My travels in Israel
This is an outline of the things I experienced while in Israel. It will be very long and detailed, so deal with it :-P At the very end I’ll have a list of things that I learned from the trip, or things that changed my overall perspective of life. This is broken down into days
Saturday, December 16th
- Continental Airlines lost my luggage en route to New Jersey (they sent it to Denver)
- They delayed our original flight by an hour and a half so they bumped us to the earlier flight, but then our flight ended up leaving at the time our original flight would have left.
- Met people at NJ then left for Israel
Sunday, December 17th
- the person sitting next to me (with my group) asked for me to switch so his gf could sit next to him, and I would get an aisle seat with lots of leg room). Turns out there was a couple with a baby next to me. Luckily the baby was really quiet and the couple was amazing and fun to talk with.
- Slept about 4 hours on the 10 hour flight and ate some really good airplane food.
- We arrived about 5pm local time (Israel time) and went straight to Jerusalem and listened to the head-honcho speak about Love (his name is Momo). One of his favorite phrases is “what’s cooking”
- I found out our tour guide Racheli is VERY open about her sex life.
Monday, December 18th
- woke up around 6am, left the hotel at 7am
- we went to the David Citadel Museum (expound?)
- we arrived at the Tower of David, but had to walk all along the outer wall to reach the Jewish Quarter because the first Quarter at the entrance was the Muslim Quarter, and it’s rumored that they’ll randomly stab non-Arabs there)
- we arrived at the Western Wall (”Kotel” in Hebrew). I put on my kippah (skull cap) and approached the wall. I was in amazement of the size of the wall and what it meant to every single Jew in the world to be there. I touched the wall and closed my eyes and tried to think of something to say, and was left speechless. I didn’t prepare a note to put in the wall, so I took out the notes that Oren and his family prepared and put those in. When I was satisfied, I left and took off the kippah.
- A random Israeli soldier approached me and asked where my group was from, I told her I personally was from Florida and she said she was from Plantation (but she was definitely not born in America).
- We drove to the Druze village of Ossafia. Druze people are ethnic Arabs that separated from Islam because they had different beliefs. They live in peaceful co-existence with Jews inside Israel, and are fiercely loyal to the nation in which they live. Some of the Druze even volunteer in the Israeli Army. They fed us an authentic Druze meal, and it was fucking amazing (pictures are online of the meal).
- I got my luggage finally!
Tuesday, December 19th
- We left around 7:30am and drove to Haifa
- We saw the Bahai Gardens, which is kept beautifully by the Bahai people. Bahai is hailed as a religion the promotes world peace over everything else, but it is actually not a religion or a race, but more like a way of thinking.
- After that we drove to Akko (also known as Acre), where we saw a 16th Century Sephardic synagogue
- After that we drove to Safed (also known as Tsfat), which is hailed as the Mystical City. Here is where very religious people come to study the Kabbalah (the mystical books of Judaism)
- We met a guy who moved to Israel in the 1970s (in Judaism, we refer to people who move to Israel from another country as “making aliyah”). He was an artist and used what he learned from studying the Kabbalah to create art. He was really into the things he was doing…but I thought he was a bit nuts.
- We drove to a Kibbutz and met the people that lived there (the idea of the Kibbutz was flirted with during the “1st Aliyah,” in which people voluntarily lived in a community and worked to support one another. It is basically a Utopian society, run with the notion of communism). It allowed Israel to survive as a nation.) It wasn’t until the 2nd Aliyah that people actually began to start building these communities.
- The bathroom in my room had no shower curtain or door.. and the drain was a little hole cut into the corners of 4 bordering tiles. They gave us a broom to sweep the water into the drain, and we had to do it before the water seeped into the wood floor in the bedroom. That was fun…lol.
- We did an icebreaker, and we had to write something interesting about ourselves. This guy Ben Winters kept guessing that either me or my brother Jason did each of those things…it was really funny. I found out 1 girl had hit a bus full of schoolchildren with her car, a guy was bit by a mosquito on an airplane. Others were funny but I can’t remember them.
Wednesday. December 20th
- In the morning we drove to the border of Israel/Lebanon and met soldiers on the frontline military post of Lilach. I’m not allowed to talk about what I saw there other than the sweet APCs (it transports soldiers) and guns. I met this soldier named Ilon, and he was an expert sniper at the age of 20. He was really cool. By the way, I was about 20 feet away from being in Lebanon.
- We left that and drove to the Banias Spring (located in the highly disputed Golan Heights. This area of land is being controlled by Israel, but Syria wants it), which is like a nature trail. We hiked there for an hour or so and saw a nice waterfall and met some Arab schoolchildren doing the same thing. They came up to us and gave us high-5s and said Shalom (Hebrew for “Hello” “Goodbye” and “Peace”).
- We drove from there to a viewpoint at the top of the Golan Heights which overlooks the Sea of Galilee (one of Israel’s most important bodies of water… it provides Israel with water). We were able to see Syria from there.
- That evening we went to Hamat Gader for its gorgeous hot springs. The road we took to get there is supposed to be the scariest road in all of Israel. It starts at the top of a mountain and works to a valley at the base of the mountain (which is where Hamat Gader is located). We drove along this road on a bus. It was pretty scary!
- After this we drove to the city of Tiberias to sleep. We weren’t allowed to leave the hotel because it was near the border and apparently very dangerous at night.
- We stayed up until 2am smoking hookah, eating pizza, drinking alcohol, and joking with our security guards. Our security guards (Dan and Vick) were two of the funniest people I’ve ever met in my life.
- Our travel guide Racheli twisted her ankle and went to the hospital for treatment.
Thursday, December 21st
- in the morning we left Tiberias and drove to Kinneret, where we went to the cemetery. There we paid our respects to such great people as Rachel (לקר). We also saw the graves of Golda Meir (Israel’s first female prime minister), and Yitzhak Rabin (the only Prime Minister to be assassinated-1995 in Tel Aviv, killed by another Jew).
- We traveled to Beit Shean to look at the Roman ruins. There we found an almost completely preserved theater.
- That evening we met the Israeli soldiers who were going to travel with us until the last day. They were very open and friendly, which made the interaction quite enjoyable.
- After meeting with the soldiers and eating dinner, we had an icebreaker and then discussed Judaism as a culture and a religion. The main focus was if you considered yourself an American Jew or a Jewish American (and the same but for Israelis).
Friday, December 22nd
- In the morning we visited Mount Herzl, which is the cemetery for soldiers and victims of terrorist attacks. We listened to some of the stories that the tour guide and our security guards had, and it was too hard to listen to, and I cried a bit.
- From there we walked to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. The audio tour took about 2 hours or so, and covered a variety of topics. The part of the memorial that struck me the hardest was the children’s memorial. It consisted of a single room and 5 candles with many mirrors that made the 5 candles look like many. There was a recording which announced the names, ages, and place of birth of various children who were killed during the Holocaust. This recording was pretty chilling.
- We drove to Tel Aviv, and visited Rabin Square before arriving at the hotel. At Rabin’s Square, we were treated to a group of people singing songs in Hebrew. A few people stood on the spots that they say PM Rabin’s security were standing, and it shows how he was assassinated because none of the guards were looking (conspiracy much?)
- After Shabbat services, we were given free time, so a bunch of us went down by the beach and ate at Mike’s Place (a kind of bar for expatriates of America).
Saturday, December 23rd
- A guy named Neil Lazarus conducted a seminar with us about Iran, Lebanon, Israel, and the future of the Middle East. Interestingly enough, the very next day, the UN unanimously voted to impose sanctions on Iran.
- After Neil was finished, Momo got up and talked to us again about Love.
- That evening, we made Havdallah on a beautiful hill overlooking the Mediterrean Sea and the skyline of Tel Aviv.
- We visited the Independence Hall, which was located in a small building with barely any light coming in from the outside. We were informed that this spot was chosen as the birthplace of the nation because it was a safe haven for radical thinkers.
- After the Independence Hall, we went to Jaffa. Jaffa is a special city like Tzfat in that it’s a city of art. In order to be allowed to live in Jaffa, you must prove you are an artist. In Jaffa we went to a bakery run by Arabs, and the food was amazing!!
- Momo closed off a club in Tel Aviv for all the Birthright people, and we had about 300 people in the club for a few hours.
Sunday, December 24th
- Bright and early we left for Beit Guvrin, home to several thousand man-made caves(called the “Bell Caves”). We were allowed to go into the caves and explore them a bit. There was this one hole about 2 feet wide and 2 feet high that we had to go through to get out of the other side of the cave. Needless to say, we have pictures of our security guard Dan trying to get through, and it’s quite hilarious. (add picture)
- After the Bell Caves, we went on an archaeological dig, and because they have so many pottery shards, the state of Israel allows them to let people keep several pieces as a souvenir. The shards are over 2,000 years old.
- We left Beit Guvrin and headed for Mamshit, where we went on a camel ride. To be honest, it’s awesome, but not something you would want to do more than once.
- We visited David Ben Gurion’s grave (he was very important to the establishment of the state, and was Israel’s first Prime Minister).
- Back in Eilat, we were given free time to walk on the boardwalk or in the mall for dinner. My brother and I walked around for 45 minutes with the Israeli soldiers trying to figure out what we wanted to eat, and we went from 1 end to the other of the boardwalk, only to go to the mall in the end. Funny thing is, when we got to the mall, there was a blackout so the food court was closed. We landed up eating at McDavid’s (yeah, I’m serious. Lol.).
Monday, December 25th
- We traveled to the Red Crater (given its name due to the large amounts of Iron deposits that turned the mountain a reddish tint). We hiked the high road and then climbed down into the canyon and walked back to the bus from there. Here my camera fell a good 9 or 10 feet when I was climbing up part of the canyon (still works)
- From here we toured the borders in the South: first to the border with Jordan (where you can see part of Saudi Arabia in the distance), then to the border with Egypt
- Back in Eilat, we were given a few hours of free time, where I walked around with the Israelis trying all kinds of food (oh, and my camera fell in the sand/hit a rock and then I stepped on it getting up… still works.. lol).
- In the evening we went back to Mamshit where the camel ride was, and we stayed the night at the Bedouin tents. The Bedouins are an increasingly modernizing group of people. Most Bedouins live in houses and have jobs and use internet and drive cars. They used to be nomads. There are around 100 illegal Bedouin settlements, but also many that are recognized.
- At the Bedouin tents, we met the main guy who explained to us their traditions, and their future. We were given their traditional tea and coffee to try out. Then they made for us traditional food (yellow rice, chicken, pita, and hummus), and we ate it from communal trays. After dinner we were treated to a world music performance which included instruments from around the world. In addition, we witnessed the amazing martial arts of Capoeira (Brazilian martial arts/dance begun by slaves in Africa).
- As an aside, we had a Rock, Paper, and Scissors tournament. Some of the nicknames for people were Lee “The Anal Invader,” Jade “The Anal Invaded,” and Josh “My sister isn’t a virgin.” We had about 40 people playing, and in the end Lee won.
Tuesday, December 26th
- In the morning, we hiked up Masada mountain. This is where King Herod built his summer palace, and also where a radical group of Jews named the Zealots lived for 3 years. They were hiding out from the Romans. In the end, they decided to commit suicide because they felt it was better to die then become the slave of another man.
- From there we went to the Dead Sea and put mud on our bodies and floated in the sea. Everything was so damn cold, but it was better than being there during the summer, when temperatures can reach as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit!!
- We drove back to Jerusalem and had our final talk with Momo. We said our hard goodbyes and went home.
What I learned from this trip
- Malls are MUCH smaller in Israel
- You can’t get a cheeseburger in MOST places because Israel is a kosher country
- As a result of the trip, I am making a concerted effort to learn more about Judaism
- Every place we visited is talked about in the Torah, proving that there IS some truth in what we read
- If we all woke up at 6:30 instead of 10am we’d be SO much more effective
- Israel IS my home
- Jews and Arabs CAN peacefully co-exist
- Islam teaches its followers that their Messiah can’t return unless every single Jew is wiped from the planet
- Israeli Jews are mostly secular, whereas American Jews are more religious. This is because they fight to keep their homeland alive, while we fight to keep our religion alive
- Israel is MUCH safer than the American media portrays it to be
- The city of Eilat is not attacked by terrorists because it borders Jordan and Egypt, with whom Israel is on good terms
- (our tour guide woke us up during a long drive to tell us this: “porcupines have on average a 40cm long penis, and have sex on average 8 times a day”)
- (our tour guide woke us up during a long drive to tell us this: “wild boars orgasm for 15 minutes each time, and produce about 1.5 liters in doing so”)
- Israel is 80% Jew, 20% Arab
- Israeli soldiers are strictly prohibited from engaging in political discussions
- 50% of the country is in the army at any given time
- Security guards and soldiers carry guns at all times (even in clubs…which was quite amusing to see).
- “we can take from the past that we can only count on other Jews to save us” - Momo
- Israel maintains a very strong peace pact with Jordan, an awkward peace agreement with Egypt, and no peace with Lebanon or Syria
- Back in the 1920s, Israel and Iran cooperated with each other in building an oil pipeline. Today, Israel alone controls it
- A Russian Jew engineered the first hydro-electric power plant in the 1940s (in Israel)
- Because of the Lebanon war this past summer, Israeli politics has shifted to the right, and the religious/secular part of the spectrum has disappeared.
- The Dead Sea is actually 2 seas because a portion of it evaporated. Because of factories in the area, the Dead Sea is losing an average of 3 meters per year. It’s estimated that within the next 400 years the Dead Sea will cease to exist
- Hanukkah does not involve the exchanging of gifts (it’s an American tradition only)
Saturday, December 16th
- Continental Airlines lost my luggage en route to New Jersey (they sent it to Denver)
- They delayed our original flight by an hour and a half so they bumped us to the earlier flight, but then our flight ended up leaving at the time our original flight would have left.
- Met people at NJ then left for Israel
Sunday, December 17th
- the person sitting next to me (with my group) asked for me to switch so his gf could sit next to him, and I would get an aisle seat with lots of leg room). Turns out there was a couple with a baby next to me. Luckily the baby was really quiet and the couple was amazing and fun to talk with.
- Slept about 4 hours on the 10 hour flight and ate some really good airplane food.
- We arrived about 5pm local time (Israel time) and went straight to Jerusalem and listened to the head-honcho speak about Love (his name is Momo). One of his favorite phrases is “what’s cooking”
- I found out our tour guide Racheli is VERY open about her sex life.
Monday, December 18th
- woke up around 6am, left the hotel at 7am
- we went to the David Citadel Museum (expound?)
- we arrived at the Tower of David, but had to walk all along the outer wall to reach the Jewish Quarter because the first Quarter at the entrance was the Muslim Quarter, and it’s rumored that they’ll randomly stab non-Arabs there)
- we arrived at the Western Wall (”Kotel” in Hebrew). I put on my kippah (skull cap) and approached the wall. I was in amazement of the size of the wall and what it meant to every single Jew in the world to be there. I touched the wall and closed my eyes and tried to think of something to say, and was left speechless. I didn’t prepare a note to put in the wall, so I took out the notes that Oren and his family prepared and put those in. When I was satisfied, I left and took off the kippah.
- A random Israeli soldier approached me and asked where my group was from, I told her I personally was from Florida and she said she was from Plantation (but she was definitely not born in America).
- We drove to the Druze village of Ossafia. Druze people are ethnic Arabs that separated from Islam because they had different beliefs. They live in peaceful co-existence with Jews inside Israel, and are fiercely loyal to the nation in which they live. Some of the Druze even volunteer in the Israeli Army. They fed us an authentic Druze meal, and it was fucking amazing (pictures are online of the meal).
- I got my luggage finally!
Tuesday, December 19th
- We left around 7:30am and drove to Haifa
- We saw the Bahai Gardens, which is kept beautifully by the Bahai people. Bahai is hailed as a religion the promotes world peace over everything else, but it is actually not a religion or a race, but more like a way of thinking.
- After that we drove to Akko (also known as Acre), where we saw a 16th Century Sephardic synagogue
- After that we drove to Safed (also known as Tsfat), which is hailed as the Mystical City. Here is where very religious people come to study the Kabbalah (the mystical books of Judaism)
- We met a guy who moved to Israel in the 1970s (in Judaism, we refer to people who move to Israel from another country as “making aliyah”). He was an artist and used what he learned from studying the Kabbalah to create art. He was really into the things he was doing…but I thought he was a bit nuts.
- We drove to a Kibbutz and met the people that lived there (the idea of the Kibbutz was flirted with during the “1st Aliyah,” in which people voluntarily lived in a community and worked to support one another. It is basically a Utopian society, run with the notion of communism). It allowed Israel to survive as a nation.) It wasn’t until the 2nd Aliyah that people actually began to start building these communities.
- The bathroom in my room had no shower curtain or door.. and the drain was a little hole cut into the corners of 4 bordering tiles. They gave us a broom to sweep the water into the drain, and we had to do it before the water seeped into the wood floor in the bedroom. That was fun…lol.
- We did an icebreaker, and we had to write something interesting about ourselves. This guy Ben Winters kept guessing that either me or my brother Jason did each of those things…it was really funny. I found out 1 girl had hit a bus full of schoolchildren with her car, a guy was bit by a mosquito on an airplane. Others were funny but I can’t remember them.
Wednesday. December 20th
- In the morning we drove to the border of Israel/Lebanon and met soldiers on the frontline military post of Lilach. I’m not allowed to talk about what I saw there other than the sweet APCs (it transports soldiers) and guns. I met this soldier named Ilon, and he was an expert sniper at the age of 20. He was really cool. By the way, I was about 20 feet away from being in Lebanon.
- We left that and drove to the Banias Spring (located in the highly disputed Golan Heights. This area of land is being controlled by Israel, but Syria wants it), which is like a nature trail. We hiked there for an hour or so and saw a nice waterfall and met some Arab schoolchildren doing the same thing. They came up to us and gave us high-5s and said Shalom (Hebrew for “Hello” “Goodbye” and “Peace”).
- We drove from there to a viewpoint at the top of the Golan Heights which overlooks the Sea of Galilee (one of Israel’s most important bodies of water… it provides Israel with water). We were able to see Syria from there.
- That evening we went to Hamat Gader for its gorgeous hot springs. The road we took to get there is supposed to be the scariest road in all of Israel. It starts at the top of a mountain and works to a valley at the base of the mountain (which is where Hamat Gader is located). We drove along this road on a bus. It was pretty scary!
- After this we drove to the city of Tiberias to sleep. We weren’t allowed to leave the hotel because it was near the border and apparently very dangerous at night.
- We stayed up until 2am smoking hookah, eating pizza, drinking alcohol, and joking with our security guards. Our security guards (Dan and Vick) were two of the funniest people I’ve ever met in my life.
- Our travel guide Racheli twisted her ankle and went to the hospital for treatment.
Thursday, December 21st
- in the morning we left Tiberias and drove to Kinneret, where we went to the cemetery. There we paid our respects to such great people as Rachel (לקר). We also saw the graves of Golda Meir (Israel’s first female prime minister), and Yitzhak Rabin (the only Prime Minister to be assassinated-1995 in Tel Aviv, killed by another Jew).
- We traveled to Beit Shean to look at the Roman ruins. There we found an almost completely preserved theater.
- That evening we met the Israeli soldiers who were going to travel with us until the last day. They were very open and friendly, which made the interaction quite enjoyable.
- After meeting with the soldiers and eating dinner, we had an icebreaker and then discussed Judaism as a culture and a religion. The main focus was if you considered yourself an American Jew or a Jewish American (and the same but for Israelis).
Friday, December 22nd
- In the morning we visited Mount Herzl, which is the cemetery for soldiers and victims of terrorist attacks. We listened to some of the stories that the tour guide and our security guards had, and it was too hard to listen to, and I cried a bit.
- From there we walked to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. The audio tour took about 2 hours or so, and covered a variety of topics. The part of the memorial that struck me the hardest was the children’s memorial. It consisted of a single room and 5 candles with many mirrors that made the 5 candles look like many. There was a recording which announced the names, ages, and place of birth of various children who were killed during the Holocaust. This recording was pretty chilling.
- We drove to Tel Aviv, and visited Rabin Square before arriving at the hotel. At Rabin’s Square, we were treated to a group of people singing songs in Hebrew. A few people stood on the spots that they say PM Rabin’s security were standing, and it shows how he was assassinated because none of the guards were looking (conspiracy much?)
- After Shabbat services, we were given free time, so a bunch of us went down by the beach and ate at Mike’s Place (a kind of bar for expatriates of America).
Saturday, December 23rd
- A guy named Neil Lazarus conducted a seminar with us about Iran, Lebanon, Israel, and the future of the Middle East. Interestingly enough, the very next day, the UN unanimously voted to impose sanctions on Iran.
- After Neil was finished, Momo got up and talked to us again about Love.
- That evening, we made Havdallah on a beautiful hill overlooking the Mediterrean Sea and the skyline of Tel Aviv.
- We visited the Independence Hall, which was located in a small building with barely any light coming in from the outside. We were informed that this spot was chosen as the birthplace of the nation because it was a safe haven for radical thinkers.
- After the Independence Hall, we went to Jaffa. Jaffa is a special city like Tzfat in that it’s a city of art. In order to be allowed to live in Jaffa, you must prove you are an artist. In Jaffa we went to a bakery run by Arabs, and the food was amazing!!
- Momo closed off a club in Tel Aviv for all the Birthright people, and we had about 300 people in the club for a few hours.
Sunday, December 24th
- Bright and early we left for Beit Guvrin, home to several thousand man-made caves(called the “Bell Caves”). We were allowed to go into the caves and explore them a bit. There was this one hole about 2 feet wide and 2 feet high that we had to go through to get out of the other side of the cave. Needless to say, we have pictures of our security guard Dan trying to get through, and it’s quite hilarious. (add picture)
- After the Bell Caves, we went on an archaeological dig, and because they have so many pottery shards, the state of Israel allows them to let people keep several pieces as a souvenir. The shards are over 2,000 years old.
- We left Beit Guvrin and headed for Mamshit, where we went on a camel ride. To be honest, it’s awesome, but not something you would want to do more than once.
- We visited David Ben Gurion’s grave (he was very important to the establishment of the state, and was Israel’s first Prime Minister).
- Back in Eilat, we were given free time to walk on the boardwalk or in the mall for dinner. My brother and I walked around for 45 minutes with the Israeli soldiers trying to figure out what we wanted to eat, and we went from 1 end to the other of the boardwalk, only to go to the mall in the end. Funny thing is, when we got to the mall, there was a blackout so the food court was closed. We landed up eating at McDavid’s (yeah, I’m serious. Lol.).
Monday, December 25th
- We traveled to the Red Crater (given its name due to the large amounts of Iron deposits that turned the mountain a reddish tint). We hiked the high road and then climbed down into the canyon and walked back to the bus from there. Here my camera fell a good 9 or 10 feet when I was climbing up part of the canyon (still works)
- From here we toured the borders in the South: first to the border with Jordan (where you can see part of Saudi Arabia in the distance), then to the border with Egypt
- Back in Eilat, we were given a few hours of free time, where I walked around with the Israelis trying all kinds of food (oh, and my camera fell in the sand/hit a rock and then I stepped on it getting up… still works.. lol).
- In the evening we went back to Mamshit where the camel ride was, and we stayed the night at the Bedouin tents. The Bedouins are an increasingly modernizing group of people. Most Bedouins live in houses and have jobs and use internet and drive cars. They used to be nomads. There are around 100 illegal Bedouin settlements, but also many that are recognized.
- At the Bedouin tents, we met the main guy who explained to us their traditions, and their future. We were given their traditional tea and coffee to try out. Then they made for us traditional food (yellow rice, chicken, pita, and hummus), and we ate it from communal trays. After dinner we were treated to a world music performance which included instruments from around the world. In addition, we witnessed the amazing martial arts of Capoeira (Brazilian martial arts/dance begun by slaves in Africa).
- As an aside, we had a Rock, Paper, and Scissors tournament. Some of the nicknames for people were Lee “The Anal Invader,” Jade “The Anal Invaded,” and Josh “My sister isn’t a virgin.” We had about 40 people playing, and in the end Lee won.
Tuesday, December 26th
- In the morning, we hiked up Masada mountain. This is where King Herod built his summer palace, and also where a radical group of Jews named the Zealots lived for 3 years. They were hiding out from the Romans. In the end, they decided to commit suicide because they felt it was better to die then become the slave of another man.
- From there we went to the Dead Sea and put mud on our bodies and floated in the sea. Everything was so damn cold, but it was better than being there during the summer, when temperatures can reach as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit!!
- We drove back to Jerusalem and had our final talk with Momo. We said our hard goodbyes and went home.
What I learned from this trip
- Malls are MUCH smaller in Israel
- You can’t get a cheeseburger in MOST places because Israel is a kosher country
- As a result of the trip, I am making a concerted effort to learn more about Judaism
- Every place we visited is talked about in the Torah, proving that there IS some truth in what we read
- If we all woke up at 6:30 instead of 10am we’d be SO much more effective
- Israel IS my home
- Jews and Arabs CAN peacefully co-exist
- Islam teaches its followers that their Messiah can’t return unless every single Jew is wiped from the planet
- Israeli Jews are mostly secular, whereas American Jews are more religious. This is because they fight to keep their homeland alive, while we fight to keep our religion alive
- Israel is MUCH safer than the American media portrays it to be
- The city of Eilat is not attacked by terrorists because it borders Jordan and Egypt, with whom Israel is on good terms
- (our tour guide woke us up during a long drive to tell us this: “porcupines have on average a 40cm long penis, and have sex on average 8 times a day”)
- (our tour guide woke us up during a long drive to tell us this: “wild boars orgasm for 15 minutes each time, and produce about 1.5 liters in doing so”)
- Israel is 80% Jew, 20% Arab
- Israeli soldiers are strictly prohibited from engaging in political discussions
- 50% of the country is in the army at any given time
- Security guards and soldiers carry guns at all times (even in clubs…which was quite amusing to see).
- “we can take from the past that we can only count on other Jews to save us” - Momo
- Israel maintains a very strong peace pact with Jordan, an awkward peace agreement with Egypt, and no peace with Lebanon or Syria
- Back in the 1920s, Israel and Iran cooperated with each other in building an oil pipeline. Today, Israel alone controls it
- A Russian Jew engineered the first hydro-electric power plant in the 1940s (in Israel)
- Because of the Lebanon war this past summer, Israeli politics has shifted to the right, and the religious/secular part of the spectrum has disappeared.
- The Dead Sea is actually 2 seas because a portion of it evaporated. Because of factories in the area, the Dead Sea is losing an average of 3 meters per year. It’s estimated that within the next 400 years the Dead Sea will cease to exist
- Hanukkah does not involve the exchanging of gifts (it’s an American tradition only)