Aliyah

Nebi Samwil - the tomb of the prophet Samuel - was a mosque that may or may not be over the spot where the prophet Samuel is buried. It was a good place that we could remember him, never the less. Even though it was a mosque, however, I saw so many Chasidim wandering around the grounds praying. On our way back to the bus, one of them stopped me and asked where I was from. I told him that i was visiting from the States. And he told me, "We are so happy you are here. G-d willing, you will make your home here one day soon." I had several encounters like that over the course of the trip. I guess that most people just assumed that i was jewish and treated me accordingly. My ... read more

From my journal: City of Gold. We made the ascent from the lowest spot on earth - the Dead Sea - to the highest spiritual place on earth...Jerusalem. We slimbed up the eastern side of the Mt. of Olices, went through a tunnel and - BOOM - there it was, under a sliver of a crescent moon, glistening in the twighlight. Our hotel was within walking distance of the walls of the old city. We were stationed on the corner of Ramban Street and King George Street. Just up the road was the Great Synagogue, that we attended on Shabbat. Ben Yehuda was also within walking distance of our hotel, and let me tell you, the Wall and Ben Yehuda were two places that we frequented. We found this great dress shop hidden in a corner ... read more

Since we arrived too late on Friday afternoon, the actual Ein Gedi spring was already closed for Shabbat. We looked at it from a nearby hill, though. We didn't have long because a freakish wind storm blew in and we had to grope our way back to the bus. ... read more

We drove towards the Dead Sea and drove along it's coast for several miles before reaching the desert fortress of Masada. I would have loved to climb up the snake path but with a group our size, it would have taken us all day, so we all climbed into a cable car instead. The top of Masada is huge! We spent several hours up there and only saw part of the nothern half! The history of Masada covers two distinctly different periods. Herod build a tiered palace on the northern side. The nature-defying contained all the comforts of civilized western culture, including a roman bath! How he got the water up there is mind-blowing. Seventy years later, during the Jewish uprising and the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome, Masada was transformed into a desert fortress by ... read more

We drove southward, into the Negev. There were absolutely spectacular views! Especially driving down into the great crater. And even though this particular portion of the desert was probably not the one where the nation of Israel wandered after the exodus, it really fed my imagination. The land is very harsh (thinking that the shoes on their feet never wore out is seriously supernatural!), but I think I wouldn't have minded being a kid during the desert wandering. Steve only let us explore for about fifteen minutes, but I would have loved to walk all over. ... read more