Day 4

Our group became whole with the arrival of Mary Ann and David Wark Sunday evening and Liddy and Charlie Rich Wednesday morning.

The weather was magnificent -- clear and warm --from Tel Aviv up the coast to Caesarea, into the Carmel Mountains, then to Lake Kenneret.

A sign from home appeared from the Medtronic facility in a high-tech suburb of Tel Aviv, Herzelia.

The dilemma of dining and maintaining Jewish values in the context of a larger community was a major theme of the day. At Caesaria Muki, our tour guide, had the group act as the Senhedrim in judging whether Jews could attend gladiator games as part of combat that occurred at the ancient site. He posed a similar question about attending pagan plays in the amphitheater where we had gathered. Muki told us that these were actual questions asked by the Sanhedrin 1,800- 1,600 years ago with similar feelings of ambivalence.

Later in the day at Beit Shearim raised questions about graven images that appeared on stoned caskets buried in caves dating from the 3rd and 4th century CE. What explains the appearance of such images on Jewish caskets when the ten commandments forbids them? Adaptation to contemporary practices in society generally was a possible explanation.

Other stops during the day were: Park Alona to tour the underground aqueduct that supplied water to Ceasarea more than 12 miles away, and Zichron Ya'akov to learn about Aaron Aaronson who discovered the original wheat and help the British invade Turkish-held Palestine during the first World War.

Daniella, our youth counselor, provided Hebrew lessons including how to ask and respond to several questions of phrases. Not surprisingly, a bus-full of Jews ended up giving different responses.

- Mitch Rubinstein