a day later

On Efrat, a Jewish settlement in the West Bank:

"One of the major reasons we moved here is because it's a great place to raise your kids."

Before I had been here, I thought that the West Bank was a warzone, as the media makes it out to be. Unstable, unsafe, and barely habitable for Jews. HAVE THEY EVEN SEEN THE PLACE?! I just spent the last night in Efrat with a really amazing family that took me in from not even knowing me. The mother took me to the pool with her four children after we rode horses, and she invited me (within seconds) to stay over the night--the weekend even, for Shabbat. I told her that I had plans for the weekend, but I would be more than grateful to stay for the night. We went from Tikoah (which is somewhat rundown, shacks in the middle of the desert, despite the great horse back riding and the community pool that made me feel as if I could have been in a gated community in Florida) to Efrat.

Efrat: a beautiful community, honestly, gardens, trees, beautiful houses, no homes, with an amazing view over the mountains and the desert. 10 minute drive from Jerusalem, yet you can see all of the stars at night. The family was extremely nice to me, treated me as if they'd known me forever and were willing to help with everything. I had a great time talking with the parents and hanging out with the kids and will definitely be in touch with them.

Here I am back in Jerusalem just one day later, my whole perspective has flipped around. This morning I went with the father and three of the kids to do Slichot at 5am, got to wear tefilin for the first time. I feel amazing.

Off to Haifa to see Dina and her friends, we're camping tonight on the Kinneret. Should be class craic!

Shabbat Shalom!!