We started off the week at a Crusade castle.

This past week has been so jam packed. We started off the week at a Crusade castle. Here, Christian crusaders lived while trying to win Jerusalem back over from Muslims. Here they did not assimilate but stayed their own. Although we were not able to see a lot of the castle due to construction, the parts that we saw were amazing. It was a pretty big castle with a lot of stone. Next, we went to a hot spring to eat lunch and swim. After that was Tzfat. Tzfat is home to mysticism and kabbalah. There are a lot of art vendors selling beautiful art and jewelry. We met a kabbalist named Avraham. Originally from Michigan, he became enticed by the Kabbalah and decided to move to Israel. Here, he makes beautiful art that explains the kabbalah.

On Wednesday we made our way to jerusalem. First, we stopped at Yad Lakashish. Here, needy elderly people come to work and make art. They get served a hot meal everyday.  Everything there is hand made. A lot of the elders are from Russia and some from France and Argentina. The work they make is beautiful. After our stop there, we went to Pantry Packers. For 1 hour, we packaged food that will help out so many families in need. Our last stop of the day was the Israel Museum. My favorite part was going to the “Ahava” (love) sculpture.

Over the weekend we went to Jerusalem. Friday afternoon we went to the Shuk. It was so crowded with everyone preparing for shabbat. Friday night we walked to the Kotel. At the wall we danced and sang with the other women there. It was such an amazing feeling. On Saturday we had a very relaxing day starting with late wake up. After lunch, we took a walk around Jerusalem and saw the things that people usually don’t tour around Jerusalem. Our tour included the YMCA and the first neighborhood in Jerusalem. After Havdalah, we went to Ben Yehuda Street to shop and walk around.