We started out today by driving
to the shrine of one of the Druze prophets, Nabi Shu'aib. We learned about the
site’s rituals and history, such as not wearing shoes inside the room, stepping
over the threshold, and covering ourselves completely with clothes. The
building itself is built into the same cave where Druze have been coming to
pray for thousands of years.
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| Dori and Hannah at the grave of Nabi Shuabi |
Next, we drove to the top of Mt.
Arbel, where we had a picnic of pita with a variety of dips and vegetables. We
hiked straight down a cliff holding on to metal handholds and ropes. On our way
down we came upon a castle in the cliff side. All that was left were caves and
bits of the wall that have since crumbled. Our tour guide explained that the
Jews used to live in these caves surrounded by walls for protection, until the
Romans conquered them. Even today it is clear that Arbel is clearly a
protective environment, with a cliff on one side and fertile farmland on the
other.
When we got to the bottom of the
mountain, we hopped back on the bus and drove to Tzvat, a city known for
kabbalah. We were able to walk around in small groups to see the city. We then
went on a brief tour of some of the major historical sites. On our way back to
Mrar, we stopped at Rosh Pina for dinner. The whole group fit into a small
falafel and shwarma restaurant and ate a delicious dinner.
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| Dinner in Rosh Pina |
It was really interesting to
start the day learning about a holy site for the Druze and ending the day visiting
a holy city for the Jews. Traveling with the Druze teenagers today made it
clear how there are so many similarities and differences between our religions.
Seeing this draws us closer and everyone is looking forward to continuing this
relationship.
Today's blog post was written by Molly Mamon and Micaela
Russell
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