Today we departed the Pastoral Hotel for our last day of touring the north. We had a fabulous experience this past week, with lots of wonderful memories. We enjoyed the hotel, the musical weekend, the relaxing spa treatments that some of had and all of us enjoyed the beautiful array of foods on the buffet. 
After breakfast, we loaded the bus with the luggage and departed for Tefen, a Hi Tech Research and Manufacturing Zone, built according to the model of Steph Wertheim. There are four others like this one in Israel. The one we visited employs people from the surrounding Misgav Region and Sachnin Valley. We were welcomed by Rachel who explained the model to us and we saw a short movie about Steph Wertheim, who made came to Israel on the 5th Aliya with his parents. They came to Israel from Germany. we briefly toured the interested Open Museum which tells the story of those that came to Israel from German speaking countries.
We had a special treat, as a new art exhibition was opening over the weekend and we got a sneak preview. The exhibit was by Nina Recanati Dearling. Amazing!
From there we drove an hour south to Gesher, a Kibbutz from 1920’s that has survived until today. It sits on the Jordan River and endured hard battles in 1948. WE had a picnic lunch – the sun finally came out! Our guide gave us an overview of the Kibbutz with emphasis on the power plant that was built there ins the 19 20’s,
We arrived in Tel Aviv, where we will be for the next four week. We met new people who have joined the program. Friday was a free day, with sunshine and it was great walking around Tel Aviv. We enjoyed a Shabbat dinner followed by a creative Oneg Shabbat.
Sunday will be our first day of community service.
L’hitriot
CAARI 2018