Getting Tzvated in the Holy Land

By way of background, Tzfat (Zefad or Safed as alternative spellings) is one of the four holy cities in the Holy Land, the others being Hevron (where Avram and Sarah are buried), Jerusalem, and Tiberius.  I have had the fortune of going to all four on this trip.  For now we're going to stick to Tzvat and introduce a term called getting Tzvated, which is when you run into somebody you know in this mystical city-town. The magic of Tzvat lays in its ability to unite people of forces that are totally opposite, a ying and yang effect if you will.  But enough for metaphors, let's get back to the term.  In the last two days, I have been Tzvated three times.  First was my madricha (leader of our Israel Recharge trip - and the reason I am still here in Israel today), Ms. Alisa Adler.  Next was the rabbi who re-barmitzvahed me at Masada last year.  Finally was the soldier who helped me find my friends in the Tel Aviv bus station last week. As I said, this city has a way of bringing people together.  My friend Paula for example ran into a bunch of her Brooklyn homies while here who, unbeknownst to her were on their Birthright trip.

(Me, Alisa Adler, Keith - travel buddy)

(Rabbi Menachem and me)

In the past two days, I have also done two memorably epic things I had never done before. The first was a three hour night hike in the pitch black dark, at times walking in total silence to the drumbeat of my steps on the softly patted down ground.  Included in this hike was a grueling 15 minute trek up an angle that our all-knowing guide Doron claims was 45 degrees and at times 60.  I don't disagree, because this hill was extremely step, had very uneven terrain and prickly thorn-bushes everywhere.  A gashed finger later and I felt super accomplished for having gotten to the top.  Night hikes are awesome.

Yesterday brought a 5 hour day hike through equally, but different, treacherous terrain.  Having hiked 45 minutes in waist deep water, we finally made it to a white rapid area with a gushing waterfall. A bruised bum later - having taken a spill off of slippery rocks - and once again I was feeling great.  These were things I could not have expected to do because when they were explained to me I thought, "okay simple night hike/walk through a trail" definitely not expecting to blaze new paths, and when told about the water hike, thought it "maybe it will be 8 inches to a feet deep max." I did not expect to be falling every 15 feet because rocks that could not be seen were popping out of everywhere.  I'm glad both the hikes were exactly as they were, demanding of your focus and requiring me to be in the absolute moment.

The fourth of July, was a majestic day. Fueled by the morning water hike, we spent the afternoon cooking for Shabbos (Shabbat) and then spent some free time exploring Tzvat.  We decided to walk to the top of the Citadel - where there are spectacular views of the Sea of Galilee (the Kinneret), Mt Hermon (2,200 meter mountain) and Mount Meron (1,200 meters). There we found an amazing group of four playing music: Joshua (Aussie), Benjamin and Stevie (Jewish Brit and a chick Brit respectively), and Ross (Irish).  The headline song "girls don't poop, they don't poop in front of you" was very rhythmic and soothing. These aren't the types of people you get to meet everyday.  They were music teachers in Schem (שחמ), a town in the West Bank.

(From L to R Stevie, Ross, me, Joshua, Benjamin)

We have also been acquainting ourselves with awesome townies, including Hadas who let me exchange out the necklace I bought from her a month ago when the gold faded. We have met Moti who spotted us a meal when we were out of Shekels, and we have met Eddie at the bakery who let us get several pastries and a lagniappe for 5 shekels.

All in all I am having nothing short of a great time.