Learning History while Connecting to the Land

By Alina Sigmond

Day 3 began with everyone up early for another gorgeous hike. Today's adventure was a bit difficult, yet rewarding; Mount Arbel, where in addition to hiking on trails, we heard about the history and stories of the IDF from this place and about the importance of paying attention to heat advisories in Israel. The lesson was well timed - it was extremely hot up there.

After some easy walking, we came to a mountain path that was only navigable by ropes and ladders that luckily were already pre-drilled into the mountain. From there, the hike moved upwards into caves that were used by ancient Israelis in their, ultimately unsuccessful, attempts to safely hide from the Romans.

About an hour later, we were back on the bus, all of us extremely hot and tired, but happy to have heard the history while connecting to the land. A short drive later brought us to the traditionalM community of Tzfat. After a relaxing lunch of falafel and a lot of water, our wonderful tour guide Yossi took us to the old city and spoke about the history of the place and people living there.

The streets were small yet filled with color and flowers. We went into an old Sephardic synagogue, sang, walked around, and spoke about cultural differences and divides among Israeli Jews. As someone who has lived in Spain and experienced a bit of the Jewish culture still present in the Spanish cities, it was really impactful to see similar architecture, pictures, and hear of traditions I had previously witnessed and experienced abroad.

After Tzfat, the day continued with a final stop along the Israeli-Lebanese border where an educator from the military shared with us safety concerns and historical divisions in the Middle East to broaden our understanding of the many difficult current situations in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.

The night ended with a lesson on Israeli folk dancing in the evening. While none of us will be changing our careers to become professional Israeli folk dancers in the near future, we all had a good time. This is our last day in the North, tomorrow morning we are up again bright and early to head south to Jerusalem. :)

Photo Credits: Header Image-@gingerkaze, Image 3-@katie_samuels

Tags:

Tsfat

Israeli Culture

Borders

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Learning History while Connecting to the Land

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