Before Passover
The Thursday about a week before Passover was a fairly exciting day. In the petting zoo, Arielle and I watched a rat give birth to 6 babies!! Well, we only saw the births of 2 of them, but at the end of the day we had 6. From this, I now know for certain that rats are cutest straight from the womb. (Today, as I write this, these babies have already reached full fur, heads as large as bodies, and greater mobility.) Then Thursday afternoon, I left for Tiberias with Lucy, Maya, Julia, Mia, and Deena to later meet Teri, Jess, Dani, Sandi, and Molly to celebrate Deena’s birthday weekend. Thursday night and Friday, we all hung out and wandered around the city. On Friday morning I woke up early and went for a run by the water, but it wasn’t a good run until I started my way back because I was too distracted by the beauty of the Kineret on one side and the mountains on the other. It was nice being with everyone, but it really became a good time with Shabbat.
Together with Deena's B-day cake
We ushered in Shabbat by walking a short distance to a nice hotel where we knew there would be candles we could light (unlike the cheap hostel where we stayed). Are we supposed to light candles at a place we aren’t staying? No, but the only cost was a few strange looks. Then we went by the water for tfillot (services), which were full of great singing (by this I mean fun, spirited singing…we did not sound so good) and made me feel really close to everyone there. I remember thinking, if the people from Yerucham hadn’t gotten there so late Thursday night, if we hadn’t argued about what to do earlier that day, if I had eaten pizza for lunch instead of falafel, then we would not have had these moments just as they were. I think that if it had been different in any way, it could only have been less wonderful.
We went back to the hostel for dinner, mostly eating chumus, guacamole, and fruit salad (the latter two dishes we made that afternoon), and we talked for hours together, but it felt like no time at all.
The next day, we all slept a little later. We ate more. Then we wanted to go to the beach, but there aren’t nice public beaches in Tiberius, as we learned that day, so instead we read and rested on a nice grassy hill we found. It was a restful, peaceful Shabbat.
From Saturday night after Shabbat until the seder, I had a considerably worse time. These days consisted of head lice (very common in Israel), an ear infection, and sleep deprivation to make everything worse. But there were some good things about this week. Tuesday, for Yom Nativ, we went to Tzfat where we did a clay workshop: we each had a small ball of clay to form into something with redemption in mind. Every 30 seconds, we passed what we had to the person next to us, and we would add to and adjust the new piece while keeping its essence. At the end, we took our original pieces back to see what they had become, and we combined all of them at the table to have one theme related to redemption. It was a really cool activity. Then we had a short study session in small groups in which we contrasted Kabbalistic sfirot (difficult to describe accurately, but something like 10 aspects of G-d) to the 10 plagues. That night, back at the kfar, we had a campfire singing session, that is, if you substitute campfire with petting zoo firepit fire and campfire songs with Passover songs (I missed Chad Gadya because a baby goat had escaped and I brought him back to the right place…oh the irony).
Thursday, in preparation for Pesach, we thoroughly cleaned all of our rooms and halls to get rid of chametz (leavened foods that we cannot eat, own, or derive benefit from during the week of Passover). (The kitchen staff had to do a lot for about a week in the kitchen, and even in the petting zoo we had to finish a certain food and clean up any bread in cages.) Thursday night we did the ritual search for chametz, and Friday morning we did the ritual burning of that which we found.
Throughout Friday morning, everyone left the kfar but me. It was eerie seeing literally no one around. But I was only alone until my friend Sarah arrived early in the afternoon. I gave her a tour, and we rested until it was time to go just past the gate of kfar hanoar to meet Gadi (aka Yankel, the person from Yankel’s shtetl if you remember my first blog post on the kfar).
Pesach
We walked together to the synagogue, and afterwards returned to his house for the seder. Everyone was really nice and it was a lot of fun. It would have been better if I didn’t have an ear infection inhibiting my hearing (I can manage Hebrew, but not so well when I can’t hear clearly). It was great doing everything in Hebrew, but this experience made me appreciate seders in English. I usually love how Israelis read quickly, but the seder felt a little too rushed for me. We got back to my room around 1:45 Saturday morning and went straight to sleep. Then during the day we went back to Gadi’s for lunch and again for seuda shlishit. Overall, I had a great time with the family, playing with the little kids, and eating yummy foods.
Saturday night post-yom tov was even more fun. I hung out with Sarah and the many kfarmers that came back that night (a different Sarah, Maya, Julia, Julian, Leah R., and Leah S.), but we all went to sleep way too late. Sunday morning I worked out, fed the animals, finished packing, and went to Karmiel to meet Mia, Deena, and Teri. We bought food for dinner and everything we’d need for the next 3 days. Deena made matza lasagna for us (yum!), and we hung out with everyone who was still in Karmiel that night. Unfortunately, Teri got sick, so she couldn’t be with us during the week.
What were we doing? Hiking Yam L’Yam (aka Sea to Sea)! This hike, from the Mediterranean to the Kineret (or the other direction), is extremely popular, especially during Passover. Done in 3, 4, or 5 days, I’m guessing a couple thousand people walk and climb at least part of the trails across the whole country.
The Hike
Early Monday morning, I bussed with Deena and Mia to Nahariyah, a city on the Mediterranean Sea, north of Haifa. Because we didn’t know how long it would take to get to our first night’s campsite, we took a cab to the beginning of the trail (so we didn’t quite hit the first sea). Then we started hiking- it was an easy, very flat start. We crossed little streams, and I am thankful for my water shoes relieving me of the stress of balancing on rocks. We sang Disney and non-Disney songs, and we passed our madrich Simeon (hiking with 3 of his friends) while singing Build Me Up Buttercup. In a few places along the trail, we hung out with a group comprised of a South African, a German, and an Aussie.
Me, Deena, and Mia starting to hike
We made very good time, but got a little lost by continuing walking after the end of one trail (it’s not continuous), so we decided to take a cab to our planned campsite in Ma’alot to spend the night with the other Nativers doing the hike (we originally didn’t want a big group because it is more difficult to plan, but once we were all there, and we happened to all be fairly good friends, joining forces sounded like fun). Well, with an unfortunate miscommunication, we ended up at a different camp site, farther along the trail. So we didn’t hike from sea to trail, and we didn’t hike a chunk in the middle, but on the bright side this was better for our backs and we were able to sleep more. We didn’t spend the night with the other Nativers, but we did spend it with TRY (the Conservative high school semester in Israel program) and EIE (the Reform high school semester in Israel program)! We played some Jewish Geography and met Lucy’s younger brother. Then we slept under the stars, able to sleep late- until 7ish (which was especially great because it’s difficult to fall asleep and easy to wake up when you’re freezing).
The plan for Tuesday morning: wait for the other Nativers to meet us, then start hiking again. I’m very impressed with the other 7 people for hiking 4 more hours than us this morning- we were all exhausted by the end of the day. Ari, Eric, and Smalls met us first (but Lainey, Alysa, Gila, and Neal weren't far behind) and introduced us to balloon time. Eric brought balloons to blow up and pop for whenever we finished a good hike, including after their hike to get to our campsite. We mostly hiked that day in two groups: I was with Mia, Deena, Ari, Eric, and Smalls, and about 15 minutes behind us was the other group. The beginning of the hike (for Deena, Mia, and me) was a difficult uphill, going up Mount Meron, the second highest peak in Israel. We rejoined at lunch, then continued hiking.
Balloon Time! (TRY and EIE in the background)
We passed the cave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. This was a known landmark, but we didn’t know that this was going to be a party. Music was playing (mostly “Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me’Uman,” for Rabbi Nachman of Breslov), and a lot of people were around. Most of the guys in our group went to see the grave, but Gila was the only girl to because we didn’t want to bother with changing out of our shorts (places like this require a certain level of modesty that hiking does not). We took a nice break here: we filled our waters, many people took advantage of toilets, and almost all of us bought popsicles or ice cream. It is so great that we could be certain that all of the popsicles, ice creams, and other foods being sold were kosher for Passover.
After not too long, we found where the trail continued and hiked more. After not too long, the trail we were to follow was a nature reserve, Nachal Amud, in which it is illegal to camp. Somehow, we got the idea that we should just keep hiking and finish in 2 days, going into the dark. Well, luckily people told us we couldn’t because it would not have been possible. We hiked a little farther, then turned off to another trail line to take us out to a campsite. Sleeping here required a 20 shekel payment, but it was worth it because they had bathrooms that didn’t smell, flat places to sleep, and we had no other options. (What I mean by this is we don’t need these luxuries, but if they come up, we won’t reject them.)
We left a little before 7 the next morning, but to us this was too late because we were allowed to get back on the trail at 6:45. This day, I walked mostly with Lainey and Alysa. It was the most fun and most challenging day of hiking- a lot of crossing and re-crossing a stream, climbing, and scary cliffs. This section was absolutely beautiful- the mountains on our sides were full of trees, it was sunny but we were usually in shade, and there were places where we could see far in the distance but see no other groups. Out of this section of the trail (which took a few hours, but we were making good time), we met up again with the other Nativers and walked for a long stretch through a jungle-like trail: it was mostly flat, but we had a very narrow path with long weeds on both sides. We sang In The Jungle with a group from post-college Masa programs that we frequently met on the last 2 days. By the end of the jungle, all of our little groups had re-split. But we met again at the end of the trail (this was our final trail!) to do the last stretch of the hike together. We walked through 2 orchards, and then got split up by a large group of Scouts (a youth group) also walking to the sea. Well, we met again at the Kineret, where we rested and enjoyed a few minutes of lying down, watching the water, too tired to go to a cleaner beach.
I learned a lot on this hike. I learned that I should never hike with complainers and never hike with people who want to hike at a considerably different pace. I learned that though I love hiking, I don’t love carrying a heavy backpack, so if I’m doing a multi-day hike, I shouldn’t also have clothes for the days before and after on my back. I learned that you can’t go so quickly that you don’t give yourself the chance to look around you. I learned that two minutes of talking with a good friend can make any annoying event not matter at all.
By the end of the hike, I had sore and blistery feet and sun-burnt shoulders. I was tired, dirty, and smelly. I had eaten very little besides almonds, matzah, cheese sticks, cucumbers, and bananas for 3 days. And I could not have been happier.
Most of us in the orchard, almost at the sea.
Post Hike
The majority of us then went to the Tiberius central bus station to return to the kfar, return to Karmiel, go to Tel Aviv, or (for me) go to Ashdod. I love how here I was able to go to a kosher McDonald’s that was kashered for Pesach and buy a sundae. It was also nice for the people around me that I was able to “bathe” with wipes and change clothes in the bathroom.
It was great to see Rachel and her family in Ashdod, but the first thing I did when I got there was shower. They fed me matzah ball soup, a dish that somehow had not been served at my seder, and I stayed up far later than I should have playing with the kids and talking. Luckily, I was able to sleep late in the morning. During the day we went to a park that is also a zoo (obviously I loved this), and then to the beach. But too soon, I had to take the bus to Jerusalem
Most of kfar, plus a couple people from other tracks, stayed at Beit Nativ for the last day of Pesach and Shabbat (different days in Israel because Pesach is only 7 days). I rested until dinner that Thursday night, but I made myself stay awake for the meal, and I’m glad I did because it was honestly the best meal I ever ate there. On Friday during the day, we all read and rested, for a long time outside at the park across the street from Beit Nativ.
After Pesach
On Shabbat (Pesach ended about an hour after Shabbat began), I went to Roz’s minyan for both evening and morning services. It was great to be at such a spirited service again. Saturday morning was a bat mitzvah, too! I had never been to an Orthodox bat mitzvah before. The girl’s extended family was there, so there were a lot of kids. She did not lead services or read Torah as is done in egalitarian communities, but after services she gave a davar Torah and we threw candy at her. Walking out after the service, I heard someone who I am guessing was her father or uncle say (in English- this was an American family), “It’s a good thing she gave the davar Torah in Hebrew because you can’t get away with talking so quickly in English.”
We all returned to the kfar late Saturday night, but there were many, MANY, more people traveling to Haifa that night. Luckily for us, they provided a second 8:30 bus, but not everyone waiting even fit onto this one. This was my first bus ride without a seat (they let the buses overfill here), so I was in the isle. It was extremely comfortable! I first sat leaning against Deena, then leaning against Mia with Deena leaning on me, and then leaning against a backpack with Mia leaning on me. When we finally made it to the kfar it was about midnight, and I went straight to sleep.
Sunday was a normal day of work, slightly hindered by a lack of bread and cereal at breakfast because there had been no opportunity for the kitchen to be restocked. Before Passover, the petting zoo workers and gardeners had been upset about working in the hot afternoon, so we decided to start working 6am to lunch with a break for breakfast starting Monday. We left work a little earlier than we should have this afternoon because of the heat to rest, but I feel I made up these hours because later in the afternoon in accompanied Sarah to the refet!
The refet was weird. Then it was overwhelming. Then it was smelly. Then after a while I finally got the hang of everything and it was a lot of fun. Wearing rubber boots and a water-repelling apron, I learned to wipe, iodine, and re-wipe the udders, and then attach the suction tubes to the udders. I quickly learned to run to the other side of the little room when a cow started defecating, too. The older cows produced a lot of milk- upwards of 20 liters (often more than 50 liters for the whole day), and the younger cows produced less. I think I’ll join Sarah or other Nativ refeters a couple more times in my last few weeks here.
Monday was one of the best days at the kfar. Starting work early was great. We were extremely productive, it was cool outside, and we were able to go to breakfast around the time we were starting to get tired. We had baby guinea pigs, and another chicken started sitting on eggs so we should have more chicks in 3 weeks. Akiva took us on a tractor ride to dump all of the leaves, weeds, rocks, and garbage we cleaned out of the petting zoo in the past 2 days and from the week before Passover. We picked up Steph and Deena along the way, too. It was a bumpy, scary, prickly tractor ride, and I cannot describe how much fun it was. After we dumped everything, Akiva made tea in the foresty area next to the kfar and we sat laughing and drinking tea until it was time to go to lunch, and we were done for the day with some remaining energy.
Half of Moshe, Jake, Deena, Arielle, and me in the tractor
Finally, today was Yom Nativ- Yom Start Up Nation. We had activities to teach us about using our resources (for 2 of these activities [making a boat to hold agarot coins and protecting an egg from a boot] we used our physics knowledge!), encouraging creativity (always great to decorate cakes), and getting sponsorship (Harry Potter agreed to endorse my group’s cake). We also learned about creative Israeli military technology and the correlation between Talmud study and problem-solving skills. It was a fun and interesting day.
Trivia: Israel’s military developed a bandage that does not need to be wrapped several times around a wound that will still put enough pressure on the wound.
Happy Birthday Mia!!