomorrow it's off to the Lebanon border and a jeep ride along the Golan Heights.
Please look up Petra on google. I can't explain it throughly enough. Until later. . .

NOW WHERE THE HECK AM I?

First my cell phone wouldn't work, then my ipod died, then I couldn't get my computer to work and to log on to the wireless site at the hotel, and then my camera died. New camera today, cell phone charged and working, and now a generous young man on our trip helped me work out the bugs on my computer. Danny, you said you couldn't fly out to help me, so I had to settle for second best.
The days run into one another when you spend so much time on the bus rushing from one site to another, but then there is so much to see in Israel. Sunday was a very interesting day. We went to the Dead sea, the lowest place on earth. The sea has shrunk almost a quarter of a mile from the visitor center according to others on the trip. The water is so salty, you can only float in it. So I did! I couldn't come to Israel and not go in the Dead Sea. It was quite an experience. Then we covered ourselves with mud and made total fools of ourselves in front of the cameras.
Later we went to Masada, a huge fortress on the top of a mountain where a small number of Jews held off the Romans for several years until the Romans were able to infiltrate the fortress and the Jews committed suicide rather than be taken slaves.
Young kids hike the hill, we took a cable car. It was extremely hot and dry but very interesting.
We then went to a small winery, yes winery in the middle of the Negev Desert. The family running the place have been there for 11 years, building it from nothing to a small boutique winery producing Merlot and Cabernet wines, not my favorite, but good. They also have a number of guest houses and give tours. There is really nothing much to do in the desert but the Jews have taken various parts of it and made things grow.
This morning we visited the Ramon crater, a huge hole in the ground formed over the thousands of years by weather and wind. Also in the desert. We then drove to the other end of the desert to a small Kibbutz with just over 150 people who have made it an ecological area. They recycle everything, built homes with hay and mud, reuse their water, and are beginning to produce all their own solar power. In fact, much of Israel runs on solar power.
Finally we came to Elat not far from the border of Jordan on the shores of the sea. Tomorrow we go into Jordan, to Petra a place thati supposed to be quite interesting.
For more info on these interesting places, I suggest GOOGLE. (commercial)
Until next time. . .

DAY TWO AND THREE---YAD VASHEM AND THE OLD CITY

Thursday the topic was Memories for the Future. We started out by going to Yad Vashem, the Jewish National Memorial to the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. It is a very moving, tragic, interesting, thought provoking reminder of the worst time of Jewish History. It was not as gruesome as I thought it would be. It was more of a memorial to those who died and those who survived that time. We saw the faces and heard the voices of the Jews who were unfortunately living in that part of the world controlled by the horrible Hitler. I found the children's memorial to be the most moving. You enter a very dark room that is round and surrounded by, with also the center enclosed by glass. The center column contains five memorial candles lit daily for those children who have no one left to say Kaddish for them (the prayer that remembers those who have died). These five candles reflect upon the glass and send thousands of flickering lights on both the inside and outside of the glass. These lights made me think of starts, one star for each of the million and a half children who were not able to grow up and lead a Jewish life. It was quite a morning, one I will never forget.
After lunch we studied geopolitics. We were able to see the new fence going up around Jerusalem, separating the Palestinians from the rest of the city. Supposed it has cut down on terrorism by a large percentage. I don't really know whether a fence will solve the problem.
We went to Shabbat services in a very Reform area outside of Jerusalem. After services we divide up into groups and went to homes of members of the congregation for a lovely Shabbat dinner. That too was a memorable evening.
Today, being Saturday some us went to the Hebrew Union College to celebrate Shabbat while others decided to pry to their pillows for a little longer.
We spent the afternoon in the Old City, going through the Armenian area, shopping for souvenirs, eating lunch and then visiting the Church of the Holy Seplachur. Not everything we did was Jewish! It is an old Church, controlled by all of the Christian faiths in Israel, but ultimately locked and unlocked by the Israeli government.
Finally we went to the Israeli Museum where we saw another model of the city of Jerusalem before tthe second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. We aksi saw the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in the mid 10
900's by a Beduin in the desert.

HERE I AM SAFE AND SOUND

Well, we made it to Israel last night, Wednesday Israeli time after and long, long flight. I know why I hate flying : the lines, the security and the waiting. Actually we made it to New York on time, and then we had a few hours wait until our connection to Israel. Interesting thing, we had to go though security a second time before boarding the plane. They are very careful with flights going to Israel. We also had to remain seated with our seatbelts fastened from the moment we entered Israeli airspace.
From the plane we made our way to the bus which took us to Jerusalem through the Judean Hills. We made a short stop at the Haas Promenade (as in Levis) where we said the tradition "shehechiyanu" blessing, recited upon entering Jerusalem. We could see many of the sights of Jerusalem including the Temple Mount from this overlook.
Israel is an area of contradictions: old versus new, ancient versus modern. Along the highway to Jerusalem you see on one side of the road old, rusted, bombed out vehicles from the war for independence in 1948, and on the other side of the road, the golden arches of McDonalds!
We had dinner at the hotel and most of us went to bed early because we were starting our sightseeing on Thursday very early.
I discovered most of us had a hard time sleeping last night, but we all made it to breakfast by 7:00. They have a lavish buffet breakfast every morning here with everything from fruit, vegetables, hot dishes, breads and juices.
Our main theme for today was the 5000 years of archaeological history starting at the Westerm Wall. We took a tour throught the Western Wall Tunnel, the underground continuation of the Western Wall alongside the Temple Mount. It is amazing that these sites have been here for thousands of years. Much of it was covered over and built upon by generation upon generation. and until only recently, in the last 30 or so years, have areas been excavated. We were able to stand at the Kotel (the Western Wall) alongside Jews from everywhere in the world. Of course, the women were on one side and the men on the other. We stood on chairs to look over the fence and watch several young men celebrate their Bar Mitzvahs on the men's side. It's just an amazing place where children run around, women look over at the men. A very noisy place, but one where decorum and modesty is expected. A woman reached over and pulled my shirt down when she saw a small bit of my belly exposed!
We saw a couple of different presentations of how the TEMPLE was built, destroyed and then rebuilt, leaving the huge area of the layers of Jerusalem exposed.
After lunch we were able to do some shopping and then more sightseeing. We saw 2000 year old Herodian Mansions of the Jewish Quarter, some just recently discovered.
We took a tour through the city of David's new excavations and ended they tour going though an old cistern where water flowed thousands of years ago. Part of the tunnel we went through was only wide enough for one person to barely squeeze through.
This was a long, long day, mostly spent walking the streets where our ancestors walked, some as long as 3000 years ago. It is a peaceful area, but the hustle and bustle of street vendors selling food, trinkets, and religious goods. I am having an amazing trip and expect the rest of it will be just as interesting.
Tomorrow we study more about our history, visiting Yad Vashem, the Jewish National Memorial to the Holocaust.
Until later. . .