Spending Shabbat in Israel

So, today was a day of rest…and adventure!  Our TBA students spent Shabbat as Israelis spend Shabbat:  in all different ways, but with a sense of family togetherness and relaxation. Last night, all of our students went home for Shabbat dinner with their host families and today they explored Haifa, traveled in northern region of Israel, walked on the beach, and just hung out and ate good food. Even though the day was mostly rainy, our guest blog contributor Brad Weissel reported on his trip to the Rosh Hanikra and the Lebanese border at our after-Shabbat dinner and social gathering tonight at one of our Israeli's host homes. 

I asked some question to get a sense of how he spent his time today:

Rabbi E:   Brad, how would you describe your day today?

Brad: It was just great!  I had a fantastic day.

Rabbi E: What did you do?

Brad: I'm staying with Ofir and we got a good night's sleep last night which was great. We were going to take a morning bike ride along the coast, but unfortunately, the weather was stormy, so we decided to go on a car-trip instead. We actually took a short drive to the northern border that Israel shares with Lebanon.  It was a little rainy but not bad. We saw the fence that divides Israel and Lebanon and the no-man's zone in between the two countries.  It was quiet up at the border today, but there were many security guards and members of Israel's IDF on duty there.  We then took a cable car down to the grottoes, where the water from the Mediterranean Sea rushed into the cave formations and splashed us in crashing waves. Because it was cloudy with breaks of sun, the water of the Sea looked amazing and kind of sparkled depending on how the light was hitting it at the time. It was absolutely beautiful to look out at the Sea from the grottoes that are set right in the side of the mountain.

Rabbi E: You didn't take a little walk into Lebanon, did you??

Brad: No…that would not have been a good idea!! I stayed in Israel!!

Rabbi E: Then what did you do?

Brad: Then we came back to Haifa, ate a huge lunch, hung out a bit with Leo and his host student, showered and got dressed for the party tonight. I think I am just about on Israel time now….I'm really glad that I slept that 3 hours on the flight….because we are pretty much running all day long.

Rabbi E: Any special message to your family, Brad??

Brad: Sure!  "I'm having a great time in Israel, and so far, have had no problems with being gluten free here! Things here are so much like they are in the US, so I really don't miss anything in particular. Tomorrow we are going on a trip to Caesarea, Ein Hod and Yemin Orde.  I will talk with all of you soon. Love, Brad"