Day 9 - Lehava - Tali

Today was an exciting day for the entirety of Lehava but in particular for myself as it was my birthday. It was a great morning waking up with balloons and some presents as well as the company of all my friends.

We started the day with an all-girls bus ride to one of the four holy cities of Israel, Tzfat. In Tzfat we had an inspirational and moving talk about the mitzvah of the Mikvah from the amazing speaker Elisheva. It made me and all the girls appreciate ourselves inside and out. Elisheva taught us how to connect to our inner self and how to let go of all our stress and worries through a Jewish perspective.

We then toured around Tzfat and went inside synagogues that were holy in many different ways. This was very fascinating as I had never seen synagogues look like this. The synagogues were painted with a lot of blues, and the layout wasn’t the same as it usually is. This was surprising as one of the synagogues didn’t even have a woman’s section. We then had free time wandering around Tzfat and taking in the beauty of the ancient city whilst having lunch. We then had a moving experience going in a cave where we sang songs and heard the echo of our voices radiate throughout the cave. It made me feel proud of my culture and religion as I listened to the sounds of Hatikvah from all the girls on Lehava.

After an amazing time in Tzfat, we went back on the bus to go to Tiberius, another one of the four holy cities in Israel. As we got to Tiberius, we went on a cruise on the Kinneret. This was definitely the highlight of the day. The whole of Lehava came together and danced and sang until it was time to get off.

We then had dinner in Tiberius in a steak house which had great food. As we arrived back at the hotel, we had family time and reflected on the day. I was surprised with a birthday cake which ended a fantastic day and a memorable birthday.

Overall, the day was absolutely unforgettable that made us think about ourselves as well as see the culture in the city of Tzfat. Ending off with a cruise on the Kinneret was a perfect end to the day as we could all be together and get closer to our side on IST. I’m excited to make many more memories on IST and get closer to more people during the process.

Also a massive happy birthday to Noam!! 🥳

Tali Baltineshter