Monday, February 3, 2014

My Trip to Israel - Tel Aviv


As I said in last week's post, I wanted to show you some things at our hotel in Tel-Aviv before I tell you about Cesaria Maritime.

The photo above is of the hand-washing area at the entrance to the restaurant.  Many of the Jews in Israel are Orthodox, and the washing cup is important to them. You can see it on the counter to the right of the red bowl.  Although the photo doesn't show it, the cup has two handles. There are also prayers said while washing the hands. I found the explanation of this cup at Chabad.org:  

"After the first hand is washed, it is clean and pure. The unwashed hand, however, is not. If the two hands touch after the first hand was washed, it is necessary to rewash the first one. We use a two-handled cup to make the process simpler, making it easier to avoid the hands touching each other."

I like the idea of eating with clean hands, don't you?  We are conservative Jews, and do not carry cleanliness that far, although we respect other Jews customs. 

Hashem has given us many instructions about cleanliness and health in the Torah, and they are important.  Many times, the Jews have avoided plagues just because of their practices related to cleanliness.  (One of the many blessings of Torah observance.)


The hotels holds Shabbat services in the restaurant, and these are items on a table near the entrance.  The Hebrew siddurs (prayer books)caught my eye, as well as the tallit bag and the bottles of wine used in the service.  I felt sad that we would be leaving, as I would have enjoyed attending a Shabbat service there.

I just had to show you the beautiful items on the breakfast buffet. (I promise this series is not going to focus on food.)  It just was delightful to see the items with Hebrew as well as English descriptions.  Below are more olives and a fabulous array of cheeses. 

This table had beautiful fresh and dried fruit and preserves.  In the foregroud is the halva, which I was surprised to see at breakfast.  My husband and I love this food, which is sesame seeds mixed with honey.  I say my husband loves it, because he does, but he can't eat it because it causes his lips to swell.  So sad to miss such a delightful treat which, by the way, one can purchase in the U.S.
 

Another thing that was unique to me was seeing salads on a breakfast buffet.  That was common in Israel.  


Oh, and the breads were so beautiful, and so good.  Most are whole-grain breads, not the white stuff in many American restaurants.

This is our tour guide, who is a Ukrainian Jew.  Her husband is a Messianic rabbi also, and they have a ministry in Jerusalem.  She spoke with an accent which was hard to catch sometimes, but what a wealth of information she shared with us.  



We boarded the bus after breakfast and traveled through Tel-Aviv.  Our tour did not include that city, but hopefully, I will see it on my next trip.  Below are a couple of photos on the street there.  Most of the signs are in Hebrew, but some are English.  Most people I dealt with on the trip spoke both, which was a relief.    I had been studying Hebrew in the previous year, but I'm not very good at it yet.  I will continue to study, because I hope to take another trip.  Believe me, you always coming away with a desire to return.


It looks like it's going to be a bright, bright sun-shiny day as we head out for Ceasaria Maritime.  

Since this post was so long, I'll save that for next week.  Shavua Tov! (Have a good week)




I'm sharing this post with:

Spiritual Sundays


Let's Get Social Sunday

Modest Mom Monday Link-up 

A Wise Woman Builds
Whole Hearted Wednesday 

Hearts for Home
Favorite Things 

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your trip with the Thursday Blog Hop! Israel is such a special and meaningful place...would love to go someday.

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    1. I sincerely believe Hashem wants you to go if you have that desire. Pray about it, and He will make a way.

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  2. Oooh thank you for sharing. We visited Israel many years ago (before internet) and I still remember the wonderful breakfasts (among many other things). My sister would love to see your pics of the buffets. There was always so much to choose from.

    All I learned to say in Hebrew was "Good Morning", "Good Afternoon" and "Good night".

    Dropping by from A Wise Woman and signing up!

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  3. Welcome Kemi. I think you did well to learn that much Hebrew. It's a difficult language to learn. We teach weekly lessons at our synagogue, and I am a very slow learner of language, so still working on it.

    So glad you are a new follower.

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    1. Thank you Gail. It is very difficult. One day I would love to take some classes one way or another.

      Thank you for the warm welcome.

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  4. These pictures are so full of color and life! I would love to go to Israel some day myself. Thank you for sharing it here with us.

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  5. Interesting post. The food pictures are beautiful. We traveled to Israel in 1978. It was a trip I will never forget. What a blessing.
    Thank you for sharing this on Spiritual Sundays. When I clicked on the link it didn't work so I checked it out and noticed there was an extra "l" at the end of html. I fixed it but when I went back and clicked on the link it wouldn't work. I was on Safari so I tried it on Firefox, and here I am. It worked. Hopefully it will work for everyone.
    Blessings,
    Charlotte

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    1. Thank you, Charlotte, for caring enough to follow up on that for me. Yes, a trip to Israel is a life-changing experience, and I hope & pray to go back for a third time.

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  6. a wonderful way to start the day. I am enjoying reading about your trip to the holyland. Thank you for helping to make the Thursday Favorite Things Blog hop so much fun. Big Hugs ♥

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  7. Looks like you had a wonderful time in Israel. Thanks for dropping by and linking up for WholeHearted Wednesdays.

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  8. I am loving your pictures. They are so beautiful, and you give such wonderful descriptions. Thank you for sharing. :)

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  9. I really enjoy seeing the food pictures. It's always interesting to see how other cultures and countries eat. Great pictures!

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Thank you so much for stopping by today and taking the time to leave a comment! I read each one of them and love to respond back to those who visit! Blessings to you.