Shabbaton

For shabbos we went on a Shabbaton with MRC (Midreshet Rachel - my school). We went to Mitzpe Yericho and stayed by a family who lived in Boca Raton for two years! It is such a small world. Their oldest son even went to the school Baruch taught at before we came to Israel! 

Luckily we arrived at ours host's home way early and they drove us to a place to give us a little tour of the area. It was so beautiful and the whole experience was amazing. I participated in my first Kabbalat Shabbat (welcoming of the shabbos through songs) we did so in the mountains/desert overlooking so much land. 

On the bus on our way there :)

Long dark tunnel heading out of Jerusalem

Panoramic (hopefully you can see - try to enlarge or zoom in)

The first time Baruch traveled into the Negev and saw the Dead sea! :)

The structure where you can see all these views from (you can see a little in the panoramic) was dedicated to 4 boys who died in a terrible car crash about 7 years ago. 

Here are a random picture of Baruch's Cappuccino, it was happy to see him ;) 

Cinema City

We joined the guys at the new Cinema City to see the new X men last night. We plan on going back for a date night. It was a lot of fun and a big place!!  

We started off getting some sushi and warm sake :) 

The sushi was really good - and yes Brett loved it too ;) 

Here's all the guys - this was sort of a going away outing for our friend Simcha. 

This is Simcha. I don't know what he was doing lol

3 D glasses :) 

Museum Day :)

Today we went to The Israel Museum as well as Bible Land Museum. We had a great dinner then a good walk home. It was a full day and we had a lot of fun! Get ready for A LOT of pictures! 

 Cari likes to take many pictures along the way, always keeping things lively.

 A nice thing about walking in Jerusalem is the beautiful flowers and views all around.

First stop Bible Land Museum :)

 This museum is full of artifacts found in archeological sites in and around Israel.

The first room contained pottery work from the early Greek peoples, namely the Minoans and Mycenaen civilizations.

 The museum floor plan followed the chronological time periods of the region starting with the first signs of civilization. Because of the guided tours, Cari and I did not go in this order.

Below is Cari sitting under a map of the Persian Empire showing the various provinces.

 This is a model of Jerusalem during the First Temple time period, not even close to the size of the model below.

 

 This is an aerial view of the ancient city of Babylon. (I think it is based on the city in the 7-6 century BCE).

 The Italian Peninsula around the birth of Rome (753 BCE).

 Couldn't resist.. it as wallpaper though.. Kind of a bummer haha

Next stop the Israel Museum

Listening to our audio guide

 The torso of a Roman Emperor.

Statue of Athena dated to the Roman occupation of Judea, all that remains is the head.

 The god of wine ;)

Remnants of a synagogue in Eretz Yisrael during the Byzantine period.

 Modern Israeli art.

 Baruchs favorite room. Full of old manuscripts. 

This is the Nuremberg Machzor (prayer book for the holidays), from southern Germany, 1331.

 The De Castro Pentateuch (Chumash) from Germany, 1344.

 The museum also had Haggadahs and other pieces, including a Haggadah belonging to the Rothchilds family in the 15th century.

 Torah Scroll

The following two are pictures are of a room full of the interior of the Vittorio Veneto Synagogue of Italy, built December 1700.

 Below is a massive model of Jerusalem during the Second Temple time period.

Dinner time! 

 Baruchs fancy plate :)

 I was so hungry I couldn't wait to take the picture haha whoops

My dessert, a macchiato (my first REAL coffee since I've been in Israel) SO GOOD!

 Baruch's Dessert...

 He's excited!

 So Jealous haha

Now for some fun! Our walk home :)

 Look Cari found the Knesset! :)

 He's posing like the hiking lion haha