Trip to the North: Golan Heights, Tzfat, hiking, the Kineret!

To celebrate the completion of Ulpan, our program took us on a 4 day trip to the north of Israel. We woke up bright and early Tuesday morning and drove for a few hours up north to begin our first hike. We hiked along the Keziv Stream, which offered beautiful views and a natural pool at the bottom of the mountain that we could swim in. We hiked for a few hours, but we stopped along the way to hear stories and swim in the pool. The view from mountain to mountain while hiking was incredible- so green and natural. After the hike, we went to a really cool lookout along the northwest coast of Israel. Rosh Hanakra lookout was on the border of Israel and Lebanon. We took cable cars down to the water, where there were a bunch of really interesting caves and very beautiful blue water. We were there for sunset, which was the perfect time of day to see the coast. After the caves, we headed to Tel Hai Youth Hostel, very ready for a shower and dinner. We had the typical Israeli hotel buffet dinner- burekas, schnitzel, potatoes, other chicken, hummus, vegetables. Delish. After dinner, we went on a night walk to the Tel Hai monument and heard some stories of the history between Israel and Lebanon.

View of Lebanon/ homes of Hezbollah from the Kibbutz

We woke up early on Wednesday and drove to Kibbutz Misgav Am, which borders and looks over Lebanon. It overlooks the homes of Hezbollah and their followers. We could see their houses, schools, army bases, everything. One of the members of the kibbutz gave an amazing talk about his life on the Kibbutz, the politics of the area and the situation between Israel and Hezbollah. One thing he pointed out that really struck all of us was that none of Hezbollah's buildings have windows or any glass. This is because it's much easier to shoot/fire missiles at Israel if there's no glass in the way. Right now, the sitaution on the kibbutz is a watching game. The armies watch each other and monitor their every move. Both sides know the other is watching and listening.

Harry Potter broom candles!

After the incredibly powerful and moving lecture at the Kibbutz, we headed to an Arabic village for a coexistence seminar. We heard about the struggles of the Arab Israeli population and then went to a local high school to talk to 11th and 12th graders about their lives. We sat in small groups and had guided conversations with the high schoolers- it was very interesting hearing about their lives. Some of them were surprised to find out that we were Jewish and even a little afraid because of the way they are treated by some of the Israelis. It was really hard to see their reaction when this was the case.
Wednesday had quickly become a very intense day with a lot of heavy emotions- deep passion for Israel and the cause of the Jewish people there followed by a little shame to learn how some of the Jewish Israelis treat the Arabic Israelis.
Soon after, we switched gears and drove to Tzfat, home of the Kabbalah art of Israel. It also is home to a lot of religious Jews. We walked through the beautiful streets and explored the artsy shops. We went to the candle factory and tasted Yemenite pizza. The candle factory was very cool- they even had Harry Potter broom candles. We had dinner in Tzfat, but we didn't have a lot of time so we settled for schnitzel.  When we got back to the hostel, we were exhausted so we hung out for a bit and went to bed early in preparation for another day of hiking.
On Thursday, we went on a 4 hour hike through the Golan Heights, following the Jilabun River. Before we started, we heard a story about a famous Israeli spy that saved the Golan from being captured, which gave us something to think about as we started the hike. The view was incredible as we climbed through the mountain. We stopped at a waterfall that formed a pool for lunch and bit of swimming. The water was freezing! We went in anyway and swam over the be under the waterfall. After we dried of a little, we climbed back up the mountain and got back on the bus. We went to a war memorial at the border of Israel and Syria and heard the story of the Yom Kippur War. While we were there, a group of soldiers was given a talk by an older Israeli that had actually fought in the war- we were surprised how young the man was, which goes to show that these events are not that far in the past. After the talk, we got a surprise trip to the Naot Factory! It was tough, but I managed to find a new pair of sandals there.
Friday morning was another early morning as we packed up and left Tel Hai and drove to the Kineret. We got to swim in the Kineret and hang out at a beach bar/restaurant on the water. Ellie and I met up with our friend Guy Waks from camp this summer! He lives on a Kibbutz near the Kineret, so he visited us for a bit. It's so great seeing so many camp people in Israel!! After the Kineret, we drove back to Tel Aviv and spent the rest of the day watching movies/relaxing. The trip was a whirlwind of events, from hiking to history lessons to Lebanon and Sryia's borders. It was nice to unwind a bit in Tel Aviv before thinking about starting our internships in a few days.