Israeli Cancun

After my first full week of volunteering, it was time for another vacation. Sorry for such a long delay between post but I spent the week after the last post recovering from an exhausting trip traveling up north. I needed to spend the next week relaxing in Nes Zionna. Everybody from the Oranim program (about 150 people) went to Eilat for a 3 day vacation last Friday. The bus picked us up at 6:45 Friday morning so I was planning on going to bed early so I could be ready for the weekend. A few girls that Dan and I had meet invited us to a kibbutz party Thursday night about 20 minutes from our house. I’m starting to learn that some words have different meanings between Israelis and American’s. For example, the word ‘party” at home usually means somebody’s house so when I was invited to a kibbutz party I figured it would be out in a field, maybe bond fire with people drinking. “Party” in Israel means nightclub and that also means that parties here don’t start until 12 AM at the earliest. The nightclub was in the middle of a farm surrounded by nothing. The “Party” was a lot of fun even though I don’t understand techno music dancing. When we left the club at 3:30 in the morning because we had to be up in 2 hours, there were still people coming in and the club was packed.

That night pretty much summed up the entire Eilat experience. After my 2 hours of sleep, and a light nap on the bus it was time for a 4 hour hike before we got to Eilat. The hike was in the Negev in an area called Machtesh Gadol. This is one of five craters in the Negev and when we finally reached the top of the hill if you do a 360 you can actually see the wall of the crater. The hike was very challenging but once we got to the top the views were amazing and well worth it. After lunch and a smelly 2 hour bus ride, we were finally in Eilat. The nickname for Eilat is the “Israeli Cancun” and that’s a pretty accurate description of it. It’s made for tourist, both Israel and abroad with beautiful hotels on the water, packed beaches with DJ’s blasting techno music, scuba/snorkeling/Jet Skies… and nightclubs/bars galore. Needless to say, I had a blast going out at night, meeting other people from the Oranim programs and there was even a booze cruise Saturday night to start the evening off right. Having to be ready to leave the hotel at 7 AM Sunday morning did not seem like the best idea after another night of very little sleep and the 8 AM hike seemed like an even worse idea. Luckily for me I sweated all the alcohol out of my body by 8:15 from the desert sun since it was another tough hike. This hike just like the first hike was amazing and from the top of the mountain you could see Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. After that we stopped at Ben Gurion's grave for a history lesson and more views of the Negev. We made it home about 15 minutes before the Ravens/Bronco’s game so I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.

The approximately 10 hours of sleep over 3 nights took a toll on me and caused my eyes to be very bloodshot and hurt so I took the last couple days to rest. I’m feeling all better now and am planning on going to Jerusalem tomorrow night. While Jerusalem has so many historic and Jewish things to do, it also has a great nightlife and restaurants. After the holidays, I’m taking a break from all the Jewish stuff and am just going to enjoy the night out tomorrow. I put some pics up on facebook from Eilat if you want to see more. Here’s a picture of me hiking up the Machtesh Gadol and of some Israelis we were hanging out with Friday night.

It’s about doing, not seeing

“Israel is about doing, not seeing” is what the Rabbi from New Jersey told me Wednesday night during Simchat Torah dinner when I told him where I had travelled during Sukkot. I think that comment does a great job of explaining what it’s like to be here and to really try and understand Israel. Unlike traveling through Europe where you wake up early, sight see all day and then do the same thing the next day. To really see Israel you need to talk to Israelis, party at night, have conversations about life and Judaism, dance with torah’s on holidays and of course sight see. I think it’s the variety that Israel has that you can’t find anywhere else, and that’s what makes Israel so fascinating to me.

I travelled for the past 10 days and started and ended the trip in Jerusalem to celebrate Sukkot and Simchat Torah. Being in Jerusalem is really incredible for the Jewish holidays, even though I don’t really know much about them there is such an amazing feeling being at the western wall with everybody. I’m not sure who sponsors or runs the program but for every Shabbat and Jewish holiday in Jerusalem anybody who doesn’t have a family to go to can meet this guy named Seidel just outside of the western wall. Seidel sets you and your friends up with a family to go to for dinner and lunch the next day. It’s such a great program because it makes you want to go to Jerusalem for the holidays since you have something to do the whole time. The people who meet for dinner are different ages and come from different backgrounds, families take sometimes up to 10 people so it’s a great way to meet new people in Israel as well.

After I spent the first night celebrating Sukkot and the next night partying just off Ben Yehuda street I went to Haifa for a couple days. Haifa is very beautiful, the majority of Haifa is built into the surrounding hills and looking up from the beach it’s a very pretty city. The saying in Israel is “Tel Aviv parties, Jerusalem prays and Haifa works” and that’s the feeling you get there, especially with the enormous port and the technology park next to the bus station that had such companies offices there as Google, Microsoft, IBM, Yahoo, Hewlett Packard and many more. After a few days exploring Haifa it was off to Tiberias on the Kinneret. Tiberias is very beautiful and since it was Sukkot, it was packed with Israelis vacationing. The entire beach was surrounded with Israelis camping on the water, grilling, drinking, smoking nageliah (hukkah) and blasting techno music. We stayed in a hostel but next time I go back I’m definitely renting a tent and camping for a few days. The highlight of Tiberias was probably the bike ride along the Kinneret where we ended with a swim in the Jordan River and a walk around Kibbutz Kinneret where we sampled so many delicious dates, chocolates, cheeses and candy all made and grown at the kibbutz.

After Tiberias it was off to Tzfat which is the center of Kabbalah. We stayed at a place called Ascent where they run Kabbalah classes all day and night. When I said earlier about “doing Israel”, this is what I meant. I went from partying in Tiberias to the next night up just as late having a discussion with Rabbi’s and other people like me about Judaism and how it relates to life, it was very enjoyable. After a late night of discussion, took a 4 hour bus ride on a packed bus to Jerusalem with nothing but ultra orthodox, not the most enjoyable bus ride. Simchat Torah was awesome in Jerusalem, such a special feeling being in Israel for it and I even carried the Torah while dancing in circles with everybody else celebrating. I’m exhausted and need a few days to recover. I posted pictures from the first month on facebook. Next Friday all of the Oranim programs are going to Eilat for 3 days so I’m very excited for that. Check out the sign above the urinal in Haifa just in case you were worried about going to the bathroom during Shabbat.