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Another long day winding down as our group settles in for two nights at Kibbutz Hagoshrim Guest House in the Upper Galilee, the Hula Valley area, looking out towards the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon.
We began the day heading down from the upper part of Haifa on the Carmel to the lower part in order to visit the Nirim School in the Neve David neighborhood. What an amazing place - a neighborhood elementary school serving disadvantaged and immigrant children. The principal who took over less than two years ago has turned it into a place of smiles and joy and learning and growth and hope. His name is Dr. Oded Hershko and he gave up the practice of medicine to devote himself to changing children's lives. Field trips, comfy pillows on the floor in a play area, volunteers who come in to do music and dance, animals that the children care for, and so much more. Children who are successful for the first time in their school careers and in their lives because Oded and the teachers believe in them. In addition to walking us through the school, he showed us a wonderful powerpoint that included photos of the
trip to Jerusalem sponsored by Gesharim Latikvah (the group that sends Rabbi Nof to sing and lead holiday celebrations at the school). That trip was to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of two Ethiopian Jewish immigrant boys from the 6th grade, and it included the whole class and the boys' parents and friends from Gesharim Latikvah. Perhaps our temple can sponsor something like this for some of the girls in the future - that is one of Rabbi Nof's next projects.
We went with Rabbi Edgar Nof (from Havdalah ceremony last night) and Vered to sing with the 2nd graders for a few minutes and then sadly it was time to leave the school. It struck me how similar Oded's work is to that of the principal of P.S. 24 in Jersey City, near our temple. Perhaps there is a way to connect some of the children of these two schools since they share many of the same experiences and struggles and hard-earned successes.
After the visit we drove back up the Carmel to the top of the Bahai gardens where Nadav explained about the Bahai religion and its connection to Akko and to Haifa. Then it was back
down the mountain to the highway that led around the bay and on to Akko to the north.
Though I had been to Akko and its crusader fortress many times, this was the most memorable as Nadav reviewed the reasons behind the crusades, how these particular knights ended up in Akko and not Jerusalem, and how the city became divided into competing sections. After walking through the halls we had a delicious simple lunch of salads with felafel or schwarma and then walked a bit before boarding the bus to continue heading north.
We arrived close to 4 pm at the Rosh Hanikra grottoes on the border with Lebanon. We took the cable car down to walk through the path and see the grottoes formed by the combination of water dripping down through the limestone and the wave action against the rocks. We saw the two tunnels built into the bedrock to allow a train to pass through the mountains for a few short years before the railroad bridge over the grottoes was blown up in the late 40's to prevent arms from being smuggled from the north into Palestine. Later of course the tunnel from Lebanese side
was cemented up by Israel to prevent anyone crossing the border that way.
After viewing the beauty of nature we drove about 90 minutes east and then north as we left western Galilee and headed up past Kiryat Shmonah to Kibbutz Hagoshrim. It was mostly nap time for our weary group. After an hour of settling in to our rooms we met up at the dining room for the wonderful buffet dinner which everyone was raving about. Good food and good conversation. After dinner a few came back to my room (more like a suite - we were upgraded!) to share more conversation and a glass of wine.
Tomorrow - Tel Dan, Golan Heights and Tzefat. With a tour of a winery and lunch in the middle. Maybe even a swim in the pool when we return for our second night at Hagoshrim!
Laila Tov. Good night.
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