Today started once again with a hardy breakfast at the hotel, followed by a lecture from Professor Paul Liptz on the positives and negatives of Israel's current situation. After rushing to the bus to get back on schedule, we were off the Neot Kedumim, a nature reserve dedicated to Biblical plants. On the way, we had a short mifgash conclusion program where each of our soldiers took the microphone at the front of the bus and spoke about the past few days with us. Unfortunately rain prevented us from touring the actual gardens of Neot Kedumim but several activities were still planned for us. First we ground up Hyssop or Zatar (as it's known here), a spice with special healing properties against leprosy from lashon harah found in the Torah. Combined with two other spices, salt and red sumac, this spice acts as a key ingredient in Middle Eastern cuisine. We were then able to taste the Zatar combined with olive oil on pita bread, as well as with date honey (which was incredibly delicious). At the second station we talked to a sofer (a scribe) about the many facets of creating a Torah, including he different looks of parchment from various kosher animals and the natural ingredients which combine to make the thick long lasting ink of the Torah. Finally, gave a go at doing our own scribing by writing our Hebrew Names on paper using the same technique as used for the Torah (let's just say that we should leave scribing to the professionals...)
After the nature reserve, we finally headed to Tel Aviv, a city which in the words of Ari is "gross and smells but I love it anyway." We had an hour and a half of free time at the Carmel Market where we grabbed lunch and tried our luck at haggling (with pretty successful results!) Following this was a short walking tour of Tel Aviv through the Neve Shalom neighborhood where we were introduced to the Bauhaus style of architecture, the prevailing style in the Tel Aviv of the 1920's and 30's incorporating both old and new elements in a clean, practical format. Right before the bus picked us up, we said goodbye to our Israeli soldiers, quite a bittersweet experience because of the great time we had with them. Returning to Jerusalem, we got a first hand look at Tel Aviv traffic.
After a little rest time and dinner at the hotel, we set off for a night tour of the City of David. Although it was pouring rain, we trudged down to the platform and made our way to the underground city. The excavations of the original Jerusalem were incredible and the view was amazing. After climbing what seemed to be another Masada, we reached the bus and returned to the hotel -- everyone needs to get tons of sleep to be ready to conquer Ben Yehuda Street Tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment