Back again for another update. I have to admit though, I'm cheating a bit. I'm currently sitting in Reagan National Airport, trying to pretend I'm not horribly jet lag and miserable to no longer be in DC and waiting for my flight to Detroit. In case you can't tell by my entries thus far, our trip was pretty packed, leaving precious little free time to keep myself up to date on this thing. Take out the additional time of other people using my computer to check email/facebook/grades, and that leaves me with one very behind blog. However, since I left the journal they gave us for personal reflections and lecture notes, finish this blog I must (I promise, I won't do what I did with Megiddo!).
Anyway, 2009 started with an early wake up (as I mentioned before), followed by a long drive up north to the Lebanon border (which meant lots of bus sleeping). We stopped on the way for a bathroom break, where we were asked to buy chocolate or other candy for the Israeli soldiers we would be meeting later. They said it would really lighten up their day and we would appreciate. I don't think any of us realized that we were actually meeting on-duty soldiers on their patrol of the border, rather than some of the many soldiers wandering around doing other things. More about this later.
We finally arrived at Kibbutz Malkiah, a Kibbutz right on the Lebanese border. We first heard a lecture from Elliot Chodoff, who is the head of northern command, and has written a manual for infantry and paratroopers in the north. His lecture (and its accompanied Q&A session, in which I was an avid participant) was really interesting, and felt very Saban/AIPAC-esqe. He talked about the ties between Hizballah and Hamas, tied in Syria and Iran, and went through the low-down of the threats Israel faces. He explained why a nuclear Iran is not an option Israel can live with, saying that detente won't work in this situation, and anyone who thinks it will doesn't understand the complexities in US-Soviet Cold War relations that made detente work. He brushed off the theory that the leaders of Iran are illogical or suicidal, but rather explained that the major issue is size. If Cold War Soviet Union used nuclear weapons against the US, it would take several thousand bombs to destroy the US. This, therefore, made it so that there was no advantage to attacking first. However, Iran could easily destroy Israel with one nuclear weapon, and completely obliterate it with 2-3. Because of this, if Iran goes nuclear, Israel's best option is to start nuclear war. And when that is your best option, you are in a really really bad situation.
Anyway, Elliot had to leave us to go down to Gaza (since he commanded troops in Lebanon, he had to work with Gaza infantry units who didn't have infantry experience like those who fought in the north). One of the leaders on the Kibbutz, Eitan, who was one of their head farmers, showed us around the kibbutz and talked about the security situation there. Yael later told us that he learned English after the war with Hizballah so that he could explain to groups like us what they had to live with, but he really was just a farmer by trade. He showed us one of the Kassam rockets that landed on the Kibbutz, and then took us out to meet soldiers on patrol. This was an incredibly moving experience, because, while you see soldiers all over Israel, these were soldiers literally on duty patrolling the Israel-Lebanon border, who took 15 minutes on their patrol to stop and meet with us. They showed us the packs they have to carry every day (weighing around 25 pounds), the humvees they drive, some of the weapons and technology they have, and talked to us about their daily routine and some of the drills they do. They were called off, so we moved on to our next location - the orchards of Kibbutz Malkiah right on the border. We stood amongst their orchards, look right across a fence at Lebanon. We started hearing shots, and got really freaked out, but Eitan assured us that he could tell from the sound that they were blanks, being used as practice by the soldiers we had just seen. This comforted us, and let us concentrate on what Eitan was telling us about the border and the Kibbutz's security, how all the women and children had been sent down south by him during the war, while the men stayed to work the fields. He also told us that, even though Lebanon was just right across the fence, and therefore had the same kind of agricultural terrain as Kibbutz Malkiah, Lebanon was growing opium in the fields we were looking at across the fence, while Israel was growing apples and other fruits. This irony was enforced when we were reminded that this is in the UN patrolled area. As far as the UN is concerned, Eitan said, that is a criminal issue, out of their realm of interest.
He was going to show us the kibbutz bomb shelter when he was called off to reserve duty (I think) so we continued on our way to Tzfat. When we finally arrived, we found out we had to lug our suitcases up a few flights of stairs, only to find that our rooms were FREEZING. The hotel was really charming, but really really cold. Unfortunately, it didn't get a whole lot better throughout the weekend, and se spent most of the time bundled in several layers. After dinner, which was basically home cooked by the owners of the hotel and really yummy (made up for the cold I guess?) we bundled up and watched the Academy Award nominated movie Beufort, about a fortress in Lebanon that had been conquered by Israel in the First Lebanon War, in the last few days before the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in the early 2000s. The movie was really interesting, and had much more of an impact after having met with the soldiers. We heard a little bit from Michael, our Israeli madrich (counselor) about what it was like for him to watch the movie, since he was the only one amongst us who had actually served in the army and felt those kind of dangers, pressures, and hopelessness. It was really emotional, and really tough to watch right before bed!
Friday morning we went to Livnot U'Lehibanot, an institute that combines community service with basic Kabbalah study. We listened there to a lecture about Kabbalah and charity and anger, and heard a little about the institution. This was followed by a short tour of the Old City of Tzfat, with Yael taking us to two lesser-toured synagogues - Biet Yosef (Joseph Caro's synagogue) and the Abu Hav synagogue. They were really pretty, and very Tzfat-like in their decor.
After the tour, we had free time to shop around and eat lunch. I went with my friends Sam and Nehama to the vegetarian restaurant I had found on my last trip to Tzfat, which was absolutely delicious. Nehama is vegetarian, so she was thrilled, but Sam and I also really enjoyed it, especially our shared dessert of a whole wheat chocolate chip muffin and apple pie. Lunch was followed by some shopping through the various art and Judaica stores, though I managed to get away without buying anything (yay self-control!). Then we stopped by Tzfat Candles, which we had been informed had recently burnt down, much to my sadness. Well, when I saw it, I realized that they weren't kidding - it was completely destroyed! It was so sad seeing such a cool place in ruins like that, though they have opened up a warehouse a few doors down (I didn't get to see it, though, because by the time I got there, it was already closed for Shabbos). Then we went back to the hotel and got ready for Shabbos.
We did a quick learning session at the hotel, and then lit candles before heading back to Livnot, where we would be holding our services. It was really interesting, because while we could have gone to one of the zillion synagogues in the area, our Rabbi understood that many of the people on our trip would not feel comfortable with the very religious synagogues in the area, especially given the very small women's section in many of them. So, instead, we did our own service, modeled on using the classical tunes of the area, and reflecting on our week and the things that we had done since the last Shabbat. It was a really cool service, and I enjoyed it a lot. The one thing that I found really amazing was during some of the la-la-las after singing some of the prayers. The last Shabbat I spent in Tzfat, I went to a Friday Night service that lasted about 2 hours due to all the singing. I was in a very small women's balcony looking down at all the men, dancing as they sang. I thought it looked like they were having a lot of fun, and that maybe the service would be more enjoyable if women were able to do that as well. However, there was no space for us to do that. Well, it was only appropriate, then, that my next shabbat in Tzfat, all the women danced as we sang as well. It was really fun, and made the service really enjoyable. At the end of the service, we sang Aleinu and Hatikvah on the balcony of Livnot, looking out at the view and the stars. This was followed by dinner at the hotel, filled with lots more singing and some study after. Overall, a wonderful Friday night.
Saturday morning, services weren't really mandatory, so I took advantage of the one day we had to sleep a little bit later, which felt amazing. We had a learning session with some cookies and other snacks, followed by lunch - cholent of course! This was followed by some more fabulous shabbos rest, and then more learning with more snacks (sense a pattern yet?). Then we did Havdalah, and had a little time to get ready before our night program. We went to see a pretty well known Kabbalistic artist named Avraham who was AAAAAAWESOME and SOOOOO DEEEEEEP (imitating him in case you haven't met him before). He was really cool though, and I of course had to buy a small piece of artwork (I have my own room now, so it's worth it!). He, also, is from Michigan, this time from Southfield...apparently there are a lot of Michiganders in Israel? Anyway, after our time with Avraham, we had dinner at one of the many random Tzfat pizza places, followed by watching a little Hassidic dancing thing in front of a random square in front of a bank (?) and then free time hanging out at the hotel.
Off again in the morning for more long bus rides and fabulous adventures in the Golan...
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