More Miscellaneous Stuff, and . . . Haifa!

Hi again,

A lot has happened even since shortly before my last post. So, here are some more pictures and words:

I went on a couple more of the trips which the school organized for the ending stretch of the semester. The first one was a trip to the Air Force Museum and an IDF base. To be perfectly honest, we didn't really get to see or learn all that much, but it was still interesting. The Air Force Museum mostly consisted of an outdoor exhibit of IDF planes throughout the State of Israel's history, as well as some planes from the militaries of Israel's allies and enemies. Some of us affectionately referred to this as a "plane zoo."

This is the emblem of the IDF paratroopers battalion.
Literally rainbow and camouflage - love it!

"Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it
out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it . . ." 1 Samuel 17:51a

And some random-ish cacti at a place at which
we stopped only briefly since we discovered it
had been closed off due to some sort of sink holes.

The second trip was in two parts. We went and toured a craft brewery at Moshav Srigim which was really neat. One of the staff there told us a bit about the history of the brewery, beer culture in Israel, and the history and process of beer-making itself. It was neat to learn so much, and some from particularly Israeli perspectives. We got to see their brewing equipment, smell some of the grain and hops that they use, and sample their beers.
Then we went to a variety of outdoor locations of historical significance. The most notable (from my perspective) was a hill overlooking the valley where David slew Goliath. That was really surreal to see the place where that happened. It is kind of a state park there, and they have these neat stones on the way up (and bigger ones at the peak) with the whole story in little segments.

A week ago Tuesday, I had a perfect opportunity to see an actual Israeli movie in a theater. I hadn't realized ahead of time, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that the film was entirely filmed and produced in Jerusalem. That was quite neat, and a lot of the scenery had a very familiar feel to it - plus, I even recognized one actress from an Israeli TV show of which I have seen a few episodes. The movie, entitled Abuleleh, was a fairly typical 'children must serve as the mediators between humanity and misunderstood creatures (the "Abuleleh" monsters)' story, but it had a very intriguing subtext of social commentary on the Israel-Palestine/Israeli-Arab conflict. I thought it was really pretty good on the whole.

The next day, the Hebrew University orchestra had its concert. The university does not have a music program, but does have an orchestra made up of community members and students in other fields. The youngest member is 15 and I am guessing the oldest is somewhere in his 70s. They gave a very respectable performance of several excerpts from concerti, each with a different soloist(s).

Haifa

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of going up to Haifa/the 'suburbs' of Haifa to visit the Shishkoffs.

I stayed with Eitan and Connie in their home. Friday night was a lovely Erev Shabat dinner with them and some of their family and friends. On Shabat morning we went to the service at Ohaley Rachamim, and Eitan brought me with him a bit early to see all their facilities. It really is amazing what God is doing with them there, and the firsthand glimpse of it was very special. It was great getting to know a bunch of people a little bit, both at the congregation and in the Shiskoff home.

Saturday night I met up with my old Hebrew tutor, Doron, who lives and works in Haifa teaching Hebrew, primarily as a second language.

On Sunday, I got to explore a bit of Haifa proper. It is a charming mix of bustling industrial city and almost small-town feel old-fashioned architecture and little shops.

There is an interesting mix of Russians, Arabs, and Jews in Haifa - and there is certainly a substantial Christian population, as evidence by the holiday decorations:

 I went to a museum about the history of Haifa, which is housed in a renovated Templar school from the colony that they established in the 1800s.

Next stop was the Bahai Gardens, which are in fact quite beautiful.

Then I went to the Haifa Museum of Modern Art, which had a fairly new exhibit with some aesthetically cool pieces as well as some very powerful works using pop-culture media. I'm not sure if one is technically allowed to take pictures . . . but there was nothing that said you couldn't, and there were a few things I couldn't help photographing:

Went up a random, stair-case alley and got a great view at the top.

Before heading 'home,' I decided to observe the American-Jewish Christmas tradition a few days late and had lunch at this really good Chinese place:

I think that is all for now, though I should throw in that: I am now done with one of my classes (the rest are on the other semester schedule and continue to points throughout this month); it has been a bit sad to see school friends I have made here leaving; and I keep going back and forth on whether I will feel ready to go come the end of this month. In any case, I am still excited to make the most of my remaining four weeks here (!) and to see all of you back in the Hudson Valley soon!

L'Shalom,

Noach