on the cable cars down to the sea grottoes

walking through the sea grottoes

Wednesday afternoon we visited Acco which is the knight’s halls and crusader complex where we learned more about the history of the crusaders in Israel.  From there we headed to Achziv beach where we spent the evening and slept overnight.  We had some time to swim and hang out before having a bbq dinner and talent show with some great songs and even our very own Micah in Israel update. We slept out by the beach under the stars that night and woke up the next morning and headed to a Jewish village in a large Arab community to talk about the Jewish-Arab relationship and to learn more about how that plays out in Israel. We had two speakers, one Jewish and one Arab who spoke to us about the situation and gave us the opportunity to ask questions.  That afternoon we were supposed to hike, but it was too hot to hike so instead we headed to the beach to cool off in the water.  That night we went to Rosh Hanikrah cable car to sea grottoes where we explore some of the caves that had formed naturally in the mountains. 

group picture before the bike ride

all ready to set out on the bike ride

getting ready to bike 40K

Friday morning we woke up very early to do our bike ride to support the Alyn Hosptial in Jerusalem.  We all biked 40K through the Gaililee.  It was hot, but we all had a great time biking and raised over two thousand dollars to support the hospital!  After finishing the ride we cooled down in some natural springs and then headed to the Golan Heights to Keshet, the Moshav that hosted us for Shabbat.  We were all placed with families on the Moshav for the weekend.   While some of the families spoke English, many of them do not and we all had the chance to work on our Hebrew and had a new experience in an Orthodox community.  Friday night was spent and Kabbalat Shabbat services and then dinner with our families.  Saturday morning we went to services and had lunch back with our families.  That afternoon the kids had some free time to explore the area as well as activities with the Israeli kids to learn more about each other. After Havdallah that evening the boys and the girls each made a bonfire and hung out singing songs and telling stories. 

at the olive oil factory

Sunday morning we woke up and packed our stuff to leave.  Everyone enjoyed their time on the Moshav and getting to know the families we stayed with. We headed straight to learn more about the Golan Heights through videos and a topographical map of the Golan.  There we got a better understanding of where we will be all week.  We also visited an olive oil factory nearby where we took a tour and then had the chance to sample their olive oils and cosmetic products, and many of us bought items to bring home. After a yummy lunch in the area we headed for our first hike in the Golan, where we hiked to 2 different waterfalls where we cooled off and swam around.  Everyone had fun hiking and enjoyed the breaks in the water to keep us cool.

learning how to blow the shofar

Mitzpeh Shalom lookout

This morning we began at Kol Hashofar workshop where we learned all about Shofars, from an expert maker.  He gave us a demonstration on how he makes them and what the finished products sound like, depending on what animal they come from and who he makes them for. The kids all got a chance to blow the shofar and many of them did a very good job.  From there we headed to Mitzpeh Shalom lookout that looked out across the Kinneret and the area.  Then we headed to our hotel where we checked in and had lunch on the beach and swam in the Kinneret.  This evening we ate dinner in Tiberias and went on a boat ride around the Kinneret.  On the boat we danced to Israeli and American music and even did some drumming.