We took a two day Fulbright-sponsored trip to northern Israel and the Galilee. It was great to spend some time getting to know the other Fulbrighters and hear about their experiences in Israel thus far.
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| Almond trees and Mt. Hermon. |
Our travels included a variety of stops, farms, nature reserves, and ethnic villages:
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| Spicy Way Farm Store - more spices, herbs, and teas than you can imagine. |
One of the most unexpected and surprising stops on the tour was a village called Kfar Kama. The village is home to a group of people known as Circassians. The Circassians originated from an area in the north Caucasus mountains (now Chechnya). The Circassian people are known as extremely brave and fierce warriors - evidenced by the armor and weapons on display. The Cicassians in Israel serve in the Israeli army and consider themselves to be full citizens.
Our guide at the Heritage Center spoke to us in his native Circassian language. It didn't sound like words, but more like sounds from nature. For example, the word for ocean sounded like a wave breaking, the word for bee sounded like bzzzzzz, and the word for wind sound liked like rustling leaves.
Although this was a town of about 4,000, the Circassian diaspora is found elsewhere in the middle east, Turkey and the USA (California, New Jersey, and Maine).
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| Traditional dancers in traditional dress at the Circassian Heritage Center |
We stopped for lunch in a Druze village
called Peqi'in, which is also the site of the Cave of Shimon bar Yochai. Rabbi
Shimon bar Yochai was a spiritual leader and believed to be the founder of the kabbalistic tradition of Judaism. According to legend, to escape the Romans, he
and his son hid in a very small cave for 13 years living on the fruit of a
carob tree and water from a spring.
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| Not sure I could live in this cave for 13 years! |
The Druze are a distinct religious group - the basis of their beliefs is derived from Shia Islam, but their secretive faith differs from mainstream Islam on many fundamental points. Most Druze live in Syria or Lebanon, but a small (less than 10) percentage live in Israel, where they serve in the military and even have members in Parliament.
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| Lunch in a traditional Druze restaurant. |
We stayed the night at the hotel at Kibbutz Kfar Blum. The kibbutz is the Tanglewood of Israel, hosting a large music festival in the summer. The hotel was beautiful and we were happy to spend some time in the spa before dinner (thanks Fulbright!).
The next day, our first stop was Dubrovin Farm in Yesod Hama'ala. The Dubrovin family immigrated in 1904 from Russia (though they were not Jewish, they later converted). The farm won many awards in agriculture and is credited with cultivating a large variety of chickpea which is now grown world-wide.
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| The kitchen at the Dubrovin Farm Museum. |
After lunch we went to the Banias Nature Reserve. The Banias is the headwaters of the Jordan River at the base of Mt. Hermon (2,800 meters or 9,200 feet!). From the springs emerge cold, clean water that flows into beautiful natural pools. The water from these springs provides drinking water for people and wildlife alike. Water is a big deal here for obvious reasons!
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| The Hermon Spring at Banias. |
We couldn't believe how much water there was and how green everything was. It really felt like walking through a forest! There were lots of trees (willows, Syrian ash, oak, poplar, almonds), flowers, and wild raspberries (we plan to go back when those are ripe!).
As with everything in Israel, there are layers of history superimposed on the natural landscape. The other fascinating part of the Banias is the archaeology. The Greeks built a temple here to honor the God Pan. The temple evolved during the reigns of King Herod and the Romans. Many parts of the temple are still intact and the site is an active archaeological dig. The name Banias comes from the word Paneas (the 'p' becomes a 'b' in the Arabic pronunciation).
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| The remains of the Temple of Pan. |
The last stop on the tour was the Agamon Lake bird sanctuary in the Hula Valley. The Hula valley is a vital stopping point for migratory birds flying between Africa and Europe. You can find more than 200 different species here during the year. Agamon Lake was Israel's first nature reserve (set up in 1964). We were both glad not to have a fear of birds! It was crazy!! We took a guided tractor ride through the reserve at feeding time. There were thousands of birds, mostly wood cranes, and they were hungry!
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| Cranes coming in for food. |
Visit our photo album for more pictures and some video of this trip.
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