Dear B'nai Aviv Family,
I am writing to you from beautiful Kibbutz Kfar Blum in the northern part of Israel. The B'nai Aviv families who are with us have planted trees in a J.N.F. Forest, climbed to one of the highest lookout points towards Jerusalem, walked in the underground tunnels of the Western Wall, SHOPPED till WE DROPPED (almost every day!), lit Shabbat candles on the walls of the Old City, then walked to the Kotel (Western Wall) for Friday Night Kabbalat Shabbat services, where at least 10,000 other Jews from all over the world gathered to celebrate the beginning of Shabbat, davened at the beautiful Conservative Synagogue Headquarters Shabbat morning, relaxed throughout Shabbat day (at the pool, taking walks, etc), shopped (again!) on Ben Yehuda Street in downtown Jerusalem (which was filled with thousands of people!) and then today began our trip up north, passing the ancient city of Jericho, visiting the mystical city of Sfat (where we studied about Kabbalah and mysticism - as well as shopped our way through their incredible artists' colony. And all of this is only in the first 4 days!Tomorrow morning we are going kayaking on the Jordan River - while members of our Weston neighborhood First Baptist Church are being baptized in the same river (but not the same location!). In the afternoon we will head up into the Golan Heights and then enjoy dinner at Lake Tiberias. Following this we will meet with our First Baptist Church friends for dessert and shmoozing - in order to compare our experiences. This will be a unique experience since there are not many synagogues and churches who plan ahead to meet in Israel, and hopefully we will continue our discussions when we both return to Weston.Everyone in our group, from the youngest to the oldest wants you to know that we feel completely SAFE and HAPPY and PRIVILEGED TO BE IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL - OUR Land of Israel!Regards to all from Lisa Ladau and her 4 children (Glen was in Florida this week) and it's been wonderful to see how she and her children have become true Israelis!We have much more to experience but everyone here wants you to know that Israel is waiting for your visit! We"ll save some felafel for you!
Shalom from Israel,
Rabbi & Melinda
