Wed 4/18/07, part 1
Here’s how Israelis characterize their three major cities: Jerusalem prays, Tel Aviv plays, and Haifa works! Jerusalem is the country’s largest city (population 700,000). Tel Aviv is a cultural and commercial center with 24-hour nightlife (population 400,000). And Haifa is the city of industry.
Today we’ll be touring Tel Aviv. We enjoy the Dan Panorama hotel's amazing breakfast buffet with foods from all over the world—even Dim Sum, Davi! Our first stop is the port city of Old Jaffa. We’re greeted by a dolphin sculpture by a well-known local artist, having already come to recognize our tour bus by its blue dolphin motif. This morning Shari, our guide, from her spot at the front of the bus, tells us how in Israel you have to use your imagination to enter the past. Ignoring the crowded thoroughfare she says hypnotically, “Picture on your left nothing but sand dunes and on your right the Mediterranean Sea. That’s all that was here before Tel Aviv was founded.” She also encourages us to think about the difference between being a pilgrim and being a tourist. We each received a copy of "Israel: A Spiritual Traveler’s Guide," a book by Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, who as it happens was also a thesis advisor to Rabbi Lisa. He too emphasizes the importance of spiritual preparation for the journey and provides readings, prayers and reflections to help frame our experiences along the way.
Coming soon: Wed 4/18/07, part 2!
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4 comments:
What a gift you're giving us, Sylvia, with your posts. They are so vivid, I almost feel that I'm there with all of you. Please send my best wishes to everyone. And, please keep up those blogs!!
Kol tuv (all the best).
Let's see some photos!
Stan Notkin sent me the link to your blog, and I'm so glad that he did. David and I are really excited about your upcoming visit to us here in Tsfat. Shari sent me an e-mail Friday promising to call me on Sunday with more details. If anyone else would like to call, my cell phone number is 050-309-2050 (that's for calling from within Israel -- for calling from outside Israel, replace the leading 0 with the international access code plus Israel country code, which is 972). See you all on Thursday!
-Arlan Wareham (Arlan.Wareham@gmail.com)
Sylvia,
Don't stop the blog. My friends and I are really enjoying your insightful postcards home. In a world where communication is broadcast according to the magnitude of its horror, we need the hometown gazette, the blog from the Israel tour, a little good news. Thanks again for your writings,
is it true you are also driving the tour bus?
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