Day 10 - Netzach - Sara

After bidding farewell to Ramat Rachel we began our road trip to Kfar Kedem where we learnt how to be true Israeli shepherds.

We were given a full, interactive experience where we not only had the opportunity to the dress up like our ancestors, but we were also taught how to milk a goat and about the various uses for its wool. Learning and making cheese was an extremely interesting experience, even if it meant getting milk sprayed on me straight from the goats teet...

We then pretended to be like the ancient Israelites by trekking through the dessert on donkeys. Unfortunately the donkeys were often more interested in eating the grass than maintaining our safety, but that only added to the humour of the experience. After leaving behind our donkey friends, we were met with a feast full of pita, dips, Israeli salad, rice, meat and most importantly vegetarian corn schnitzel patties. Our hosts, especially Menachem, were classic Israeli’s - very hospitable, educational, entertaining and were sure to leave us with very full stomachs and smiles on our faces.

Next we visited my favourite and in my opinion one of the most beautiful parts of Israel - Tzfat. Rav Doron shared many interesting anecdotes relating to the places that we toured. This included an inspiring story about the value of morality in Tzfat which was shared with us in a synagogue adorned with hand made art - this added a surreal sense of the spirituality of Tzfat. Finally we were given some free time to explore the artistic gems of Tzfat and talk to the locals about our trip so far. It was amazing to see the different types of artists, including kabbalistic and secular, as well as how friendly and helpful the locals were. As the sun dipped below the horizon, only the faint sound of laughter could be heard from us and the locals alike (well...aside from the occasional shouts of “unfairness” as another person got out in our Netzach game of Bang Bang You’re Dead). Watching Mrs Goot running intently through the shop fronts in order to get her person ‘out’ was a particular highlight (she succeeded - sorry Josh).

We finished the day moving into our new home for the next 4 nights in Chispin, followed by a riveting Chanukiah making competition. Although we were jealous of the winners, they were undoubtably very deserving of their 100 shekel food voucher and I can only hope they’ll buy me some ice coffee. Overall, today resulted in lots of learning, many laughs, and paint covered faces.

Sara Goldberg