Like the sea, like the mountains

5/14/19

Every city in Israel has its own distinct character and flavor. Today we explored two such cities: Akko and Tzfat.

Akko is a port city that sits about a dozen kilometers north of Haifa.  Akko is, and has always been, a “mixed city”; a place where Jews and Arabs coexist peacefully, with mutual respect and amiability. For this reason we were able to visit Akko’s El-Jazar Mosque, the fourth largest mosque in Israel. When asked, our kids described the mosque as peaceful, spiritual, and beautiful. As we left the mosque we had a chance to wish the groundskeepers “Ramadan Karim.”

The rest of our time in Akko was spent visiting a very impressive Crusader Fortress and taking a guided walk through the market place. We enjoyed learning about the Crusader way of life (notably barbaric) and loved the sights and smells of the market place.

From Akko we drove into the mountains of the Upper Galilee until we reached Tzfat. Tzfat, as many may know, is the birthplace of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism. We learned that Jewish mysticism emerged as a way of making sense of the brokenness that our ancestors encountered in the world in the 15^th century. Rather than giving up and despairing, they developed an elaborate system of thought and action that they believed could affect the physical and spiritual world as well as transform the human heart. We bookended the deep spirituality of Tzfat with a Pizur (multiple location) lunch and some high quality shopping in Tzfat’s famous artists colony.

For dinner we visited Bat Ya’ar. Bat Ya’ar basically amounts to an American-inspired cowboy ranch in the mountains surrounded Tzfat. Everyone was happy for some familiar and filling food. After dinner the kids found a spot on the grounds and, by their own initiative, took 30 minutes to reflect as a group. During that time, the chaperones purposefully stepped back so that the kids could do their own thing. We were happy to see them take such a wonderful opportunity to bond as a grade.

Just as every city has it’s own distinct character and identity, so to do human beings. The Hasidic Masters of the 18^th and early 19^th century taught that every person serves God most meaningfully by doing what comes naturally to them. They learned this by observing the natural world and reading the Torah. The Torah describes how the sea, by its very nature, sings praises to God, and how the mountains, by their nature, tremble before God. Because human beings are part of creation and part of the natural order, it is in our nature to serve God as well. For some people this means praying, for others studying the Torah. For others still it means living a life of Mitzvot and moral courage. If we extend the idea even further, it reminds us that, for some of our kids, having a meal with friends, buying souvenirs for family, drawing in a sketch book, or having a push-up competition might also be ways of serving God insofar as they are authentic and loving expressions of our truest nature.

In essence, the Hasidic Masters teach us that we are here to live full, compassionate, spirited, and grateful lives and to live in service to God. And perhaps this is the common bond between Akko and Tzfat, between Jews and Arabs, between mountains and sea. Perhaps this is the Tikkun (sacred mending) that animates the heart of the Kabbalah and stretches an invisible thread from the mosques and marketplaces of Akko to the synagogues and alleyways of Tzfat.
And perhaps this is the most obvious observation in the world.