Michigan State Hillel: Noah's Great Adventure

With all the amazing sites we had visited in the past three days, we finally had a chance to experience some of the religious aspects of Israel. Today we had the opportunity to visit the mystical kabballah city of Tzfat. After our scenic drive from our hotel, we came to a city that was breath taking. After an earthquake destroyed the old city in 1837, Tzfat was rebuilt with buildings overlooking the picturesque valleys surrounding it, with winding cobblestone streets to match. The city had a certain sense of calmness even though the town’s people were out in the street, enjoying what was the beginning of a gorgeous day. We began our Tzfat experience by meeting a representative from a local community service organization. She gave us a mission, a Tzedek (Justice) mission. She explained that Israel is very rich in stones, but many areas including Tzfat lack lush green places for the local people to enjoy and relax. She challenged us to help her build a local park, a challenge that would not only help their organization and the city, but an experience that we could apply to better ourselves as well. By working in teams of gardeners, schleppers, and cement mixers, we were able to build upon what other groups had started and laid the ground work for future groups to complete the park. In only a short hour, we were able to make a huge difference in the makings of this park.

After our Tzedek experience, we continued our hike through Tzfat and were able to see amazing scenery the city overlooks. At the end of this hike we had the pleasure of meeting up with eight Israeli soldiers, for girls and four boys, who will be a part of our group for the next five days. We did some ice breakers getting to know each other a bit and then took a lunch break. This might have been my personal favorite day for lunch thus far. Sitting eating delicious falafel, on the top of old city steps that went down the side of the mountain, watching the towns people go about their business, and again enjoying the breath taking scenery could not have been a better way to have eaten lunch, of course ending with some amazing ice cream.

After lunch we continued with a tour of Tzfat. On the tour we were supposed to keep in mind that most everything we saw had some sort of mystical meaning associated with it. Right at the start of our journey we were lucky enough to be invited to a private concert of sorts in a little area off the walking path. Two men graced us with their talents on traditional Israeli instruments; it was a real treat. We then went to visit two synagogues, both attached to unique stories. One had no mezuzah. As most know, mezuzahs are supposed to be placed on the entrance to every Jewish home. Rabbis at this synagogue decided that a home is a place where one sleeps, talks or eats, however here none of this occurred, only praying and worship. We went inside and got to see how beautiful these buildings could be. We continued to another synagogue where there was a special torah. This torah was made in Spain in the 15^th century however when the Jews were exiled from Spain in 1492, the torah was saved and relocated to the synagogue in Tzfat. One night hundreds of years later, all of the kabballistic rabbis in Tzfat had the same dream. They all dreamed that the torah spoke to them and wanted to be reunited to its original synagogue. They met the next day and while all realized this was physically impossible, they used one of the principles of kabballah and changed the reality of the situation. They were able to bring the original synagogue to Tzfat, and the torah was once again with its original home, a truly amazing story.

We then were let loose to explore the market place in Tzfat. It was quite the experience as there were a multitude of small shops to browse though, all crammed together on both sides of the street, with many people trying to walk around the crowded streets. There was beautiful jewelry and artwork displayed everywhere, along with clothing and toy shops. Some people chose to buy things, after dealing with some of the vendors trying to take advantage of the tourist, while some only chose to buy the fresh squeezed orange juice made from locally grown oranges, absolutely delicious! After one more icebreaker-ish activity, we headed to see a local artist who shared with us her journey from living in Denver to making alyiah and living in Tzfat. She explained to us a kabballah belief of how instead of focusing on the negatives in life, if only one positive thing can be extracted from any situation, it can be a looked upon as a positive situation. She shared with us her artwork, which she uses as a release to get through the tough times of war which she has recently had to live through. While bombs are falling on the night sky, focus only on the stars she said, and soon that is all you see. She also shared with us by blowing a glass pomegranate, connecting more with the ideas of kabballah, reminding us to always be aware of our breathing, and how every breath can be a spiritual experience. She was a pleasure to learn from.

This concluded our day in Tzfat, a day in which we all learned so much, Kabballah. Tomorrow we head to Tel Aviv, a place where we expect to experience nothing less than another amazing day.

Shalom,

Noah Zucker