Taglit - Israel 2015

As I have some jewish roots in my family I had the chance to take part in an organized trip to beautiful Israel. The name of the organization is Taglit.

Taglit-Birthright Israel is a not-for-profit educational organization that sponsors free ten-day heritage trips to Israel for Jewish young adults, aged 18–26. Taglit is the Hebrew word for discovery. During the trip the participants are encouraged to discover new meaning in their personal Jewish identity and connection to Jewish history and culture. Since trips began in the winter of 1999, more than 400,000 young people from 64 countries have participated in the program. About 80% of participants are from the United States and Canada. The number of participants has not grown beyond 40,000 a year due to budgetary constraints. 

We travelled the country from North to South in 10 days and we're accompanied by two Madridchim (Guides) our age, 3 Soldiers - two boys and one girl for 5 days and one travel Guide, an elderly man who was a fascinating authority who fought in the Mossad and took part in several wars. His knowledge of history was extremely huge so you could ask him nearly every question and get a precise answer. He put us with striking distance of Israel, it's citizens and it's history from the beginning of the country until now and even before that. 

We met the soldiers at the second day where we went to Jaffo the arabic old city of Tel Aviv. We passed the orange tree that is an art work and keeps the roots of the history inside, the Saint Peters Church and went to the sport where have a good view on Tel Aviv. Jaffo had no Ghetto, because they didn't get money from outside. It had the first Hotels, banks, theaters etc. Then we had some free time to walk around the flea market where the soldiers already asked when they could take off their uniform, as it is very hot, although they were officially in service. We met the group at the clock tower, Hasharon On again, which was a present of a paranoid Sultan Abdelhamid. From Jaffo we drove down to Tel Aviv ("the White city") and walked on the Rotschild Boulevard. The Rothschild were and still are Bankiers in Europe and still support Israel finally. We visited the Hall of Independence there, which is the site of the signing of Israel's Declaration of Independence. From 1932 to 1971 housing the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, it is currently a museum dedicated to the signing of the Israeli Declaration of Independence and the history of Tel Aviv-Jaffa. We sang the national song of Israel, the Hatikva in there before we head to the Shuk Ha Carmel (Market). We ran around this area of Tel Aviv, Boutique some fresh juices and enjoyed the special flair. We didn't swim in the sea, as there was a danger of jellyfishes that are poisoned. Closer to the evening we we drove to the Kibbutz Mashabey Sade. A Kibbutz  is acollective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. We had a swim in the pool before we had a nice dinner with fresh products of the Kibbutz. After that we did a question round and a sort of discussion about the situation in Israel now, where the soldiers told us stories and gave us responses, as it is very hard to really know what happens in Israel without living there.

On the third day we drove down to the south and took a breathtaking look at the Makhtesh Ramon Krater where we saw some goats and did a group picture. On our way to the Red Canyon we stopped by a village where the cows are held really well and the milk is famous to be the best of Israel. We ate milky ice cream there, which was naughty expensive. 

The Red Canyon is a National park where you can barely hike without a guide. It was out of red sand stones, flat rocks and metallic stairs to hike. After the long and hot 40 degree hike, we head even more south to Eilat, down to the Egypt border, where we swam in the Red Sea. We weren't allowed to walk around this area alone, as it's famous for the Arab people who are not used to white people and especially blond, such as we Germans are. We also had a little problem at the hotel Arcadia too- some girls were touched and annoyed with noises and whistles. At night, we went out to a bar named The Beatles, as the soldier girl had birthday. It was very good, we danced a lot and got some nice David star tattoos. 

At day four we visited "Arava" a center for agriculture before we drove up to the dead sea where we were on a private beach with freshwater showers. After taking a bath in the saltiest water on earth, we drove more up to the spot of Massada where we did a hot hike of one hour to the top where we could shout far away and hear or echos. The landscape was umdescribable beautiful. I really asked myself how such a small country that is 16 times smaller than Germany can hide such a big secret. We stayed over a beduines camp where we rode the camels. One of the girls were bitten. We had a great hospitality before the dinner, where a beduine woman told us her story, that she as a Muslim still has no rights in some Arab states and therefore fought for everything herself. She did her driving license first, then studied and now has a few sons that study all over the world and one is even in Germany and married a German woman. The dinner was spectacular - we had to eat with our hands, what I personally never did before and it was so fun. We got sweet tea, fruits, bread with different topings and spreads. A great experience! We slept in tents together with the whole group and had a wonderful breakfast next morning with an unreplaceble view on the desert. 

Day five was mostly a sad day. We went to the museum Yard Vashem in Jerusalem, where we had a very detailed tour through what happened in the second world war. The museum was renewed and it shows you the happenings on examples of individuals what made it very emotional for everyone of us. Having a heavy feeling we drove to Beit a Kerem, where we ate a falafel to prepare our emotions for the next sad tour - through the mount of herzl where the cemetery for the fallen soldiers is. A lot of us cried hearing the stories of soldiers who were just 18 years old and killed just a few years ago. We stayed in a hotel in Jerusalem from which we went to the Ben Yehuda Street where we drank up the sad stories and cheered for peace in the world.

Day 6 showed us a lot of Jewish sites in Jerusalem and this time only positive ones. We started with an overview of the history of Jerusalem for what the whole group went to the Mount of Olives where we had the perfect view on the whole city. By pointing at the buildings and areas, our guide told us what happens there and how the places came up and developed so we could imagine it perfectly. We sang a few Jewish national songs up there and cheered all together with a small zip of wine. We wanted to dart our tour from the grave of Zion but there was a danger of bombs in some bag, so the securities sent us away. We passed the grave of David, the Synagogue, and the wailing wall where we all put small pieces of paper with a wish written on it inside of some wholes in the wall as it should bring luck and make the wishes happen. All the people come to the wall and pray. Under a tree of oranges we said goodbye to the soldiers who had to had to go back to their military service and thanked them for accompanying us and sharing their knowledge with us. We ended this day trip with the Mahane Yehuda Shuk where we had time to go around on our own, so me and the girls we found a good place where we could buy good cheese, one where we could buy good bread and one for good humus. It was a nice experience go be in between of such a Balagan (chaos) where everyone shouts at one another and you feel the great competition of sellers but at the same time smell the fresh fruits and vegetables and nuts and bread and fresh baked cookies etc. Exactly how a market should be like. Arriving at the Hotel, we started to prepare ourselves for Shabbat (Saturday) the first day of the Jewish week and the day on which all devoted have to rest and are not allowed to do anything. Shabbat starts at our Friday evening and ends on Saturday day time. So everyone from the group could join our guides volonteerly to go to the Synagoge and watch the Jews praying rituals. We girls had to dress kosher, long dresses that cover knees and shoulders and we all looked very beautiful. After taking a look on the praying, we went back to the hotel where a huge Kabbalat shabbat dinner waited for us and it was as tasty as it looked like. 

The next day, day 7, was a real Shabbat. We slept as long as we wanted, had a huge breakfast and then could volonteerly take part at some seminars made by our guides. We girls had a seminar about hoe the Jewish religion is for a woman and what are the traditional rules of behaviour and rituals what was very interesting. After that we all went to the pool outside which was relaxing and refreshing too, and we met a lot of taglit travellers from other countries such as the US and Canada what was also interesting. In the evening an elderly women of 75 years old came to the hotel to share her knowledge about the country with us.

Day 8 we went up the north of Israel to Zippori, where we visited the old and the new Synagoge and the old theatre. We saw very old mosaics there and then watched a movie about the excavations. After that, we went to Safed, a city just above the Sea of Galilei, which has a beautiful old city and art quarter with galleries and souvenir shops. We stayed in the city in a very nice hotel called Astoria, where we all had a talk about identity and being Jewish.
"Who felt Jewish before he came to Israel and why? Did the family raise them religious or just traditionally? How do we feel about it and how will we feel after this trip? Are we a part of a precious majority which has to hold together? Does being Jewish mean to be religious?" 
Questions such as these came up and were discussed and honestly answered by everyone. I really have to say, that it was interesting to hear all the stories, especially because a lot of the participants changed their mind completely just within the last 8 days. Me personally, I grew up in a Russian family and my father is a Jew, but he just has it in his blood, his mothers education, a bit in his chaotic character and maybe a bit in his face. But my parents were both never religious and they kind of raised me like this, or better gave me the freedom of choice, too. I do feel connected to the Judaism and I feel home in Israel! But I can't really explain why. I just feel it for some reason, that's all. I feel, that I am one of this folk and 10 days were definitely not enough. 
On Day 9 we went even more up to the north, that high, that we reached the Libanon and Syria border, the northernmost point of Israel, where we visited a Kibbutz that works completely independently of the city. The people grow their own food and have their own schools etc. There was an interesting guy telling us the story of the kibbutz and that it had a lot of dangerous moments when bombs fell down on them, as it is just a few meters away from the borders. Moreover, the former soldier, who fought in all the Israel wars that he could fight in, told us his is strong opinion of Israels situation in the conflict now. He first explained the country by its history from the very beginning, over the years until now. A story about everything of someone who fought in the war, who has knowledge of politics and who is citizen and born there, can perfectly explain the truth of what is happening, and that is exactly what we needed. After the lesson we did some fun activity in the nature - Rafting! The place called Kfar Blum and was a great nature. 
Day 10, the last day, unfortunately!!! included a few more important visits in the north: the holiest Jewish city Tiberias and the historical place, a bit lower now and closer to the coast, the beautiful Caesarea, where we saw the huge aqueduct and the theatre. After that, we sadly had to go into the bus again, for the last time, and to got Tel Aviv to take the plane back home. This place was magic! I will never forget this wonderful present of the country, to show my those many beauties. I fell in love, and I will definitely come back very soon!!