Greetings Family and Friends,
Friday morning we packed up, loaded the bus and said 'litraot' (goodbye) to our friends at the Colony Hotel. Our first stop in the morning was to the site of the tragedy in the Carmel Forest where a 'makeshift' memorial to honor the victims of the people that were trapped in the bus. d We paid our respects and said 'Kaddish'. It was a moving moment for the CAARI group. We continued our journey along the windy road, viewing the burnt and scorched trees and wondered how they were able to fight this fire in the rocky terrain and steep valleys. Ya'acov, the forestor from the Jewish Natioanl Fund, did tell us that they were taking away some of the burnt stumps and also allowing for the return of natural growth before planting. We could see some spring tulips peaking through the blackened ground - quite a contrast.
Continuing down the road we arrived at our next stop, Atlit, the detention camp during the British Mandate period. This visit tied in to our earlier visit to the Illegal Immigration and Naval Museum in Haifa. Our guide, Anna, was terrific. As we toured the 'barracks' and 'showers' she told us personal stories of those who were in the camp. It is amazing that they have such documented history of the detainees. As we were looking at the data, Gloria Kaufman, one of our participants, said that her cousin was detained at Atlit. Anna immediately located the name in the huge date base and in seconds were were viewing all the information and pictures of Gloria's cousin including a detailed account of the story of how she arrived in the camp. This camp is one of the JNF - USA projects and the newest part of the camp is the 'refurbished' ship that is similar to the ships that brought immigrants to the shores of Palestine after World War II. Through a variety of visuals the experience is described - very well done.
Now - time for lunch and so we headed to Zichron Ya'acov, a charming village from the late 1800's, which still maintains it cobblestoned main street lined with cafes and small shops. Some of us shopped and others enjoyed a bite of lunch and coffee.
Next stop - our home for the next 4 weeks, the City Hotel, located a block from the sea and off of the one of Tel Aviv's main streets - Ben Yehuda Street.
Some of us had time to wonder around the neighborhood, view the sun setting and attend services before our 'CAARI Family' Shabbat dinner and Oneg Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom to all,
CAARI
Friday morning we packed up, loaded the bus and said 'litraot' (goodbye) to our friends at the Colony Hotel. Our first stop in the morning was to the site of the tragedy in the Carmel Forest where a 'makeshift' memorial to honor the victims of the people that were trapped in the bus. d We paid our respects and said 'Kaddish'. It was a moving moment for the CAARI group. We continued our journey along the windy road, viewing the burnt and scorched trees and wondered how they were able to fight this fire in the rocky terrain and steep valleys. Ya'acov, the forestor from the Jewish Natioanl Fund, did tell us that they were taking away some of the burnt stumps and also allowing for the return of natural growth before planting. We could see some spring tulips peaking through the blackened ground - quite a contrast.
Continuing down the road we arrived at our next stop, Atlit, the detention camp during the British Mandate period. This visit tied in to our earlier visit to the Illegal Immigration and Naval Museum in Haifa. Our guide, Anna, was terrific. As we toured the 'barracks' and 'showers' she told us personal stories of those who were in the camp. It is amazing that they have such documented history of the detainees. As we were looking at the data, Gloria Kaufman, one of our participants, said that her cousin was detained at Atlit. Anna immediately located the name in the huge date base and in seconds were were viewing all the information and pictures of Gloria's cousin including a detailed account of the story of how she arrived in the camp. This camp is one of the JNF - USA projects and the newest part of the camp is the 'refurbished' ship that is similar to the ships that brought immigrants to the shores of Palestine after World War II. Through a variety of visuals the experience is described - very well done.
Now - time for lunch and so we headed to Zichron Ya'acov, a charming village from the late 1800's, which still maintains it cobblestoned main street lined with cafes and small shops. Some of us shopped and others enjoyed a bite of lunch and coffee.
Next stop - our home for the next 4 weeks, the City Hotel, located a block from the sea and off of the one of Tel Aviv's main streets - Ben Yehuda Street.
Some of us had time to wonder around the neighborhood, view the sun setting and attend services before our 'CAARI Family' Shabbat dinner and Oneg Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom to all,
CAARI
