As I work on this posting there is a funeral going on downstairs for the head Rabbi of a Yeshiva (school) across the street from my daughter’s apartment. A heinous attack took place in the western part of Jerusalem this morning as people were leaving morning prayers. Four were killed and nine are in the hospital. It’s very subdued here in the city today and we have heavy hearts wondering how peace will ever come to this part of the world.
End of last week we spent some time in my favorite part of Israel, the Galilee and explored a bit of the Golan, the area bordering between Israel and Syria that became part of Israel in 1967.
Rosh Pina is a small town that was established in 1882 by 30 families from Roumania. It reminds me of our small towns in Northern California. In fact this is the town where Jim Klein, winemaker from Navarro Vineyards stays when he comes to the wineries of the Golan.Street scene in Rosh Pina. We made this our base for exploring the area.
A restored original house in Rosh Pina, once again in stone.Beautiful flowers- we don’t often see carnations in the ground.
Entrance to the GolanThe Jordan River- hard to imagine that this is the main water source for much of this region.Ein Zivan, one of the closest kibbutzim (collective villages) to the Syrian border. On the left you can see a fortified building from before 1967.Pelter Winery is located at Kibbutz Ein Zivan. These barrels are for the red wine. The Golan is the wine growing region of the country and they produce wine for local consumption as well as for export.Tasting some of the white wines at Pelter a very small winery.At the top of Mt. Bental a short drive from Ein Zivan we visited a former Syrian outpost taken by the Israelis in 1967 after a fierce battle. By looking at the direction signs you can see how close everything is in this part of the world.Sculptures constructed from war machinery left from previous wars. Let’s hope we can turn all war material into works of art someday!Looking out from the gun emplacements atop Mt. Bental looking down towards Israel and the Meditteranean.Kibbutz Merom Golan just below the mountain.Looking towards Syria on the other side, the fields of Quneitra, the border with Syria and new Quneitra in the distance. Quiet at the moment.Two UN peacekeepers we encountered one from Estonia and the other from Norway.
Poetry Without Words 