What a day! We started off with a long bus ride to Tzfat (two hours!) and spent more time on the bus later in the day, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t have fun! The bus is always filled with chatter about what we’ve seen during the day or talked about at night. There has even been some throwback sing-alongs.
We spent most of the day exploring the old city of Tzfat, the birthplace of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism).
We visited two old synagogues, visited the studio of an American expat artist whose works are inspired by Kabbalah, and wandered the narrow streets filled with artists’ studios and souvenir shops.
After lunch, we sat in excavated 16th century caves, and learned about Kabbalah and discussed Gilad Shalit and how text can provide guidance for complicated moral decisions. It was wonderful having our Israeli participants’ opinions on this intense subject.
Then it was time to head to hot springs in Tiberias. It was wonderfully relaxing after a long day using both our bodies and our minds. Now we are en route to Golan to celebrate New Years together. It is so great to be ushering in the new year with this awesome group!
I agree with most of the above comments, especially Homophobic Horse.Linking the West to “white” is not only dangerous but ultimately a seiecdfstru-tlon of sorts. Many of us pride ourselves on the fact that The West is an inherently universal concept, marginalizing non-white Westerners is just well.. stupid and a severe case cognitive dissonance.One Culture, Many Races.