m. The first hitch in the plan arrived before we even got on the road. We had to swing by Ben Gurion Airport to exchange our rental car because the car we were given in Jerusalem was smaller than it was supposed to be (though the guy in the garage swore that it was the right car), it was filthy dirty both inside and out, it reeked of cigarette smoke, and the oil light came on in the morning. None are good on their own – together: a recipe for disaster! The Jerusalem Hertz locations had no cars to exchange, so we were directed to the airport where they had a fleet of cars. The airport office corrected all of the errors of the Jerusalem office, exchanging our nasty jalopy for a larger, cleaner, and “healthier” vehicle. (Lesson: rent the car from the airport in Israel! And the Hertz people in Jerusalem, not so nice and not so honest!)
So, about two hours lost on our trip, we were already down one item on our itinerary for the day. We continued to drive north to Caesarea. We began with a delicious lunch at a fish restaurant overlooking the ancient harbor before we walked our way through the ruined port city with a tremendous history, including being one of “King” Herod’s master building projects (others include Masada, the Herodian, and the expanded Temple Mount and “upgrades” to the Second Temple in Jerusalem.) Shara was very impressed by the magnitude and scope of the entire city and its ruins left over after so many years. She also marveled over the force of the water beating against the shore and some of the walls still standing along the harbor, leaving no question why so much of this city no longer stands. Daphne loved running along the length of the hippodrome and climbing through some of the small archways. I enjoyed seeing this place through the eyes of loved ones, having visited Caesarea several times before.
From Caesarea we began our long drive east, passing through Afula and Beit She’an (which was supposed to be one of our stops today) in the Jezreel Valley, and then north to the Kinneret, otherwise known as the Sea of Galilee. We arrived at our kibbutz guest house, Ma’agan, (http://www.inisrael.com/maagan/index.html) on the southern tip of the Sea, and checked into our room. We quickly freshened up and then drove north along the west coast of the Kinneret to Tiberius, where we dined at another first class seafood restaurant on the water, Decks. (For those of you familiar with Pagoda, the Asian restaurant on the north coastal end of Tiberius, Decks is owned by the same person – in fact, we were able to order from both restaurants’ menus!) Tired from our long day, we made our way back to our resting place, cleaned up, and went to sleep.
Besides the rental car experience, my main lesson for the day was not to be so ambitious with travel plans when including young children. Daphne is a slow eater, a slow mover (even though I did a lot of carrying), and needs to go to the bathroom quite a bit. Though she is a great sleeper in the car! Thinking of her and her needs and limitations, I had to rethink the plans for the next day….
Wednesday morning revealed a beautiful view of the Kinneret from the sliding glass door of our room (which almost made up for the deficiencies of the room itself). After admiring the scenery and packing our stuff, we ate a wonderful Israeli breakfast and then drove north. We stopped briefly in Tiberius to visit the tomb of Moses ben Maimon, better known as Maimonides or Rambam, the famous Talmudic commentator (among countless other scholarly writings). Then we continued north along the west coast of the Kinneret, into the Upper Galilee to the mystical city of Tzfat. After driving throughout the city, admiring the narrow stone streets, the modern mixed in with the ancie
began by wandering through the Old Citynt, and lots of blue (a “mystical” color), we parked between the artists’ colony and the Old City (an amazing parking spot find!) We , enjoying the countless shopping opportunities, and visiting some of the synagogues named for some of the sages and mystics that in some cases helped to found them (including Isaac Luria a.k.a. HaAri – the Lion, the famous mystic, AbuHav, scribe of a famous Torah scroll, and Joseph Caro, who is given credit for arranging the Kabbalat Shabbat service, the prayers and blessings that we recite on Friday night before Barchu, including L’cha Dodi).One of my favorite moments of the day was our visit with one of my favorite Tzfat artists, Moshe Dadon, (http://www.dadon-gallery.com/) who specializes in micro-calligraphy designs and paintings. I hadn’t been in his shop in about nine years, and the moment I walked in the door, he lifted his head, stared intently at me, and said, “I remember you.” I reminded him that I had been a guide for NFTY and Birthright Israel back in the mid to late 90’s, and that I had bought several poster sized prints from him (one of each of the Five Books of Moses/The Torah) during those years. He was delighted to meet Shara and Daphne, and provided Daphne with cookies, a bathroom, and gave her a beautiful charm and necklace as a gift. Shara helped me to pick out another print, though this time I upgraded to canvas, which I cannot wait to display in our home or in my office at the synagogue (Shara gets to choose!)
Of course we visited the Tzfat candle factory, where I purchased some special Shabbat and Havdallah candles for the synagogue (and for my family’s private use). Our last stop, after a late lunch, was to the gallery of a young woman, Sheva Chaya, (http://shevachaya.com/) who specializes in blown glass and watercolor. We enjoyed our tour of her artistry and bought a few pieces from her to bring home. (Being back in Tzfat and re-experiencing the wealth of art brings to the surface my disappointment that we could not find success in hosting our “Tsfat Night” several months ago. I hope we can try it again in the near future.)We left Tzfat and continued north. The best part of this drive is that it is so scenic. From the rolling hills of the Upper Galilee, to the verdant fields within the valleys and foothills, to the tremendous mountains of the Golan Heights up to its peak, Mount Hermon, to the mighty rivers that feed the Jordan and Kinneret, to the heights that separate Israel and Lebanon…it’s like there is a little of everything beautiful up in the Galilee…except for desert, which can also be exquisite. We stopped into the outlet on Kibbutz Naot Mordechai where we purchased…sandals of course! I bought a pair of suede clogs to replace my last pair which has seen better days. (This is the pair that I love that makes Shara laugh every time I wear them. But you know what?! I don’t care because they are one of the most comfortable pair of shoes that I own!)
Following our last of many shopping experiences of the day, we continued onto our next lodging point, Pastoral at Kibbutz K’far Blum. (http://www.kfarblum-hotel.co.il/?Lang=eng) If the night before was substandard, this was paradise. Don’t get me wrong, it’s no Ritz or Waldorf, or even Marriot or Hyatt Regency, but this charming guest house is noted as one of the best of its class in Israel, and having stayed at many of them over the years with HUC, NFTY, and Birthright, I can concur. (You know it’s a “nice-r establishment in Israel when you are provided with conditioner in addition to shampoo, a hair dryer, and there is Wi-Fi IN the rooms, and not just in the lobby.) After a quick schluffy, we drove 10 minutes north, not too far from Daphna and Dan (more kibbutzim, though Dan triples as one of the three springs/rivers that feeds the Jordan, as well as housing a famous archeological site, the ancient city of Laish, excavated by Dr. Avraham Biran, who currently serves as the Director of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archeology at the Jerusalem campus of HUC-JIR.) There we dined at another delicious restaurant called Foccaccia, before heading back to our quarters, cleaning up, and going to sleep. (Or in my case, typing this blog and then going to sleep!)
Tomorrow our plan is to head south and west, hopefully hitting one of the stops we missed on the way up north, and ending in Tel Aviv. There is so much that I want to do and experience with Shara and Daphne, but our time is just too short. I am comforted at the thought that we will be back….
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