A Short Shabbos Blog from Itai

Today has been a very slow and easy day, we are just waiting for lunch after a relaxed morning. During the wait, I gave Itai a chance to share his thoughts on the trip thus far, and posted some photos courtesy of Noah.

1. You frequently travel to Israel with your family, so you're pretty familiar with the place. What are some things you have seen/done that you've never done before?

Almost everything that we have done have been interesting exciting and new. Usually when I come to Israel it is to visit family and maybe I would spend two or three days traveling in Eilat, or touring the old city. So far in less than a week we have visited places including Caesarea, the Baha'i gardens, mount Arbel, Tzfat, the old city of Akko and Hezekiah's tunnel. These are all places that I have never visited before the trip.

2. When you are here with your family next time, what are some activities from this trip you would recommend to them?

I would repeat everything that we have done during this trip with my family when we come next time. Everything that we have done would interest them greatly. I also feel that our guide, Yoel has been excellent in giving me information about everyplace. I could show off all the knowledge that I have gained to them and I hope they will find it as interesting as I did.

3. How well is the trip serving its purpose as a culmination of your Talmud Torah education?

Most of the places we have been to related to the Jewish history and Judaic studies classes that we have learnt since grade seven. An example of this in Tzfat, where we were reminded of our grade eight unit about the age of the Kabbalists that came to Tzfat after the Spanish inquisition. Or in Jerusalem when we saw the western wall and were reminded of the first temple period and the destruction of it caused by the Babylonians and the rebuilding of the second temple on top of the first layer.