Beautiful Sites of Israel

by Marlena Chertock

During the summer of 2007, I traveled to Israel.  This was my sixth visit to the country.  My summer camp and youth movement Habonim Dror North America hosts the trip the summer after sophomore year.  It is called Machaneh Bonim B’Israel (MBI) — roughly translating to camp in Israel.

While in Israel my camp, Machaneh Moshava, met up with the other seven camps throughout the North American area, Machaneh Galil in Pennsylvania, Machaneh Na’aleh in New York, Machaneh Tavor in Michigan, Machaneh Gilboain California, Machaneh Miriam in British Columbia, Canada and Machaneh Gesher in Ontario, Canada.

Together we traveled around Israel, learned about the history of Israel, Zionism, Judaism and Jews in the Diaspora, the history of Habonim Dror, kibbutzim (farm-like communities in Israel), our beliefs, the future of our youth movement, and other aspects.

The counselors (madrichim) repeatedly told us that once you travel throughout Israel, the beauty of other places is diminished.  The beauty of Israel is so diverse and great.  The sites I saw cannot compare to places I have visited in America.  I want to share various sites I visited on that trip and why they are so beautiful to me.

Sea of Galilee—Kinneret

Near the Golan Heights
This body of water serves as most of the country’s water source.  During MBI we hiked up a cliff overlooking the water.  Along with warm Mediterranean breezes, the town at the base of the cliff housed Israelis and Arabs.  As I remember, they were living in peace, side by side.  The Arab houses were tall, as when a son or daughter marries an additional level is built on top of the existing house for them to live in.  It was so interesting.  This town gave me hope that peace can exist.

Bahai Gardens

In Haifa
These gardens are terraces and a shrine for the Bahai faith.  They are considered the Hanging Gardens of Haifa and the Eighth Wonder of the World.  Though I have never walked through the gardens, I have been able to look up at the landscape while driving past or from the top view. The gardens grow up an entire hillside, adding to the magnificence of the sight.
The Bahia faith emphasizes unity across cultures and religions and a unity of all mankind.  I believe many can learn from this peacefulness in spite of differences.

Western Wall

In Jerusalem
There are many names for the Western Wall:

• the Western Wall
• the Wailing Wall
• the Kotel

The wall is what remains of the second Temple in Jerusalem.  It is perhaps the most holy place in the Jewish faith.  Jews gather to pray, press their heads to the wall, and push their messages and prayers into the cracks of the wall.

The visit with MBI was not my first to the Western Wall.  That is why I think I was not as affected.  Several on the trip began crying as soon as they saw the wall.  But seeing thousands of people congregate to this place to pray is a magical sight to behold.

Negev

The Negev is the desert in Israel.
The Negev is a very different kind of beauty.  It is desolate, barren, dry, hot, and beautiful.  On MBI we went on a water hike in the Negev—yes, a water hike.  There is water in the Negev, you just have to look for it.

We also went on a scorpion hunt and were successful.  We went at night, carrying flashlights and creeping through the desert.  The scorpions we found were small, yellow, and fast.

The most interesting and beautiful part of the Negev, for me, was the Bedouin village we visited.  The Bedouins are a nomadic people—they are always on the move.  They live in large tents, travel with camels, and are very hospitable.  The Bedouins shared their tents and food with us.  Their tea was the sweetest I have ever tasted—I had three cups.

We had a bonfire that night, and the fire in that landscape was even more beautiful than at a camp site.

Tzfat

Tzfat, Zefat or Safed is an artist colony in northern Israel.  The streets are made of stone, as are the buildings.  It is a town you can wander through, there are small passageways that take you to small doors and entrances to artist or clothing shops.  The beauty is in the city itself—messages are written and drawn on the walls, decorated tiles are placed on the walls, and the doors are painted and decorated.  Walking through the town is like walking through living creativity.

Dead Sea

The lowest point on Earth. The high salinity in this body of water makes it so no animal can live in it.  The salt also causes people to float on top of the water.  You will often find people reading books or newspapers in the Dead Sea.
There is a sense of quiet in the Dead Sea, past the lack of waves, animals, or splashing (you are not allowed to splash because of the salt).  It is eerily, beautifully quiet.  You can float in the sea and look up at the mountains above you.  It is quite magnificent.

Kibbutzim

During MBI we stayed on a kibbutz for a week.  To me, kibbutzim are beautiful.  I am glad there are still some around, as many have fallen apart.  People often leave the kibbutzim for the cities or towns.

Kibbutzim are farm-like communities.  They were the very earliest settlements in Israel, when Jews were first moving to the country.  The ideology is centered around a bit of socialism: everyone must work to keep the kibbutz running, children will be taken care of, and everyone will be fed in a communal dining hall.  The modern kibbutzim are quite different than these earlier ones.  The kids on the kibbutz we visited told us they do not eat together, wash their laundry together, or have communal daycare.  They do, however, work to keep the crops growing and animals producing.

The people on a kibbutz become so close, closer than people who live in a neighborhood or cul-de-sac in America.  This, I think, is what affected me the most.  The closeness of the community.  That is a beauty all its own.

Golan Heights 

The Golan Heights was one of the last places we visited during MBI.  We hiked up to the top of the heights.  We looked out into three countries at once: Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.  It was amazing to be able to see bordering countries from one spot.  It made me feel small, and this realization showed me how small Israel is.  But it also showed me how arbitrarily lines are drawn for countries, how close countries really are to one another.

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Habonim Dror-“The Builders of Freedom”

In case you wanted to read up more on my youth movement here is some information.  Habonim Dror is a Jewish-Socialist-Zionist worldwide youth movement in over 20 countries including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, United States, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.  These movements and camps share common ideology, beliefs, goals, traditions, and methods.

• Habonim Dror North America (HDNA)
• Habonim Dror Mexico (HDM)
• Habonim Dror Uruguay
• Habonim Dror Brazil
• Habonim Dror South Africa (HDSA)
• Habonim Dror United Kingdom (HDUK)
• Habonim Dror Holland
• Habonim Dror Netherlands
• Habonim Dror France-Belgium
• Habonim Dror France Nancy
• Habonim Dror Hungary
• Habonim Dror New Zealand
• Habonim Dror Australia (HDOZ)
• HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed (Israel)-this is the sister movement in Israel

A Short History

Habonim was established in London in 1929 by Wellesley Aron.  By the mid 1930’s the English movement already boasted 10,000 members and had spread to North America (1935), South Africa (1930) and then later to India (1935), Australia (1940), Argentina and Brazil (1945), New Zealand (1949) and Holland (1950).

Dror was established in 1915 in Russia as a Socialist-Zionist youth movement.  Dror soon spread to Poland and throughout Europe and by the 1930’s had also opened centers in South America. By the mid-forties, the movement existed in South Africa and in 1961 Dror in England was founded.

Habonim in North America was born out of the 1935 convention of the Poale Zion (Workers of Zion).  It was formed on the principles of Zionism, the answer to the question of the fate of the Jewish people, and Socialism, the solution to society’s problems.  In 1982 Habonim merged with Dror and Habonim Dror North America was created.

https://www.habonimdror.org/about-us/history

Ideology

• Cultural Judaism
• Labor Zionism
• Actualization (self-actualization)-encouraging acting on one’s goals and dreams, achieving one’s potential
• Socialism-the creation of a new social order throughout the world, based on the principles of self-determination, individual freedom, political democracy, and cooperative economics, the equality of all people and the equality of human value
• Social Justice

Methods

• Community Service (Tikkun Olam, healing the world)
• Workshops, meetings, Veida-amendments or changes to the HDNA Constitution or other areas Constitution
• Youth as leaders
• Peaceful protest
• Discussions (peulot)-Every day during summer camp the counselors hold thought-provoking, informal discussions for each age group.  Every camper is encouraged to speak up and share his thoughts.  It is through these discussions that we learn about each other, important events in history and current ones, our beliefs about the movement and the ideology and  we learn to respect other’s opinions and let them have a chance to voice them.
• And more