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Health & Fitness

Journey to Israel: Arrival and Kibbutz HaGoshrim

Days 1 & 2 on our journey to Israel.

After a slight delay out of Minneapolis, we connected at JFK. Our flight was full of excited teenagers coming to Israel for the first time (who stayed up late into the night laughing and sharing stories), synagogue members on our tour, Israelis returning home, and business people. Upon landing, the plane erupted in cheers of delight!

We arrived in Israel shortly before 1pm. After claiming our bags and meeting Mark, our tour guide, we drove north for almost three hours, to Kibbutz HaGoshrim. [Kibbutzim are collective communities in Israel, usually based in agriculture. 100 years ago, they were part of a Zionist and socialist vision of a utopian society. Today, most of the kibbutzim have been privatized. HaGoshrim, which translates to The Bridge Builders, is, according to Wikipedia, "a kibbutz in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 5 km east of Kiryat Shmona. It was founded in 1948 mostly by immigrants from Turkey, and falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council. The kibbutz was established partly on the Palestinian village lands of al-Khisas,The kibbutz opened a hotel in the remains manor house of Emir Faour, the master of the al-Fadel tribe and of Al-Khisas his vassals village).

Today, Kibbutz HaGoshrim has a thriving tourist business and is set amidst Israel's beautiful northern mountains.

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Despite the jetlag, I am filled with awe at to be in Israel, especially with my family and members of our Shir Tikvah community. The beauty of the land, the history underneath every stone and behind every jagged ruin, the intoxicating smell of wild flowers growing on the side of the highway, the enormous wall separating Israel and the West Bank in an attempt to keep terrorists at bay, and the irony of seeing Hasidic men dressed in traditional garments talking on their new iPhone are wonderous, challenging, inspiring, and exhausting. I look forward to reflecting more deeply on their significance in the days that follow.

Now, it is time to sleep and offer blessings for a safe arrival.

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