Yam liYam 3rd Day: Meron to Tzfat

As you just read, I woke up early to visit Peki'in again and see the new sun. That was before the 8 hour hike that followed. We started on the top of Mt. Meron, the second tallest mountain in Israel, about 1204 meters tall. Mind you, we were heading to the Sea of Galilee, about 200 meters below sea level (making it the lowest freshwater lake). We stood at a lookout and found Tzfat , a city I had been to not long ago . That was where we were headed.

There's not much to tell, except that this was the second time I had done this hike. I did a similar, and probably more intensive Yam el Yam in 11th grade, and I got a few chills as we drove by sight I recognized. Even the Monfort hike from the first day was similar to the hike I did in high school, except that we actually went onto the fortress, and it was winter so it was a lot wetter. This time around though, we found some new treasures, such as a burial site claiming to hold the students of Rabbi Shammai, as well as his mosoleum and well as another ancient synagogue. Just in the middle of a natural park, this stuff shows up! We were entertained with legends about trees and geological explanations for natural pits and pillars. We discussed the sad reality that memorials for the dead show up even in the forests of the country. Our tour guide felt very strongly that Israel and its citizens should stop turning every street corner, tree and building into memorial.

Also on the way, we climbed up a mountain and visited the grave of Yochanan ben Zakkai, or Rashbi, or the guy from the cave earlier, or the writer of the Zohar. There's a tradition that three year olds get their hair cut here for the first time around this time of year, and sure enough, there was a party going on. Honestly, though, my favorite part was visiting the site, and then running back into the forest.

We continued on, and walked past a bunch of Israeli scouts, or Tzofim, wearing kafiyyas to keep themselves cool, and asking us if we spoke English. Mind you, these were pretty young boys and girls, and we looked like real losers passing them by. I'm sure they wondered, are these army dropouts?

We eventually reached a spring, and once through it, we climbed a mountain for ten minutes, and we basically in Tzfat! Inconceivable! The pictures can make it clearer for you; and these .

We then drove through Tiberias to a beautiful, and I mean beautiful hostel at Poriya. It was so pretty and the temperature was so perfect, I thought I'd make a sunrise streak, so I slept outside all night, but not before sharing my summer camp stories around the campfire and enjoying a tremendous bagpipe performance!