Wednesday 6/28/06 – The Galilee: the jeep tour, Safat, the raft trip – Day 3

Woke up ~7 am, had breakfast, and took a jeep tour of the Hills of Galilee.  It took 8 jeeps to handle our whole tour group!  As we were driving, our driver broke off some strong smelling plants for us to smell – Abraham’s bush and fennel (anise).  We saw Arab bunkers and the Jordan River and heard the story of how the Jews planted eucalyptus trees to shield the roads and settlements.  So the Arabs planted trees to shield the bunkers.  Only the Jews hadn’t known where the bunkers were before the Arabs planted the trees.  Once the Arabs planted the trees they were able to bomb the bunkers simply by droping a bomb wherever there was a eucalyptus tree.  We stood on a bunker and heard a loooooong story about the history of the Golan Heights.    

We also got a vivid impression of how the Golan Heights provide a panoramic view of  the kibbutzes in the valley below, and what a problem it was when Arabs controlled this area.  The picture above on the right only suggests how easily Arab snipers could pick off people in the valley before Israel took the Golan Heights.  The two pictures below are bunkers.  The one on the right has one of the eucalyptus trees that made it so easy for Israel to take out many of the bunkers.

6:03 pm: After the jeep ride, we drove to Safat.  Safat is built into a hillside and we took multiple switchbacks on the way there.  We arrived at a stairway with shops on either side.  We went up to a synagogue – a Sephardic synagogue and heard another long lecture on history.  We had a short service where the Rabbi struggled slightly with the difference between the Sephardic prayers and the Ashkenazic ones he is used to.  We learned that not only are the prayers slightly different, but the Sephardic Torah is different in form from the Askenazic Torah.  The Sephardic Torah is contained in a stylized box which holds the Torah vertically (see picture on right, below.)

Then up to an Ashkenazic synagogue further up the walkway.  It was beautiful, but it seemed as if as soon as we got there, they were shooing us out – I think we arrived just before they wanted to close up for the day. 

For lunch, I ordered “yellow toast.”  The restaurant messed up and gave my meal to someone else.  So they made up for it by making a more expensive sandwich for me – with Bavarian cheese.  It was excellent. We looked around the shops for a little while and then it was on to the next stop - river rafting down the Jordan River.  Jonathan and I took a 2-person canoe, as did Marc & Benjamin.  So did Don & Michael.  

Mom, Dad, Sue and Samantha got in a regular raft with Ruth Melworm.  Only two people paddled in Mom and Dad’s raft, Dad in the back and Sue in the front.  Early on, Dad pushed off a rock and his paddle stuck, pulling him into the water.  But he hung on to the paddle and the boat, and managed to get back in without too much trouble.  He was no worse for the wear, but his camera got ruined.  I also brought my camera with me on the boat and took pictures.  At one point we passed some Israeli teenage girls who asked me in Hebrew if I wanted to get wet – but I don’t know the word for “wet” so I didn’t understand them.  So they asked me in English.  I responded with “לא - זה לא טוב” (“No, that’s not good”) Next, they said to take their picture – so I did. 

When we got to the take out place, we bought the pictures that the boating people had taken – then back to the Kibbutz.  The kids swam for about 20 minutes until the pool closed and then we had dinner.  That day was Marc’s birthday so I had arranged secretly with Naftali for the Kibbutz to make a birthday cake for Marc and also for Don’s birthday and for Mom and Dad’s anniversary, which were both the next day.  Now I had to make sure everyone stayed in the dining hall until they brought the cake out!  Plus Marc and Jonathan and Benjamin had arrived at the dining hall first and had chosen an 8 person table.  Luckily, Mom and Dad were sitting with us, but Don and Sue and their kids were not.  They were close, though.  Just before they brought the cake out, I told Don and Sue that I had arranged for a cake for Marc’s birthday and they should come over.  Jonathan wanted to go back to the room, but I wouldn’t let him (Fortunately, I had the only key, or he would have been gone!)  From this, Marc knew that something was up.  They brought out the cake and I was not happy to see that it said “Happy Anniversary.”  But Marc didn’t mind.  He had thought that I had forgotten his birthday and was pleased that I hadn’t.  I said that the cake was in honor of Marc’s and Don’s birthdays and Mom and Dad’s anniversary and we sang Happy Birthday and ate cake.  Then we went back to the rooms and Benjamin, Samantha and two other girls watched the Lion King 1½ on Don’s portable DVD player and Jonathan played DS and Michael read “Popular Science.”

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On to Day 4