Livnot U'Lehibanot (To Build and To Be Built)

The beautiful poster my group made,
captained by Jenn

So I took a break from Oranim during the last week of June and participated in Livnot U'Lehibanot's one week Northern Exposure program, at the behest of my friend Jenn (the one from Rishon LeZion ITF). She just finished her program and moved out of her apartment last Sunday and went straight up to Tzfat for Livnot. She was one of the last people to get there, even after me. Tzfat was my destination and I missed the direct one at 10:30am, so I took a bus to Rosh Pinna then a quick cab to Tzfat. When I got to the Livnot campus, I dropped my bags and immediately started saying hi to new people. I first met a girl named Carleigh, who was way too tired to talk after just finishing her Birthright trip that morning, but she pushed herself to be social. I met Matt, a kid from Chicago who has been traveling for the past month since he finished Birthright. In fact, everyone among the 14 of us in the group had finished Birthright in the past few weeks except me, Jenn, a guy named Mike, and a girl named Kylie (who just happens to also be from West Hartford and went to Hall High! What a coincidence!). There were also people from New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Arizona.

After everyone met, we did a short tour of the Old City of Tzfat, which mainly included the alleyways that Livnot is located around and Jerusalem Street, the main street in the city. To finish off the tour, we walked to the highest point in Tzfat, the Cistern. Inside, we echoed our voices a billion times and sang the first Livnot song we learned ("Koom koom lay lay lay lay lay koom koom lay lay..." -- I'll have this song in my head for a while). Afterwards, we ate dinner back at Livnot. We also got our room assignments, in which all six guys in the group roomed together in one dorm. We then just relaxed for the night.

On Monday, we got up for breakfast and the IBA Israel News at 6:30am. We went to hike Nachal Amud, the first leg of the famous Sea to Sea ("Yam L'Yam") hike in Israel where you hike from the Sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean. The four week Galilee Fellowship group joined us, or actually we joined them, because they were doing Sea to Sea. We stopped every once in a while for a water or snack break and listened to the tour guide and did chevrutas (group discussions). The hike took about nine hours and it was very intensive -- JUST how I like it! I also got the opportunity to make more friends, in which some of us played a game of Contact (Matt called it something else). We also took a break to go swimming in a deep end of a stream; we jumped off a rock into a small pool that had really cold water. After the hike, we took a break. We had an open dinner, in which most of us went to an Italian restaurant to get pizza. Jenn surprised both me and everyone with her Hebrew skills she has developed in the past 10 months; she's better than I thought she was but that's because she underestimated herself. I had been ready to order for everyone in Hebrew myself before she took over. Then we had a "class" discussion with a guy named Alon, who works for Livnot. It was an intimacy discussion, but it unfortunately didn't get as personal as I'd hoped but it was interesting. We had a free night in which we all just chilled at Livnot. I had been talking about my being on a MASA program and how awesome it is -- and people like Sivan and Erica became interested immediately. They didn't know that Israel opportunity programs existed outside of Livnot and Birthright. I showed them the MASA website and how you can do just about anything from school to volunteering to internships.

Left to right: Michael, Sivan, Erica, Kylie, and Jenn

On Tuesday, we had breakfast and news again. The great thing about breakfast is that it's all home cooked -- so home cooked that all participants and the bnot sherut (program coordinators who are 19 year old girls doing their national service instead of serving in the IDF). Each morning, breakfast was delicious. After this, we started some community service in which we helped excavate 16th century Tzfat property right around the corner from the Livnot campus. I helped do some digging and finding artifacts. I was digging in a small hole with Kylie and Erica, and each time we found something that looked like an "artifact" and not stone, we sang a little song -- "Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah... ancient artifact!" Then the group forgot about the three of us for about 40 minutes while they were having a meeting. We had lunch after excavating. In the afternoon, we had another discussion. At night, we went out near the Old City and had a bonfire with smores (a bonfire is NEVER complete without smores!). We sang songs, put the marshmallows under the fire, had a 20 minute personal reflection time, and just enjoyed each other's company. During the reflection, I just went out and laid down on the ground and looked up at the sky. Not a thought entered my head except to focus on hearing the sounds around me: crickets chirping, cars going by on the highway over the hill, and quiet. It was so peaceful and just what I needed.

Charlie's Angels: Carleigh, Jenn, Adina as the Angels
 and me as Charlie

On Wednesday, Eve and I woke up early to cook breakfast with Temima, one of the bat sheruts. We made vegetables and oatmeal which was delicious. We hiked a mountain in Arbel and went swimming in the Sea of Galilee ("Kinneret" in Hebrew). Arbel was amazing; we hiked down, often down rocks and on narrow walkways. We stopped a couple times and this hike was less intense than Monday's but this one had an amazing view. The most breathtaking view I'd seen on Monday was of a cow we'd gotten pretty close to. Swimming in the Galilee was really cool, too. It is the largest freshwater source in the Middle East, and the main source of water for the vast majority of Israel's population. We hung out there, ate lunch, swam for a bit, then tanned at the edge of the water while skipping pebbles. It was bliss. Once we got back to Livnot, we had the rest of the day and evening free; we wanted to go out as a group to a local bar but we didn't want to pay too much so we went back to the Cistern with a few beers and just chilled and sang Livnot songs. It really was a great group bonding experience.

Doing a trick at an ancient
synagogue. Top to bottom:
Ryan, Matt, Jenn, and Sonia

After breakfast on Thursday, we went to a local nursing home to play Bingo and sing Livnot songs to the elderly. I helped a couple old guys play and had really nice conversations with them in Hebrew and English. One was named Fredy and the other was Artur. Jenn and Sivan also sat the table with me and they helped the elderly play Bingo, too. Singing songs brought smiles to many faces -- both young and old -- and if they had the ability to get out of their chairs to dance, I'm sure they would have. Michael, the kid from Los Angeles, also sang a lullaby in Russian to some of the Russian-speaking residents. After we got back to Livnot, we had an open lunch, where we went to the local square and got falafel and schwarma. After lunch, we had another "class" about Shabbat, which turned into a discussion about personal beliefs and rules to follow on Shabbat and what to observe. I asked a series of questions regarding homosexuals being allowed to have sex, when the Torah specifically says that it is forbidden for a man to lie with another man. Michael had brought up the issue because he wanted to know how he could deal with his homosexuality and being Jewish at the same time. Leading the discussion, Alon pointed out to us that it may be a sin according to the Torah, but one of the most important things in Judaism is to be comfortable with yourself and know that no one is perfect but to try your best to live with the commandments. We learned that there are three commandments of the 613 that say would be better to die than to commit: murder, idolatry, and sexual misconduct (such as adultery and incest). In essence, it's better to sacrifice yourself than to commit these sins. It was my favorite discussion of the week. After this, we prepped for Shabbat, cooking and cleaning. I ordered bookshelves and did dishes.

Left to right: me, Jenn, and Carleigh

After breakfast on Friday, we braided challahs to later be baked for Shabbat. I created a sad excuse for a braided challah and a fish (I wish I had pictures for it). Jenn made a Mickey Mouse silhouette and Matt made a challah pizza. We then went to visit a couple artists: Sheva Chaya, the glassblower, and David Friedman, a painter/drawer who uses geometry in his art for drawing the Hebrew letters and connecting it to Kabbalistic Judaism. We then prepared more for Shabbat. We then had the rest of the afternoon free to do whatever, so we had lunch and I went to a local jewelry shop to buy a couple necklaces (not for me... shhhhh!). Kabbalat Shabbat came upon us and we celebrated by singing more Livnot songs and lighting candles. We walked around to a couple synagogues to experience what Shabbat is like in Tzfat. It's really crazy; all Ultra-Orthodox Jews at about 70 different shuls in the city welcoming in the Shabbos bride. It's beautiful how excited they always are every week to have 25 hours of blissful rest. We then came back to Livnot and had dinner. We said Kiddish, had a delicious dinner, and then went out to the balcony to sing more songs and enjoy company. It was the most amazing feeling of community and family I've felt in a while. Everyone was up singing and dancing and smiling. We then did an Oneg in which we gave L'chaims to friends and others in the program. I gave l'chaims (giving cheers to someone) to Jenn, who got me to go on the trip with her, to our coordinator, Avital, who fearlessly led us the whole week and gave me motivation for the week when she was frustrated with me for taking too long the first morning before the hike, and other friends.

Avital, our fearsome bat sherut

On Saturday, everyone was split into groups to go to local families' houses for Shabbat lunch. Sivan, Mike, and I went to the home of a family whose husband is the rabbi of one of the more spiritual synagogues in the city. Temima walked us there and we ended up waiting about 45 minutes for the family to come home, but we were greeted by one of the sons when we got there. He was a nice but shy kid of I wish I remembered their names because they were such nice people. Anyway, we had a very delicious lunch of chicken, rice, challah, and the works. We all discussed Kaballah, thoughts about Judaism, backgrounds, and more. We also met a few of the family's friends, a cool guy from South Africa and a Russian family. After the three of us got back from lunch, we had free time until dinner and Havdallah (the ceremony that ends Shabbat). The whole group got a chance to have a big snack while hanging out. During Havdallah, we said goodbye to Shabbat and sang more songs. We cleaned up then effectively ended our program by having a closing circle. In the circle, each member of the group reflected back on the past week, mentioning what we enjoyed most, what we thought could be improved, and how we can affect our Jewish communities in the future. I mentioned that I was thankful to Jenn for convincing me to come on the program with her, thankful to Avital for pumping me up at the beginning of the week, and how I think I could affect my Jewish community back in Connecticut.

Livnot was such an amazing experience. I am strongly considering going back when my program ends in about a month for another round of Northern Exposure. Livnot was founded by Aharon Botzer 33 years ago and he still runs it today. He likes to get to know the participants personally, as he did with me a little bit on the Nachal Amud hike. Many alumni come back to do a program again or just to visit for a Shabbat or a day. It is such a warm atmosphere and I would recommend anyone to do any of their programs, however, they are more geared toward people who don't mind not "partying" and are comfortable in close-knit family-like atmospheres. You can visit them at www.livnot.org.