We woke up this morning at Kibbutz Degania Bet, part of the very first kibbutz complex in Israel's early history. It's been awesome to see how the kibbutz system has evolved from its beginnings until the present day. And we started our day with a signature of kibbutz life: a communal breakfast in the meal hall with guests and kibbutzniks alike.
After breakfast, we headed to Tel Dan -- a nature walk set atop the ruins of an ancient Canaanite city. It gets its name from the ancient Israelite tribe of Dan, which laid claim to this part of the land. Our tour guide, Zvi, showed us naturally growing vegetables to nosh on, and taught us about the culture and legal system of the early Canaanites.
A twenty-minute drive from Tel Dan is the Hula Valley nature preserve, the landing spot for hundreds of thousands of birds as they migrate from Africa to Europe and vice versa. We arrived there after a quick lunch of some amazing pizza, and we set off to bike around the preserve. It was a terrific opportunity to see more wildlife from around Israel -- different here from the other regions in which we'd traveled -- and we heard a little more about the Israeli government's efforts at environmental protection.
Our final stop of the day was Tzfat, the mystical northern city famous for being the birthplace of Kabbalah. We ascended the mountains and finally arrived in the ancient city of narrow limestone streets, just before sunset. Once we arrived, we stopped at the studio of local artist, David Friedman, who taught us about Jewish mysticism and the numerical significance of Hebrew letters -- all in the context of showing us his art. It was hands down one of the group's favorite moments of the trip. We learned a little more about Kabbalah and the history of the city, and we stopped by a famous Israeli candle shop before heading home.
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