Israel Day 9 - Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Tuesday morning, many of us woke up to the sounds of birds, chickens, and roosters! It was a beautiful sunny day and we ate breakfast and boarded the bus for one of the most interesting and beautiful places in the north of Israel – the Golan Heights. We started at a magnificent and historic site way up in the north of Israel on the border between the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights called “Tel Dan.” Tel Dan is one of the most important archaeological sites in all of Israel because a fragmentary stele containing a Canaanite inscription which dates to the 9th century BCE was found there. It is notable for possibly being the only extra-biblical archeological reference to King David. We walked around this enormous archeological wonder and were impressed by the huge walls that were used to protect the city of Dan and preserve the many archaeological treasures related to the northern Kingdom of Israel that have been found at Tel Dan over the decades. 

In addition to the ancient area of Tel Dan, there is a magnificent nature reserve there as well which is important because there three major rivers that feed the Jordan River come together: The Dan River, the Banias River, and the Hasbani River. When one looks at the rushing water in Tel Dan, one realizes why the ancient Israelites built such a large and important city there. We enjoyed the nature and history and had a wonderful visit. 

 

Following our walk through Tel Dan, we went to El Rom, a Kibbutz very close to the Syrian border, where we spent time learning about the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Because of the proximity of this Kibbutz to the border with Syria, some of the most prominent Israeli commanders of the Yom Kippur War were either from this Kibbutz or became heroes in the area due to the strategic genius they demonstrated during what was a very difficult war to cede the Golan Heights to the State of Israel. Because of the “height” of the Golan Heights and the importance of high areas to the security of Israel, this entire region really plays a critical part in keeping the northern borders of Israel safe for residents and tourists alike. At El Rom, we watched a new film about the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the contributions of the Kibbutz to the most difficult battle fought there in what is now known as The Valley of Tears. It was an emotional glimpse into the human side of a brutal battle by Israeli IDF members to gain this important stronghold from Syria that began on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.

 

The area of the Golan is known for raising cattle, growing apples, and for the many vineyards that line fill the fields for miles. Israel has established several award-winning wineries in the area – some are large enough to export their wines internationally and some, like the one we visited, choosing to remain something of a boutique winery that produces limited numbers of delicious wines per year. The Tel Shifon winery is magnificent. We enjoyed a fabulous wine tasting including a white, rose, and red sampling, and then took a tour around the fields to see where and how the grapes are grown there. What a peaceful and delicious stop! We each left with a gift of a bottle of red wine and a wine cooler bag to keep it safe in our bags. At that bucolic stop, we posed for some pictures and realized that our trip was coming to a close the very next day. But….not before another delicious lunch!!

 

We drove from the winery to another Kibbutz in the area where we were welcomed into the home of “Shifra,” a woman who runs a catering business out of her home. She also hosts people at her beautiful house, and lucky for us, we were her guests for lunch! We enjoyed a fabulous vegetarian meal that included delicious produce grown in the area, freshly-baked breads, salads, cheeses, and little tasting desserts that were truly fantastic. While the hospitality felt exactly like that of the Druze family we had visited the day before, the meal was completely different, featuring a sort of fusion of Mediterranean and California cuisines. As always, there were some things that we were already familiar with, but also new treats to sample for the first time. Shifra talked to us about life on the Kibbutz and the history of this fascinating socialistic movement unique to Israel. While most of the Kibbutzim established 100+ years ago and through the founding of the State in 1948 were “purely” socialistic in nature, where all resources and responsibilities were shared equally among the Kibbutz resident families, more recently, Kibbutzim have undergone degrees of privatization where more is “owned” by Kibbutz members and less is equally shared. Shifra was lovely and we enjoyed being seated on her porch and inside her large kitchen so that we could see how things were prepared for us and served. As always, we left her home feeling as if we had made another friend in Israel.  

 

Following lunch, we returned back to El Rom, on the Syrian border, where we boarded jeeps for a geo-political tour of the Golan Heights area. In addition to being fun, our guides were experts in the politics and history of the area and we exchanged thoughts, feelings, and impressions of the Golan Heights with one another. We felt challenged by this entire area and left with more questions than answers. There is no doubt that there is more to the Golan Heights than we know about it from the media and even the stories we hear back in the US. This is truly an area that will continue to be important and as we looked out the jeep windows at the many remaining live minefields that are cordoned off, we realized that we only understood a fraction of what was to be learned from the history and geopolitics of this area. While some of the guides were more optimistic than others, we realized how difficult the prospect of true peace in the Golan has been and how fragile it is today. 

 

We returned back to the Vered Ha-Galil Guest Farm and Guest Houses where we rested (quickly!) and prepared for what would be our “final” farewell dinner that evening. When we boarded the bus for dinner, there was a mixture of sadness and excitement … and exhaustion from what was perhaps our busiest touring day of the trip. Dinner, of course, did not disappoint. We went to a delicious restaurant that featured MEAT! Enormous portions of steak or chicken were on the menu and we thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful atmosphere of the restaurant and one another’s company. Then, back to Vered Ha-Galil to pack and prepare for the very long next day, Wednesday, that eventually would have us at the airport by 9:00 pm for our 1:05 am flight back to Boston.