Zefat and Shabbat

On day two, we all woke up to an early start at 7 o’clock, still a little jet lagged. After a hardy breakfast, we hopped on the bus and took a 40 minute windey ride up to Zefat. From the top of the mountain, we got a beautiful view of Lake Kineret, the only lake in Israel and all of Tiberias. The mountain was covered in a white rock with green grass, in between, which looked really neat. Once we got up to Zefat, the weather was a little on the chilly side with a little rain. We learned that Zefat was one of the four holy cities in Israel. The streets were made of stone with a draining system and there were tzedakah boxes all around, in which all of the students donated. First, we strolled the narrow streets, peeking in the alleys and dodging the hasidic Jews who came our way. We made our way to a grotto where all sat and listened to our tour guide tell the story of how Kaballah (which began in Zefat) grew. We then went to the synagogue named in honor of the creator of Kaballah which was absolutely unique. Inside the temple, there were shrapnel holes in the beema from where bombs exploded right ourside.
Next, we got a little break to look inside the shops and finally, the fog started to rise, showing a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. A man on the corner was selling delicious pomegranete, which most students got and were raving about. The candle shop on this street was incredible, selling beautiful havdallah and hannukah candles. After our shopping venture, we checked out another synagogue and learned its history. we got another break in which we roamed the streets, looking at different shops that sold beautiful Judaica gifts. I (Ari!) got a two hundred year old Siddur on the street for super cheap.
On our ride back down the windey road, we had fun times on the bus before stopping for a delicious lunch of falafel and shwarma. Our next stop was the cemetery in which many famous Israeli heros were burried. The view overlooking the cemetery was beautiful as we listened to some of the life stories of the diseased.
We made our way back to the hotel for Shabbat candles and dinner. We joined together with the other buses we are traveling with in order to celebrate our day of rest in Tiberias. After candles, we went into our respective services and called it a night. We spent the night together with our group and getting to know others. AHHH what a trip….more to come tomorrow!!!