We starting the day at breakfast. Lots of new foods to try including a number of kinds of Barekas (cheese filled flaky dough). Then we walked around the Kibbutz together and tried to understand exactly what a Kibbutz is. We are staying at Kibbutz Dagania, the first Kibbutz in Israel. For those of you who aren't so familiar a Kibbutz is a communal socialist experiment in Israel. Although they don't function like this anymore, in the old days everything was communal. You were allotted a house, at TV, even your kids were communal and grew up in dorms with visitation rights. Dagania doesn't work like that anymore but the communal spirit is still alive here.
Then we headed up the Golan Heights We spoke about its history and went to Mnt Bental (3140 ft up) and looked out over Syria and Lebanon. We spoke about the history of wars with these countries and about Israel's relationship to the conflict in Syria. Our students were very interested why Israel does not take Syrian refugees. We were able to have a good conversation because they have a unique and new perspective on politics after this last election.
Then we headed to a chocolate factory. The factory was started by an Argentinian woman who came to Israel. We learned how the chocolate is made, got a chance to try some and then made some ourselves. They love it! And the students are really excited to get to eat their concoctions tomorrow.
After a quick lunch at Rosh Pina (the earliest Zionist town) and a chance for about half our group to choose to try Israeli McDonalds (btw the burgers are HUGE here) we headed to Safed. Safed is one of the oldest cities in Israel and is very holy. It is also the home to Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. We met with an artist who told us all about his work. Using secrets of math and colors he has hidden meaning in all his paintings. The students were completely blown away. Then we headed to the old synagogue where we learned about one of the most famous Kabbalists (Isaac Luria). We did some singing and meditation and then went shopping in an amazing candle factory.
We then headed home for dinner and little bonding before heading to be.
Of the Jerusalem tomorrow...
Some pictures from today:
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