The Charlotte Jewish News - December 2011 - Page 12
Israel Part XVI
By Amy Krakovitz
Within walking distance of
Kfar Blum is a landing on the
Hatzbani stream (eventually con
necting to the Jordan River) where
recreational kayaks launch. There
are kayaks for up to six. Shelley
Pawlyk, Joel Blady, Steve
Newman, and I team up in one
kayak. I still am not sure how this
happened, but Steve takes the rear
paddle, Joel and Shelley take the
mid-ship position (no paddles),
and I get the front paddle. I think
Steve is steering and I am just sup
plying extra forward motion. I
hope so.
Steve takes a seat on the back
rim of the kayak so that he can see
over our heads and direct me.
Pushing off into the water pro
vides a minor splash, but the water
is amazingly calm, a true picture
of flat water, and though we are
wearing Personal Flotation
Devices, there is little to be con
cerned about in terms of flipping
over. We are promised by the staff
at the kayak center that there is a
waterfall ahead; the anticipation
of that is a little worrisome.
The sun is very hot and the air
is very clear. It’s a nearly perfect
day to be out on the water. We
start to sing “Michael, Row Your
Boat Ashore,” but none of the
other rafters join in, so we quickly
abandon our singing just before it
gets embarrassing.
I am learning to steer as we go.
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LEADING TH E WAY TO YOUR SUCCESS
Pushing off into the Hatzbani Stream.
stumbling a bit, causing minor
bumps with logs and other rafts,
but soon I have a technique, far
from perfect but utilitarian at least.
Learning as you do something
brings to mind the Jewish concept
that doing something is more
important than believing some
thing. The doing itself brings
about understanding. Just by ply
ing the paddle, I am learning about
steering, currents, teamwork, and
my own strength.
Rich Gilbert takes a moment of
reflection while looking over the
Golan Heights into Syria.
There are swimmers
on the shore along the
way and they call greet
ings to us. As a coda to
Shelley’s Bat Mitzvah,
this passage through
water is like a mikvah
(though we are not
immersed, at least not
yet), the water an agent
of change.
There’s a sound up
ahead, a little rushing of
water. It must be the
waterfall and my heart
beat quickens. I am at
the front of the kayak, I don’t want
to tumble out face first.
The water churning
sound gets louder and I
feel even more anxious.
There it is up ahead ...
whew, it was all of
about three feet and
took 10 seconds to slide
down. Another lesson
learned. Sometimes we
fear for no reason. Face
your fears, as nothing is
likely as bad as you
thought.
Golan Heights
Quickly we change
for a trip to the Golan
Heights and the site of
one of the attacks of the Yom
Kippur War in 1973. We first have
lunch at the cafe at the top of Har
Bental, a place called “Kofi
Annan” (which means “cloud cof
fee”). From the windows of the
cafe we can see the memorial and
reconstruction of the IDF
emplacement from the Yom
Kippur War attacks.
After lunch, we tour the site
and learn about the attacks from
Syria in 1973. According to histor
ical accounts, this was actually
NOT a surprise attack. Egyptian
president Nassser’s son-in-law
had been a spy for Israel and
advised that there would indeed be
an attack. Both Mossad and IDF
intelligence disagreed on whether
this was true. Feeling a bit arro
gant about the success of the Six-
Day War, Golda Meir put the
troops on alert, but nothing more.
In addition to that, Israel had been
faulted in 1967 for attacking first
after hearing that war was immi
nent from all sides; some histori
ans have opined that this made
Meir a little gun-shy.
There were 1,500 Syrian tanks
that rolled out into the open and
The site on Har Bental overlooking the Golan
depicts a re-enactment of the Syrian front during
the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
across the Golan, facing a mere
150 Israeli tanks. This out of bal
ance encounter resulted in 3,000
Israelis dead, a lesson in giving in
to arrogance and being concerned
about others’ perceptions.
We went underground into a
bunker and felt the close and tight
accommodations that soldiers had
that day. And we stood up on the
ramparts and saw that Syria is not
very far away at all. ^
Next: Tzfat and a boat ride on
the Galilee.
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If you are interested in partici
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mami.eisner@charlottejcc.org. ^