My Big Fat Israel Trip

Birthright was absolutely amazing, don’t get me wrong, but there is something special about traveling in Israel with native Israelis.  Since I parted ways with Taglit Bus 1031, I have been traveling with my boyfriend and his huge Israeli family.  And by huge, I mean huge; his Safta (grandmother) is one of seven and his mother is one of seven.  It has been the best experience to live with them, watch how they live their everyday lives, and see Israel through their eyes.  I am so thankful to be here in Israel with them!

For most of our trip, Haifa has been our main hub, but we have also traveled to Qiryat Shmona, Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Kfar Haim.  It is tradition for Ron and his brothers to have their Bar Mitzvahs here in Israel with their family.  My first trip to Israel was in 2009 when I came with Ron’s family for his brother Ben’s bar mitzvah.  Now, we are back in Israel in 2013 for his younger brother Joel’s bar mitzvah.

Beach in Haifa

Walking on the pier

Ron and his siblings

The bar mitzvah festivities began when we woke up at 4:00 am on Monday morning to get ready to go to the Western Wall.  Ron's mom ordered a coach bus to pick up all of the family members in their respective cities, and drive everyone to Jerusalem.  Once at the Western Wall, there was a beautiful service where Joel read from the Torah and became a bar mitzvah.  When he finished, the whole family went to a small room where we had homemade cookies, coffee and tea to celebrate.  We then loaded back onto the bus and drove to Mrs. Nates’ cousin’s home in Jerusalem for an amazing brunch.  We spent hours eating, talking, dancing and reminiscing with the family.

The coach bus

On the way to the Western Wall

The Nates Family

Ron in his Tefillin

Joel carrying the Torah

At the Western Wall

The bar mitzvah brunch

The family enjoying the brunch

Joel with his new watch

Jerusalem

Ron's mom and safta

Dancing in Jerusalem

Joel's bar mitzvah M&Ms

The festivities continued on Tuesday night in Qiryat Shmona where Ron’s Safta had the family over for a Moroccan Henna party.  Henna parties usually take place before a special occasion, such as a wedding, bar mitzvah or baby shower.  During the party, the oldest member of the family (in this case, Ron’s Safta) smudges henna in everyone’s palms for protection and good luck.  We wore our kaftans, ate a tasty homemade meal, and took tons of pictures.  After the party, we spent the night and the next day in Qiryat Shmona.

At the table for the henna

Leore with Lucas, the puppy

Safta putting henna on Joel's palm

Ron's dad with his henna

A small fraction of the family 

In our Kaftans

On Wednesday, Ron and I spent the day with his siblings at his aunt’s house, while his mom and dad got everything ready for the bar mitzvah party.  We spent the entire day baking, cooking and eating, but mainly eating (surprise).  Ron’s aunt, Batsheva, is an incredible cook and baker, and taught us how to make meringue cookies and chocolate chip walnut cookies from scratch.  Later that night we took the train back to Haifa with full stomachs and ten boxes of cookies.

At Batsheva's house ready to bake

Learning to make meringue

Ron crushing nuts for the cookies

Our meringue cookies before the went into the oven

Ron showing us how it is done

Batsheva teaching me how to make the meringue cookies

Thursday was the day we had all been waiting for- Joel’s bar mitzvah party!  Although Ron and I spent the morning at the Haifa mall, the rest of the day was focused on preparations for the party.  At 7:00, we finally arrived at the Dan Carmel Hotel, a gorgeous hotel that overlooks the entire city of Haifa.  The room that the party was in was round, with windows on the entire perimeter, and the view was absolutely breathtaking.  The night was filled with tons of food, good music, hours of dancing, and even a musical performance by Joel and his little sister, Arielle.  I had the best time meeting everyone and dancing with Ron and his family.  Overall, the bar mitzvah party was a huge success, and we didn’t get to bed until three in the morning.

Dan Carmel Hotel Haifa

Not the best picture, but the view from the room

Ron and his mom at the bar mitzvah

Ron and me at the bar mitzvah

Joel's mosaic picture

Arielle, Leore and me at the party

Dancing with the family

Joel and Arielle's performance

Amazing dessert table

Since Thursday, Ron and I have spent time relaxing and taking in everything that Israel has to offer.  We spent some time with his family in Kfar Hiam, a small village outside of Netanya.  After traveling across Israel, this has to be one of my favorite places.  We spent our day here four-wheeling through the mud, picking fruits and vegetables in the village farm, and eating a delicious ‘wine and meat’ dinner that his uncle prepared for the entire family.  

Ron and his uncle fixing the four wheeler

Ron on the four wheeler

Me driving the four wheeler (watch out)

Ron's cousin on the four wheeler 

The dog after we drove through the mud

For now we are spending our last few days in Tel Aviv with Ron’s aunt, where it is currently pouring and flooding outside.  How ironic that Israel has not seen this much rain since the year I was born?  Anyways, we are hoping the rain lets up so we can get out of the apartment and explore this fascinating city!

Israel Trip: Birthright Part 2

Day Seven:

Tuesday morning began on a solemn and upsetting note after we spent the first few hours of the day at the Mount Herzel military cemetery.  We visited a few specific plots, and heard the soldier’s stories; the whole experience was very moving.  We then went to the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, where we got some free time to wander around and have lunch on our own.  Of course we managed to find the Hopdoddy’s of Israel, also known as Burgers Bar.  Although the food was good, the whole experience was very American.  I then got to try Israeli frozen yogurt for the first time, which was absolutely amazing.  From here, we all went to the Kotel (Western Wall) where we had time to pray and put our special notes in the wall.  At the end of our evening, we were given more free time to explore Ben Yehuda street.  After dinner and a little shopping, we all made our way to a little bar that was blasting electronic music and handing out free drinks.  Strangely enough, one of the bar tenders was from Memphis, Tennessee and had a connection with one of the girls on our trip. 

Mount Herzl

Grave of Michael Levin, a very brave American who came to Israel to serve in the IDF

Burgers Bar (aka Israeli Hopdoddy)

The Western Wall

The Western Wall

UT at the Western Wall

Day Eight:

Today I was diagnosed with the flu- yay.  Needless to say, I felt terrible the entire day despite Ron’s sweet efforts to cheer me up.  While the whole group was volunteering at the Spivak Center, a sports rehabilitation center for individuals with physical handicaps, I was in the corner trying to sleep off my fever.  When we left the Spivak Center, we went on a nice walk through Tel Aviv to visit Independence Hall.  Independence Hall is the site of David Ben Gurion’s monumental proclamation of the State of Israel in 1948.  From here we made our way to the Jaffa Overlook where we were taken aback by the amazing view.  Not only were we on the water, but the sun was just beginning to set.  We walked around Jaffa, took a ton of pictures, and had some free time to explore the shops and eat dinner.

Sunset in Jaffa

Jaffa

Marina in Jaffa

Day Nine:

Thursday was a very outdoorsy kind of day.  We began our morning with a hike in the Jerusalem Forest to the Sataf Spring.  Unfortunately it was very foggy, but by the end of the hike we could finally enjoy the amazing scenery.  Next we went to visit Neot Kedumim, a large interactive nature reserve dedicated to the flora and fauna of the Bible.  It was pretty cool because we got to use a mortar and pestle to make our own za’atar.  After, we got on the bus and went to take part in an active dig at the Beit Guvrin Caves.  We participated in an archaeological dig and found pieces of pottery from over 2,300 years ago.  When we finished digging, sifting and discovering, we went on a crawl through one of the excavated caves.  This was thrilling but scary, as we had to climb through holes that were barely big enough for us to wiggle through on our stomachs.  After a long day outdoors we came back to the hotel to hang out for the rest of the night.

Sataf Spring

The hospital where Ron was born, in the distance

Friends (kind of)

Everyone planting their trees

Ron planting his tree

Attempting to plant my tree

Coff making our Za'atar

Ron, the archaeologist

Sifting through our findings

Day Ten:

Friday morning we had a serious morning at Yad Vashem, the Jewish National Memorial to the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust.  We visited the amazing Children’s Memorial and the newly renovated historical museum.  After spending the morning there, we went to Machaneh Yehuda Market in Jerusalem.  The market was packed with locals, tourists and what seemed like every other Birthright group that was in Israel.  We had lunch at an amazing falafel stand, ate candy from a small candy shop, and were filmed by a few British students for a documentary.  All the stores started to close around 2:30 for Shabbat, and we headed back to the hotel for our Shabbat.  After a candle lighting ceremony, I went to the reform service, and enjoyed dinner (well, attempted to…) at the hotel.

Yad Vashem

Memorial for the 1.5 million children that perished in the Holocaust

Shook in Jerusalem

Candy shop at the shook in Jerusalem

Day Eleven:

On Saturday we had the morning to ourselves to relax and pack.  After Shabbat lunch at the hotel, we walked a few miles to the hotel where the other Texas Birthright group was staying.  There we all came together for the Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony of the people who chose to have a Bar/Bat Mitzvah in Israel.  We then had a few group conversations at the hotel, went to dinner at the mall, and made our way to the airport.  At the airport, Ron and I said our goodbyes as we parted ways with the rest of the group.  We took a train to Haifa, where we are now!