Last week at Livnot!

Last week at Livnot

Monday:

After breakfast we had another day of excavating, we did the same thing that we did last week of digging out dirt and rocks and we discovered a new room that had been built over. We didn't get to enter the room, it would take a lot more digging to get down there safely, but I'm excited for whoever gets to continue on that project in the future!

The group did a tour of tzfat and met a local artist, but since my friend Sarah and I already did that, we decided to explore tzfat on our own instead. We talked to artists and also went to a cheese and ice cream factory where we met the owner and sampled some delicious cheeses and ice creams--yay dairy, yay Wisconsin. His family created the recipe for tzfat cheese which is a very salty but delicious cheese and they are the only people to make it this type of cheese.

We then headed back to campus for dinner and we did another Mu Judaism circle and met all the new people in our group for the week!

Tuesday:

We did an all day hike to a beautiful waterfall pool. The waterfall was pretty big and the surrounding rocks were awesome to jump off of and into the water. I had so much fun climbing around and swimming in the water. We had our lunch there as well and enjoyed some yummy pita, hummus, and tahina with veggies. 

After the hike we bussed back to livnot and my friend Sarah and I walked around. I finally bought a small water color painting from a woman who's work I really liked. She was so sweet as well and nice to talk to. She had a big water color painting I really like and when I stopped in a few days before and told her I really liked it but couldn't afford a big painting, she told me she would make me a smaller one. When I came back today she had a smaller one in two different sizes for me and said I shouldn't feel pressured to buy either if I didn't want to, but I of course loved it and bought the smaller one! :)

In the evening, a few of us went to a local cafe and had a beer and chatted before heading back to sleep after a long day :)

Wednesday

This morning we went back to the senior center and dance and danced with the senior citizens-- although most of them didn't speak english, it was a fun experience to connect with them through music!

In the afternoon I skipped programming because it was the same activities that we did the previous week. I set up an appointment with one of the artists I had met the previous week to make some art with her. She is a ceramist from the states but she has been living in Israel for over 20 years. We played with clay and I made two mezuzahs with her. She is going to fire and paint them and then ship them to me!

When I got back to the campus my group was doing the same tu'beshavat seder as last week but I joined in with them as we talked about the significance of this holiday of the trees. 

After the seder we headed out to a bon fire where the other group had set up a fire with s'mores materials as well. We enjoyed the light of the fire at where one of the oldest artist studio's was located and we sang songs and listened to very talented guitar players strum their hearts out.

Thursday:

We went on a long hike today and pretty much scaled down a mountain. We had lunch at some swimming holes and enjoyed the shaded area for a while before continuing on our hike. We had a pretty rigorous climb back up in the hot heat with no shade-- I drank so so much water throughout this hike!

In the afternoon back in Tzfat I did my final gift buying and saying goodbye to my favorite artists that I always visited, because tomorrow would be Shabbat and most would be closed!

We then had shabbat prep and peeled and chopped lots of veggies while listening to music and dancing a lot! I went out for dinner and had my last falafel from my favorite falafel guy! So many lasts! 

I then went to Cafe Michael with Sarah, Sunni, and Lexis and we got some amazing cheesecake and listened to live music! We then went to the amphitheater steps and hung out there, and some guys from livnot came and joined us! We had a couple of beers and then a random man came by and gave us a huge tray of free baked goods from my favorite bakery-- Ariel bakery. It was amazing. There were randomly a lot of slugs on the steps that were so fun to watch but also made me very nervous to accidentally sit or step on one!

Friday:

Challabration-- we spent the morning braiding challah which was really fun! and I learned that out of the whole bunch of dough we always take a part out of the dough out for those who do not have food.

After making challah I walked around a bit and had my last lehouh ( the Yemenite food across the street from Livnot). 

We then had shabbat prep and got things ready for our dinner. After an afternoon of hanging out and prepping, we lit the candles and then went up to the balcony to watch the sunset into Shabbat. 

I walked around tzfat with a few people to feel the energy of Shabbat in tzfat. Like last weekend and every weekend, the town shuts down for this weekly holiday. No cars drive in the street, everything is closed, and everywhere you walk you hear prayer and songs coming from the different shuls. 

Women and men are separated in the shuls by a curtain. 

We then headed back to Livnot for our Shabbat dinner -- we did a blessing for the wine, drank some wine, washed out hands 3 times on each side, and then did a blessing for the challah and ate the delicious bread we made that morning. We then had the rest of the delicious Shabbat meal.

After eating a bunch of us hung out upstairs, had some beer and cookies and had DMCs until 3am.

Saturday:

We slept in for shabbat and then I went with 3 other girls to a family's house for shabbat lunch. We went to one of the artist's homes and had a delicious and healthy lunch. 

After lunch many of us took a nap because the holiday of Shavuot started this evening and its tradition to stay up all night and learn-- I didn't stay up all night and learn, but I did stay up all night.

We had our dinner and entered Shavuot which is the holiday of when the Torah and 10 commandments were given to the jewish people. Before today, I didn't know what Shavuot was but apparently it is one of the holiest holidays in the jewish religion. It's common to eat dairy foods on Shavuot -- so we had lasagna and quiches for dinner. We had a class that taught us more about Shavuot and then an ice cream party. 

To stay up all night would be a challenge, but I wanted to make it until dawn- around 7am- when the 10 commandments are read.

The whole town of tzfat is still shit down, just like it is on shabbat, but all of the shuls are packed all night long. I stayed up and hung out with some girls upstairs while we played guitar, sung, danced, and played some cards against humanity. We played the card game until around 3:30am when Yifat took whoever wanted to go to the Mikva. About 10 of us walked over to a nature preserve where we had to illegally enter by scaling a fence and hopping over. We got to the Mikva which is a pool of natural water-- it's a jewish tradition to submerge yourself in the Mikva for cleansing, purity, renewal, etc. Orthodox women enter a Mikva every month after their period to cleanse themselves. If you convert to Judaism you have to enter the mikvah. And on Shavuot it is tradition for both sexes to enter the mikvah just before dawn and before they go back to shul to read the 10 commandments. 

We got there and were about to hop in but then a group of about 10 guys came and Yifat told them to go ahead of us. Many of us ladies were upset because we got there first, but in orthodox religion the men are seen as unable to control their sexual thoughts, so she didn't want them to be near thinking about us being naked in the mikvah. A lot of us were frustrated and it was already getting light out by the time the boys were done. We almost didn't go in, but then decided we walked and waited so why not.

I felt a lot of déjà vu with my Ecuador experience where I went to a spiritual cleansing in the river in the middle of the night, and had to deal with machismo there. Ecuadorians and Orthodox Jews are clearly very different, but some of their cultural beliefs and traditions are oddly similar.

After hopping in the mikvah, dunking my head under three times and getting out quickly because the water was cold, we all hopped the fence and walked back.

I went to a near by shul where the women and men are separated-- slightly annoying because the guys have the Torah on their side and the women just have to listen through the wall and curtain to know what to read. There was a lot of energy on the women's side even though they had been up all night and it was 6:30am. After the Torah portion was read I went back to Livnot and passed out until 2:30 pm.

Sunday:

I slept in to the extreme -- after finally getting out of bed and showering, I made it out of my room by 3pm. I was so hungry so I was happy to find out our Beer-BQ was underway. We were having a Beer-BQ on the roof to celebrate Shavuout. We had a huge feast of BBQ'd goodies and then we did some skits. I ended up portraying as a rock which was probably my first and last attempt at acting.

We had some free time where I walked around Tzfat for the last time and took some photos of the beautiful ancient streets and blue doors.

In the evening we wrapped up the week with our closing circle and had some lovely conversations with Yifat and had to say goodnight and goodbye, because I was leaving early the next morning.

Monday in Jerusalem:

I hopped on a bus with Sarah at 8am and we got to Jerusalem at noon. We went to our friend Anna's place to drop off our bags and then got to exploring. We ate probably the best falafel I had throughout my entire time in Israel at a place called Maoz. We then walked to the old city where we wandered through the markets in the Jewish quarter and found our way to part of the muslim quarter, although once we reached a certain part a security guard told us we could not pass, and that only muslims were allowed. We explored more of the Jewish quarter and entered an ancient synagogue, we were then soon told to leave because it was a men only synagogue...

We walked around, observed people at the Kotel (Western wall) from afar, and then made our way back into the new city. We walked around the Shuk (Market) which is probably my favorite market that I have ever visited. It was such a huge market with vendors that sold teas, spices, cheeses, juices, meats, there were pop up bars, and cafes, and even restaurants. Part of the shuk sold souvenirs and clothes, others had fresh veggies and fruits. It was awesome! Like I mentioned, it was probably my favorite market I've ever visited in all of my travels, with Barcelona's, Melbourne's and Madisons as close followers.

I had my last slushie coffee from aroma cafe, I will most definitely miss this coffee treat. We met up with Anna in the shuk once she got done with work and we had dinner at an Israeli restaurant in the shuk. We then went back to her place and I took a walk on my own for a little bit before returning to say goodbye, grab my things and make my way to the airport.

It was quite the journey to the airport. My flight was at 12:45am so I hopped on a bus outside of Anna's apartment at 8:45. I got to the central station in Jerusalem and got on another bus at 9:15 that dropped me off at a shuttle stop near the airport around 10. After waiting for about 20 minutes, there was no shuttle and I was getting a little nervous because it was getting closer to my flight time. There were two guys also waiting at the shuttle stop so we decided to get a cab together to get to the airport. 

We got to the airport by 10:45ish and even though everyone said it wouldn't be that crowded that late on a monday night, the place was packed. I got into a line and was nervous I would miss my flight with how long the line was. Once I got to the front of the line they interrogated me about my Judaism like they did when I left out of JFK in New York. I then waited in another long line to get my boarding pass, since I didn't have it because my ticket was through birthright, and to also drop off my luggage. I then waited in security and after getting my shoes back on I sprinted to the gate. I made it on just in time but then once seated I found out we were delayed until 2am-- good thing I was beat tired. I woke up in New York.

I had to re-check in and get my luggage and drop it off again and then made it onto my flight to Chicago! After the longest travel day it was 11am in Chicago and I was happy to be home :)

I had such an amazing time in Israel. The country is so small ( the size of New Jersey!) but it offers to much. The second biggest tech scene is in Tel Aviv, next to Silicon Valley, the Negev dessert and dead sea in the south, the mountains and valleys in the north, the old historic city of jerusalem and so many neat places in between! 

WOW! I am so grateful to have been able to have the experience at a ridiculously low price. If you're reading this and you're Jewish, you need to sign up for birthright right now!! and extend your trip, because when else do you get to travel on someone else's dime? 

I am so happy I finally made my way to the homeland. When I got to israel and throughout my experience, everyone always said "Welcome Home," and I definitely felt a sense of home during my time in Israel. The country really spoke to me and made me understand the imporatance of a land for the Jewish people, after we have been forced out of so many other places. I am grateful to be able to live in the states and feel safe being Jewish, but it's nice to know that Israel is there if I ever need to or want to return :)

Sending Smiles from Chicago,

Rebecca