THE HEIGHTS OF DEFENSE by Lisa Silver

Thursday was another full day! We drove the winding roads up through the Golan Heights, for a rare visit with members of Battalion 75, an Israeli Defense Force tank unit. We had the privilege of meeting with Sharon, a leader of The Friends of the IDF. We were all very impressed by the young men who are in training to defend the people and land of Israel. They were very pleased to have a visit from us, and spoke with us about their lives in the service. Some of us were daring enough to climb on the tanks! (Sorry, we were requested to not post pictures online, but I'm sure your Micah friends will be glad to show you!)

We then climbed even higher to the tip of the Golan Heights, to the Syria/Lebanon border, where our tour guide Mike gave us a history lesson about the 6 Day War and the Yom Kippur War. In fact, every day with Mike and the Rabbis is chock full of information about the history, geography, and politics of this complex region.

We wound our way back down through the hills (pass the Dramamine, please)..... And took a break for falafel and schwarma at an Israeli strip mall in Rosh Pina.Yes, folks, they have them there, too. Then up even higher hills to the very old city of S'fat, also spelled Zevat, Safed, Tzfat. However it's spelled, it is the center of Kabbalistic mysticism, and a busy artist's colony. And you can get fresh squeezed pomegranate juice by the glass! We saw a beautiful sunset, before a sleepy bus ride home to our lovely Kibbutz hotel, Pastoral K'far Blum in the Hula Valley. After dinner we sang some songs and shared a little bit about how our Israel journey is affecting us in ways both expected and unexpected.