After an incredible breakfast we were off to Tel Dan. I don't think any of us were prepared for the lush vegitation, the rushing waters of the Jordan of the rustic path upon which we walked. We stopped at the altar used in the time of King Jeroboam and carried on to the discovery of "Abraham's Gate". We continued on to Caesarea Philippi, the city of Panias. Mark 8: 27-31 took on a new dimension as we envisioned Jesus speaking to his disciples as asking "Who do you say that I am?" By bus we wound through the Golan Heights looking at UN establishments, seeing a town where half of the inhabitants lived in Israel while the other half lived in Lebanon. We looked into Syria and watched UN vehicles travelling along the roads. This was the day we enjoyed a picnic lunch! Some of our supplies were brought from Canada; we were very impressed with the shopping that our guide Yuval and driver Avi had done!! Between our busy schedule and another day of 34 degree weather, the leadership team decided we needed a bit of time to relax. By 2 pm we headed back to Kibbutz Hagoshrim where some went on a small hike of "The Hidden Valley" behind our kibbutuz, others went swimming and many took the opportunity for a siesta.
We met for dinner a little early and appreciated our guides Shimon and Yuval explaining the blessings a family would experience every Friday evening at Shabbat. Our greeting to people now became "Shabbat Shalom". After a meal we will not describe, or you'll be even more sorry you are not with us, many of us made our way to the lobby to listen to some Israeli entertainment. While none of us could understand the words being sung, the language of music was still able to communicate of their incredible culture.
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