Our trip to the North - Galilee and Golan

This past week we’ve been traveling in the Northern part of Israel. We’re staying on the Northwest side of the Kinneret (Sea of Galillee). The kids have especially enjoyed swimming in the warm waters of the Kinneret, which is Israel’s largest body of fresh water and is the source of drinking water for the whole country.

We visited many interesting archaeological excavations in the Galilee and the Golan Heights - the Bet Alpha synagogue, which has a beautiful mosaic tile floor depicting the Akedat Yitzchak, and the signs of the Zodiac; the Baram synagogue, one of the best preserved ancient synagogues, dating back to the third century CE. Its carved archways and columns bear witness to thriving community that was once here. The main central arch is now in the Louvre in Paris. The inscription reads “May there be peace in this place and in all the places in Israel. We also walked through the streets and alleyways of the ancient city of Tzfat and visited the beautiful synagogues, home to the 16th century kabbalists and teachers, which today is home to many wonderful artists and art galleries. Our trip also included tours of the ruins of the crusader fortresses in Acco and the magnificent ancient maritime city of Caesarea, built by Herod.

We went hiking on Mt. Meron, visited kangaroos at the Gan Garoo Australian zoo on Kibbutz Heftziba, and went swimming in the natural water park at Gan HaShlosha. In the Golan heights we saw the border fences with Lebanon and Syria and the sights of many battles that secured the borders in Israel’s all too frequent wars in her 62 years of existence. Up North in Katzrin we visited an olive oil factory and saw the process of olives being pressed into oil, soaps, and other products. We went river rafting on the Jordan. And we enjoyed delicious lunches of hummus, pita, falafel, and many different kinds of salads in the Arab village of Jish and the Druze village of Maz’ada