In between meeting and mingling with family, we took the time to show Joe around Israel as this was his first trip to the holy land. My cousin Nadav took him on an up close and personal tour of The Armored Corps Memorial Site and Museum in Latrune, a memorial to fallen soldiers as well as an extensive and diverse tank museum. Joe really enjoyed himself and got inside every tank/vehicle possible and the two of them took endless pictures of every army vehicle there!
Joe and I also enjoyed a tour of the Sorek Stalactite Cave near Bet Shemesh (about an hour away). The cave, which is 60 metres wide and 82 metres long was accidentally discovered when workers were blasting at the quarry next door. Long, short, fat, thin dripping stalactites and stalagmites filled the cave along with the glow of the yellow and orange lights. The cave was just as impressive as the first time I visited and Joe also really enjoyed it!
Friday night we spent our second Shabbat at my Uncle Asher’s house with my Aunt Leah and four cousins. This is always an interesting experience, especially for Joe who has not previously been exposed to very religious Jews (not that he was complaining). Shabbat is a weekly holiday that is observed by religious Jews on Friday at sundown until Saturday night at sundown. It comes from the Bible when God built the world in six days and on the seventh day he rested. The religious tout this as a time to relax and enjoy your family without the burden of working or other distraction! The Talmud gives 39 categories of work that are not allowed to be done on Shabbat including washing, baking, tearing, cooking, writing, tying, making or extinguishing fire and many more that make up the 39 thing that are considered as general labour. It can be quite a hassle, but the religious have their systems down pat and prepare in advance.
I think the idea in theory is a nice one, but not particularly practical (say for a farmer) and not something Joe and I plan to put into practice in our home. Interestingly, Israel is definitely a religious state and there are no buses and many stores are closed on Saturdays. You also cannot get married civilly in Israel unless you sign a document stating you have no religion (which I believe is a recent change). Another interesting fact about Judaism is that there is no mixing of meat and milk during meals, which means no cheeseburgers or meat pizza and many other food items we take for granted. The rule comes from the passage in the bible that talks about not cooking a calf in its mother’s milk. You would be surprised at how many Israeli's abide by this rule (which is a total pain in the ass) religious or not. When Joe ordered a meat sandwich and a coffee with milk at a restaurant, they gave him a to-go mug so as not to un-kosher their cup! I am used to all of these rules as this is my fourth trip to Israel, but I still have to think twice every time I want to cook something. No meat in my lasagne here!!
Other highlights to our time here were the numerous great restaurants which included my personal fave Achla, a meat restaurant that serves tons of little dishes of salads (egg salad, coleslaw, corn, a variety of pickled salads) along with hot fresh bread and meat of your choice. They keep refilling the salads and it’s hard to say no! Ariana and fam also took us to a nice restaurant in Kfar Saba where Joe enjoyed a three mini burgers with fries, which he had been craving for some time!
We were also treated to a private performance during practice time for Ariana and her band. Unfortunately they did not have a show scheduled during our visit because of the holidays. It was in a sound proof room and was really rockin!
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