Not easy to leave the beauty and comfort of Kfar Blum. But the morning found us traveling down South, back through the Hula Valley. Then, with the Kinneret before us, we climbed up through the hills to the Holy City of Safed.
Safed is one of the four cities in Israel which have had continuous Jewish settlement. (Jerusalem, Hebron and Tiberius. You're welcome.) It is also a city which nurtured a mystical tradition which continues to this day. We met with David Friedman, an artist who lives in the city and whose work is based on Kabbalistic themes. (Also rock album covers of the 1960's). Using his art, he gave us a fascinating insight into some of the mystical teachings. I later gave an overview of how Kabbalah and traditional Jewish teachings interact, and the ways that Reform Judaism has begun to incorporate some of these elements. I also gave some personal family history and it's connection to Safed.
After touring some beautiful 16th C. synagogues still in use, we had some time to wander the winding streets, do some shopping and had a presentation on micrographic art, including one piece which contained the entire Torah!
We left Sfed and wound down the hills past stunning views of the Kinneret until we arrived at a spot not on our itinerary - but which we were very happy we were able to see: the tombs of Beit Shaarim.
Beit Shaarim is an archeological park were many 6th Century sarcophagi have been found. It was also one of the last meeting places of the Sanhedrin. We entered through small doors built into a cliff face and found ourselves standing among huge, heavy and intricately carved stone coffins. These caves are the resting places of some of the famous rabbis of the Mishnah, including the complier of the Mishnah itself, Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi. I explained briefly the origin and evolution of the Mishnah and it's place as the source text for the Talmud. We also talked about the ongoing process of rabbinic commentary which continues to this day - all traced back to this remarkable rabbi.
From there we drove south, past Haifa along the Mediterranean coast until we came to Tel Aviv. After dropping our bags at the hotel, we continued on to Dov Hoz - a small airport in Tel Aviv where we flew down to Eilat. Everyone had dinner at various local restaurants as we get ready for tomorrow trip to Petra.
No comments:
Post a Comment