CongregationB’naiYisrael

FourthGradeGuideBook

IsraelTripFebruary2018

JerusalemThecityofJerusalemisover2000yearsoldandishometomanyreligions.ThemodernnewcityofJerusalemcontrastswiththephotobelowoftheOldCityofJerusalem. In the center is the Dome of the Rock, which is in the Old City ofJerusalemandiscurrentlyamosquewhereMuslimspraythreetimesaday.Therock,which sits inside themosqueunder thegolddome, iswhere JewsbelievethatAbrahamattempted to sacrifice Isaac,a story thatwe readonYomKippureachyear.

DomeoftheRockandOldCityofJerusalem

ThephotobelowisoftheWesternWall,which isJudaism’smostholysite. It istheoutermostwesternwalloftheTempleinJerusalem,whichwasdestroyedbytheRomansintheyear70.WhenJewsprayattheWesternWall,theyputsmallnotesinthecracksofthewallinhopesthattheirprayerswillreachGod.

WesternWall

This isaphotooftheWesternWallPlaza. TheDomeoftheRockoverlookstheWesternWall,andthewallisthedividinglinebetweentheJewsandtheMuslimsinJerusalem.ItdividesWestJerusalemfromEastJerusalem.

WesternWallPlaza

BelowisanaerialviewoftheNewCityofJerusalem.ItisknownastheNewCitybecause it is built outside the citywallsof theoriginal Jerusalem,which isnowknownastheOldCity.

NewCityofJerusalem

BelowisaphotooftheArabShuk(ormarket)inJerusalem’sOldCity.Itisaplacewhere bargaining for goods is the norm and everything is sold from food tojewelrytoclothingtocoffee.ItisamustseeonyourvisittoJerusalem.

ArabShuk/Market

The four sections of the Old City of Jerusalem can be seen below. They areChristian,Muslim,ArmenianandJewish.TheDomeoftheRockisconsideredpartof theMuslimQuarter. The sectionnames are givenbecause eachof the fourreligionshascontrolofitsgivenarea.Theseareholyplacesforeachreligionandmanypeoplevisiteachyear.

MapoftheOldCityofJerusalem

Jerusalem is also a very modern city. It has stores, cars and a train and bussystem. It is a law in Jerusalem that all of its buildings have to be built withJerusalemstoneinordertokeepthecitylookingancient.Asaresult,JerusalemasaspecialglowthatnoothercityinIsraelhas.

TelAviv&SurroundingAreasTel Aviv is known as the City that Never Sleeps and sits on the shore of thebeautifulMediterranean Sea. Its beaches are gorgeous and the nightlife in TelAvivrivalsthatofanymajorcityinEuropeortheUnitedStates.TelAvivisacityforfoodies,artistsandcuttingedgeliving.

TelAvivBeach

Old Jaffa,orYaffo, is theoldestpartof the cityofTelAvivandwas thereevenbeforeTelAvivwasfoundedoutofthedesertthatsurroundedit.Therearegreatrestaurants, market places and the ancient port of Yaffo (seen below) to visit.EachFridayyouwill find livemusicandgreatambiance in its tight,windingandancientstreets.

Yaffo/Jaffa

BelowareanumberofdifferentviewsofTelAviv.Asyoucansee,itisamoderncityineveryway.

TelAviv isalsoacityforsports lovers. MaccabiTelAvivhaspopularsoccerandbasketballteamsthatitsresidentsalwayscheerfor.

HereyoucanseehowmodernTelAvivis.

ModernTelAviv

Below is Dizengoff Street, one of Tel Aviv’s oldest and most central shoppingareas. As you can see, there aremany restaurants and stores and even thingsbeingsoldonthestreet.DizengoffisonlyafewblocksfromGordonBeach,oneofTelAviv’smostpopularbeaches.

DizengoffStreet

ThisaerialviewofmodernTelAvivshowsthestreetsandbuildingsandhowclosetheseaistoeverything.

AerialviewofTelAviv

TheNegevDesertandSouthTheNegev is thesouthernmostpartof Israelasyoucanseeonthemapbelow.AlthoughtheNegevisalldesert,itishometomanyimportantpartsofIsrael.

TheNegev

BelowisaphotooftheNegevDesert.Fromthispicture,youcanseehowdryitisandhowdangerousadesertcanbe. TheNegevDesertdoesn’tonlyhaveyellowrocks and sand, but it also has rainbow rocks and sand. In ancient times thesematerialswereusedformake-up.

NegevDesert

BelowistheRamonCrater,orMahkteshRamon.Thisisnotacratermadefromameteororvolcano,but it is theworld’s largestnatural craterand is justpartofthedesertlandscape.

RamonCrater

DavidBen-Gurionwas Israel’s firstPrimeMinisterandhe isburiedathishome,Kibbutz Sde Boker. He lived and died there because he wanted to encourageIsraelistomovetotheNegevandpopulateit.

GraveofDavidBen-Gurion,Israel’sfirstPrimeMinister

Eilat isapopularvacationspot forboth Israelisand tourists. It isknown for itsresorts,beaches,hikingtrailsandmore.ItsitsrightontheshoresoftheRedSeaandtheRedSeaCoralReef.TheviewacrosstheseafromEilatisthecountryofJordan.

MasadasitsontopofamountaininIsrael’sNegevDesert. ItwasoriginallyKingHerod’sSummerPalace,builtbetween37and31BCE,andoneofhishomesuntilheabandonedit. MasadaisknownfortheJewishzealotswhocommittedmasssuicideduringthesiegeofMasadabytroopsoftheRomanEmpireattheendofthe First Jewish–RomanWar. Thebodies of 960 Sicarii rebels and their familieswerefoundhidingthere.

Masada

TheDeadSeagot itsnamebecauseof itshighsalt level. There isno life in thesea.Asaresult,onecanfloatintheseawithoutknowinghowtoswim.DeadSeamud,saltandmineralsareknowntobehealingtotheskinbecause ithasbeencutofffromtheJordanRiverforsolong.TheDeadSeaisalsothelowestpointonearthat1412feetbelowsealevel.Whenyougothere,youcaneatatthelowestBurgerKingonthefaceoftheearth!

DeadSea

The Ein Gedi Nature Preserve is an oasis in the Negev Desert. It is a premierehikingspotinIsraelwithitswaterfallsandlushgardens.ItsitsbetweenJerusalemandtheDeadSea.

EinGediNaturePreserve

TheGolanHeightsThesearethemountainsoftheGolanHeights. They include: Mt.Hermon,Mt.Bental,Mt.Avital,Mt.Hermonit,Mt.Arbel,Mt.Ram,Mt.BaronandMt.Yosifon.TheGolanHeightssiton Israel’sborderwithSyriaandwasSyrianterritoryuntiltheSixDayWarin1967.

MountainsoftheGolanHeights

BelowisaphotooftheMt.HermonSkiResort.Mt.HermonistheonlyskiresortinIsraelbecauseitisthetallestmountainintheHeightsatabout9300feet.ItistheonlymountaininIsraelthatgetssnow.

TherearemanykibbutzimandfarmsintheGolanHeights.

GolanHeightsLandscape

ManypeoplecometotheGolanHeightsforhiking,jeeprides,andzip-lining.ThehikingtrailsintheGolanarebeautiful.

ThisisaphotoofIsraelisoldiershikingintheGolan.

TheGalilandSurroundingAreasHaifa is the third largest city in Israel and is built on the slopes ofMt. Carmel.HaifaishometoamajorseaportintheBayofHaifaandisalsohometoalargeArabcommunity.

Haifa

TheBahaiTempleishometothemostholysiteoftheBahaiFaith.Itsgardensareasitetoseewith19terracesandgeometricshapes.

BahaiTemple,Haifa

Sports are also very popular in Haifa. Maccabi Haifa has both a soccer andbasketball team, which are named after Judah Maccabee from the Hanukkahstory.

ThemapbelowshowsHaifa’s locationwithin Israel. It issituated intheCarmelMountains in the northern part of the State. There is a navy base in HaifabecauseitsitsrightontheMediterraneanSea.

Tiberias sits on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Kinneret.Tiberias is a vacation spot for both Israelis and tourists alike. There is awaterparkontheshoresoftheSeaofGalileeandwellasmanyboatingandswimmingopportunities.TheSeaofGalileeisIsrael’sonlysourceoffreshdrinkingwater.

Tiberias

Safat is where the study of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism began in the 16thCentury.At2953feet,itisIsrael’shighestcityand,asaresult,getshotsummersandsnowywinters.

Safat

TheSeaofGalilee,orLakeKinneret, is the lowest freshwater lakeonEarthandthesecond lowest lake in theworld (after theDeadSea,asaltwater lake).Thelakeisfedpartlybyundergroundsprings,althoughitsmainsourceistheJordanRiver,whichflowsthroughitfromnorthtosouth.ItisatthislocationthatmanybelievethatJesuswalkedonwater.

SeaofGalilee

SeaofGalilee/LakeKinneret

Thankyoutoour2016-17FourthGradersforputtingthisIsraelGuidebooktogether!

Galil TheNegevandSouth TelAviv

AlexaGoldberg AidenSchissler DevynEder

CooperLipton MarleeHerman AdamLefkowitz

JakeRosenberg HaileySirkin SammiKeltz

SydneyDordik BenRothenberg RemiBerliner

CharlieZimmerman PerryErtel JackBender

GolanHeights Jerusalem

AddieFreeman AidenLipton

JojoWolf AaronStein

JakeLevy AvaSchoenhaut

EthanLipton ArielleMolina