Mystic Tsfat

Carla and I left Eilat on Saturday for Tel Aviv and then took a bus the next morning to the Tsfat, which is known as the center of Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah). I did not know that beforehand. We chose this program called Livnot after googling "volunteer Israel" and sorting through the volunteer program for one that worked with our schedule and price range. And what did we get? A week in one of the most beautiful, ancient and historically significant cities in Israel, spending time in the beautiful outdoors, volunteering and living with other cool people, food, nice lodging, and the added (and unexpected) bonus of Kabbalah classes and spiritual growth!

First about the facilities: we're staying in a large room in a multi-veranda, split-level building that's 5-7 centuries old. Although there have clearly been major renovations (parts of the interior wall are old-looking stone, but other parts are plaster and tile). There are three of us in the room, me, Carla, and a 27 year old named Jessica. It's nice because it's practically a private room, and we all get up and go to bed at similar times so you don't have to wear earplugs or a mask like I was doing in the dorms we stayed in up to this point.

The rest of the building includes two common areas, a Jewish literature library, a kitchen, and a bunch more dorm rooms up and down various stone staircases. We are fed twice a day, and the food is pretty good.

On Sunday we checked in and had dinner and a kind of get-to-know-you session about our Jewishness. This ended up really bringing me sharply into brotherhood with the other group members because the discussion made touch on sensitive topics to the point of tears, and everyone was really nice and supportive in response. In brief, because few at this point probably know the whole story, I have a Jewish identity that is sharply out of proportion to my actual ethnic Jewishness (1/4 to 1/8, depending on whether you're going based on actual bloodlines or religion, or on Jewish law wherein the child of a Jewish mother is a Jew). In college I went on a Birthright trip to Israel mostly out of curiosity, and was surprised to come home with even more curiosity and a new ardor for the religious tradition. After over a year of effectively "being" Jewish, including six months as part of an Orthodox community, the balloon of my excitement was popped by being rejected one too many times from the community I had chosen to call my own. It's complicated because I understand the perspective of the people who pushed me away, but still it felt pretty awful.

Okay, so that's my story, and it's one I was really and truly not planning on delving into. I feel like I've been in an on-again, off-again relationship with Judaism for the past 8 years, and I was looking forward to this trip as a way to either end the tryst for good or seal the deal, so to speak. I was really expecting it to be the former, but from my first night in Tsfat I was feeling the infatuation tugging at my soul again.

Hope this whole explanation wasn't too gag-inducingly full of metaphors.

Anyway. Day one was introductions to each other and each other's Jewishness. Day two we volunteered in this park on top of the hill which was a Crusade-era citadel. We were re-enforcing stone walls in a park that is really beautiful and built up, with stone lined paths all around. Carla and I mixed cement, which was especially interesting because not two weeks earlier I had taken a knowledge test as part of my MSF interview during which I was given (and failed) about three questions about cement ratios and treatment. Better late than never? For the record, this is how you make cement. It's a catchy little jig that Carla and I made up (use whatever unit you have to work with):

Water.
Cement and a half.
Gravel gravel, sand sand!
Gravel gravel, sand sand!

We hung out in the afternoon, and in the evening our group tripled in size as a Hillel group from an American university joined us. I won't say too much more about the group except that it's been a very mixed bag-- some very cool people but also lots of drama, negativity, and overall immature behavior that makes me SO GRATEFUL to be the age I am and not be in college anymore.

The next day Carla and I painted the inside of an apartment. It was a little weird/frustrating because they made us do a not-so-meticulous job... for example, we were not allowed to pull out nails or patch holes or irregularities in the plaster; rather we just. had. to. paint. The best part was that the guy directing us, David (pronounced DAHvid) was really funny in his bossiness and spotty English. My favorite quote of the day was from one of our group members, Sergey, who said to David "you've been firing me all day!"

Another interesting thing about David-- who by the way is a full on Orthodox Jew, with side curls and a giant beard-- is that he speaks French fluently. I guess his parents immigrated from France. So when he'd come upon a word he didn't know in English (his English was, again, charmingly scant-- he kept saying "pink" instead of "paint") he'd speak to me in French. It's just interesting the situations in which knowing a language comes in useful!! Israel is such a melting pot.

Yesterday we also went for a beautiful hike, and we hiked all day today. Apparently there are only a few weeks a year when it's both sunny and green, and we hit it right on the money! It was raining all through last week, but so far this week it's absolutely perfect, green sunshine every day!

The only downside to this experience is that I have been sick the whole time. Carla had a normal cold and I caught it over the weekend, but instead of a single day of gentle coughing tapering off into wellness, my cough has gotten progressively worse and my head has continued to be stuffed up. But the worst part is that I've now had two days of total laryngitis!! I can hardly speak, and it's so frustrating!! Plus we keep having singalongs and I can't participate. I'm not sure what to do about it... it doesn't seem to be planning to let up any time soon.

Illness aside, this week has been pretty fabulous. It's great to have a break, be in one spot, and I love the people and the activities.