Day 11 - Netzach - Timna & Noam
Netzach woke up this morning full of energy, eager to soak up the last bits of the luxurious Dan Jerusalem. After a never ending, outstanding breakfast and Shacharit, we made our way to the buses to begin our adventure to Northern Israel. Following the 2 hour bus ride filled with laughs and Israeli music, we finally made it to Kfar Kedem.
With a hilarious introduction from Amir, we were ready to gain the full experience of life from biblical, namely Mishnaic, times. We were handed our authentic clothing - head wraps and body garments identical to the clothing of the shepherds from the Mishnah period. Our bus began with the Kfar Kedem classic, donkey riding, which was very enjoyable yet caused concern as our donkeys, who we named Eli and Burrito, struggled to keep up with the rest of the pack. We changed activities and found ourselves in a goat farm. Apart from getting goats milk squirted at us, we were shown the amazing process of how goats cheese is made and were also given the opportunity to feed and milk the goats. It was extremely interesting and lots of fun.
From there, we continued the day with lunch, eating the most delicious warm pitot, fresh Israeli salad, hummus and barbecue chicken and rice. After stuffing our faces, we finished off our experience at Kfar Kedem only to be surprised with a spontaneous activity set by the one and only Ilan Lavan: a hike on Mount Arbel! While there were scary parts of the hike where we clung onto the cliff face with nothing but metal rungs, we all finished with smiles on our faces and ice creams in hand. This hike was symbolic of the trail our ancestors took over 2000 years ago, sparking a sense of belonging and pride into each step. We had pride in the fact that our Homeland, Israel, exists and that 80 years ago no one could have imagined that Eretz Yisrael would belong to the Jews.
To conclude the day, we participated in a UIA program in which Israeli students our age were telling us about the ‘net@‘ computing program. It was so heartwarming to see teenagers who came from diverse cultural backgrounds communicating, working together and being friends, resembling Israel’s acceptance of other ethnicities, cultures and religions.
Overall, today’s experiences at Kfar Kedem, hiking and participating in the UIA program, has helped consolidate our understanding of Israel’s diverse past, present and forthcoming future.
