The Charlotte Jewish News - February 2018 - Page 18
Temple Kol Tikvah Israel Trip, October
2017
Part 1 of 2
Members, friends, and assoei-
ates of Temple Kol Tikvah of
Lake Norman reeently eame baek
from an eventful trip to Israel. All
had a great time. Tour partieipants
ineluded first-timers as well as
seasoned Israel travelers. But, of
eourse, there were many new sites
to explore and many experienees
to enjoy by all.
Our own Rabbi Miehael
Shields was our spiritual leader
ensuring that we sense the reli
gious and spiritual essenee of vis-
Dancing in celebration of Kenlee Griffin’s Bar Mitzvah.
The Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem.
iting Israel. We stopped at
various points along the
way to reeite prayers and
readings from the Bible
and other Jewish sourees,
as appropriate. Eaeh par-
tieipant had a eopy of the
93-page handbook titled
“Temple Kol Tikvah -Is
rael Trip, Our Israel: His-
torieally. Religiously, and
Today,” whieh Rabbi
Shields had prepared in
advanee of our trip.
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We had a very busy itinerary,
and our guide, Abie, made sure
that we didn’t miss a beat. We vis
ited many sites that are on a must-
visit list in Israel. We elimbed and
deseended the narrow alley ways
in aneient Jaffa with its many gal
leries and Judaiea shops; walked
in the aneient port eity of Cae
sarea, built by King Herod in
honor of the Roman Emperor; vis
ited the art museum in Tel Aviv
where Ben Gurion and other Jew
ish dignitaries signed Israel Dee-
laration of Independenee in 1948;
walked through The Museum of
The Diaspora showing Jewish life
and eommunities all over the
world; strolled through the small
alley ways of Tzfat, the eity where
the Kabbalah was studied and
praetieed in the 15th and 16th een-
turies; and we meandered through
the restored ruins of the eity of
Beit Shean in the Izrael Valley not
far from the Jordanian border. We
floated in the Dead Sea, being
eareful not to splash the salty
water lest our eyes iteh and bum;
visited the Yitzehak Rabin mu
seum telling the story of the Is
raeli Prime Minister who sought
peaee and was assassinated by an
Israeli zealot; and we enjoyed the
magnifieent seenery over Maeht-
esh Ramon in the Negev Desert.
This is an amazing, world famous
erater and unique geologieal for
mation eaused by erosion over
millennia. It is 40 kilometers long
and several kilometers wide. We
visited the Sde Boker Kibbutz in
the Negev where David Ben Gu
rion, the first Prime Minister of Is
rael, lived after retiring from the
government. At Ramat Negev Re-
seareh and Development Center,
we learned how Israeli seientists
eombine teehnology and natural
resourees to make the desert
bloom; we traveled to Akko,
steeped in aneient erasader his
tory, and with fairly well pre
served eitadel and walls. Let’s not
forget our visit to the ehoeolate
faetory in the Galilee, the oil fae-
tory, and of eourse, last but not
least, the Golan Heights Winery
and its eomplimentary exquisite
wine tasting session; and on and
on, so many sites and experienees.
Several of our experienees
were very speeial and are note
worthy. First and foremost, we
eelebrated, at the Wall, the Bar
Mitzvah of our own Kenlee Grif
fin, a wonderful young man who
attends our Kol Tikvah’s Reli
gious Sehool. Kenlee reeited the
traditional Torah reading prayers
and expertly ehanted the Torah
(Continued on page 25)