Friday, May 18: Tel Aviv-Yafo

I explained earlier what a tell was. "Aviv" is Hebrew for the season of Spring. The name Tel Aviv symbolizes new growing from old, the reason being that the city was built from scratch less than a hundred years ago. It started as a bedroom community for Yafo (aka Jaffa), the ancient town right next door, quickly outgrew it, and then merged with it to form the metropolis of Tel Aviv-Yafo. And it is a metropolis. Despite the absence of any agriculture (the city is built on sand dunes) or any modern port, Tel Aviv-Yafo has boomed, and is a centre of business and high tech.

In Tel Aviv they dance: Nachalat Benyamin

We started this day exploring Yafo (and shopping), and then moved on into Tel Aviv, starting with Rabin Square, where Itzchak Rabin was assassinated. For the afternoon, we were set free in Tel Aviv-Yafo's biweekly crafts fair, known as Nachalat Benyamin because that's the street it's on. This was one of the most pleasant experiences of the trip. Several streets were closed for the occasion, creating a delightful pedestrian mall, and performers and craftspeople were happily doing their thing. I had been wanting to pick up some souvenirs, and this was exactly the place to do it.

Just before Shabbat, we got together as a group back at the hotel, and debriefed ourselves. This was one of Rabbi Wittstein's strengths, building community and bringing depth of understanding through discussion of everything we'd been through. By this time, we were all very comfortable with our bus and with our communal breakfasts and dinners, and we'd all gotten the chance to know more about each other, and it was wonderful to verbalise that.

Then we made Shabbat at the hotel, with a service, followed by a vegetarian meal (yay!) and cute little bottles of wine that the hotel provided. Quiet, lovely. Bed.

Next: Saturday, May 19, Shabbat in Tel Aviv-Yafo