Episode 06: "The Introduction, Pt. 1" (+)

It's been a little while, but not because I've been lazy. This past weekend was one of the most engaging and exhausting excursions I've had so far. I went to Tzfat, a city in northern Israel proclaimed as the center of Jewish Mysticism. One of my friends described Jewish Mysticism thusly: Judaism is about finding out what God wants from you; Jewish Mysticism is about finding out what "God" is. I didn't end up being exposed to Jewish Mysticism as much as I was to orthodox Jewish ritual this weekend, but regardless, there was a lot to take in. Brace yourselves for tons of text...there's only so much a picture is worth. But here's one anyway.

A picture that does Tzfat no justice whatsoever.
Think five times more beautiful than this.

The bus ride there was about three hours long. I was awake to see more of Israel than I'd ever seen before. There was straight up desert for a while, which gave way to the Sea of Galilee in the latter half of the trip. Seeing it was an awkward experience. (Shortly before I left for Israel, my friend Lily and I had a talk about taking the miracles of the Bible literally. "If you were there with a video camera..." she said, did I believe I'd have the opportunity to actually record the Red Sea parting?) I was finally seeing the place where Jesus walked on water...only to wonder whether it really happened. It's strange--reading about Jesus' miracles as remote and ancient things had actually mythologized them to the point of fantasy when the Sea of Galilee was right in front of me. I might come back to this topic sometime...it was weird to digest.

Anyway, onto the main event. I guess the camera addiction I mentioned last entry was taken care of for me this trip, because every day there was a new reason I didn't use it. Picture Deficit Reason #1: limited battery rationing. Therefore I've got zero pictures of the cozy, cute and amusing "Safed Candles," which was a candle shop we visited shortly after arriving at the hotel. There were normal candles there, and then there were the colorful wax tapestries and sculptures that you would buy but never burn. For instance: a candle wax scene of Joseph confronting his brothers, or a waxy Noah's ark overstuffed with animals, or a waxed up Sampson pushing down stone pillars. It was a sweet little store.

We went back to the hotel, did the barbecue thing, and danced to live music played by Orthodox Jewish guys. I think it was the first time I danced in a circle Jewish style, but it was a lot of fun. Later that night, I went out with Corina and a group of new friends on a walk. We found a roof of what I thought was an abandoned building and sat under the stars talking (the Big Dipper was huge). Turned out the building was someone's home--so we bolted and hung out elsewhere before heading home.

The next morning we went rafting on the Jordan River. Picture Deficit Reason #2: Camera ain't waterproof. I paired up with Gaby, my study partner, in a two-person inflatable raft. I took the steering position, which meant we went backwards a lot. Gaby kept wanting to get out and explore, which actually turned out really well. We ended up seeing an incredible, expansive view of farmland, trees and mountains in the background, and we briefly talked to an Israeli woman camping by the river.

The rafting took such a long time that we were late to our appointment with the Golan Heights Winery. So we were only there for fifteen minutes, but since it was one of the only places I got pictures of, here ya go:

This is me at the winery. On a catapult.
Yet mysteriously not drunk.

Where they turn grapes into gold.



Me with Nicky, the MVP of the weekend.
More on him soon.

After finishing up at the winery and checking out a brewery (it was a very alcohol-oriented weekend), we returned to the hotel. Only a few minutes after settling down, the guys of the group were invited to a Mikvah, a pool used in Jewish Orthodox communities for ritual cleansing. The catch: I had to get naked.

And so did all these guys.
It was an exercise in calculated eye movement.

The entrance to the Mikvah from on high.

The countdown to naked.

There was a line inside. I waited until I was at the front of it to take off my towel. The discomfort of the situation was manageable, but there was an added strain from the fact that Shabbat, the day of rest, was coming in a couple hours--meaning a lot of Orthodox Jews waiting their turn were racing sundown. So I was naked and there was some guy telling me to hurry up, stripping the magic of the experience down to the few seconds I was underwater. That said, the water did feel refreshing, and holding my breath underneath gave me a peaceful handful of moments.

All right, I'm cutting this one short for now. I'll follow up soon.

To be continued.

Shalom,
Eric