Day 7: Tzfat

January 16th- Day 7

We had an early start to the morning (8am) to head to Tzfat, an artist community. Our first stop was a mikveh, which is a tradition for Jewish women. There are several reasons a woman goes to the mikveh: a married woman 7 days after the end of her period, a woman about to get married or give birth, and for conversion. It was a great tour full of information. I felt a lot more calm afterwards and was a good way to start the morning. We then headed to three different synagogues where we learned about levels of Judaism- what we do, what we say, and what we think.

At the Mikveh

For lunch, we ate Lehuhe, which was several different kinds of cheese, tomatoes, herbs, and onions all wrapped in something like a crepe. It was so delicious, and was hands down one of the best things I have eaten so far on the trip.

Eating Lehuhe

Lehuhe

After lunch, we did some souvenir shopping. My favorite was a specialty candle store that sold the most beautiful candles I have ever seen. When we were finished our free time, we went to listen to an artist who was quite the character. He was pretty interesting and talked a lot about kabalah and Jewish mysticism.

Noah's Arc Candle

Then, it was time to hop on the bus to Jerusalem! When we got to the hotel, we went to dinner and then did some preparation for Yad V'Shem. It was definitely apparent how different our cultures were between the Israelis and the Americans. We finished off the night by hanging out in the hotel lobby.