SchwartzBlog

Wow, what a trip it has been.

In my last few days I have been in Jerusalem. I saw the Western Wall, the Dead Sea, and Masada.

The last few days in Israel have really given me an opportunity to think about some of my core values.

I believe that one rarely has the full story. There are so many things that can happen in this world and there are so many things that can happen that you will never know about. So with a major issue, if you jump to conclusions, you are probably wrong, because there is going to be information that you simply don’t have.

Now I am not saying never trust anyone. I am saying that you should be careful when you “say” you are 100% sure of something.

Especially when it has to deal with something you have no control over, say, an international conflict.

That is where this trip comes into play. Obviously the Israeli conflict with the “Palestinians” is one that has a lot of opinions circulating.

And speaking from experience, those opinions can really get a grip on you. So to summarize that point, here is what I can say:

This conflict is not one person constantly beating on the other. It is a conflict. And like any other, there are two sides. So be careful before you make conclusions about what you might not know.

So some conclusions on this trip. Well, it was amazing. But obviously there is a little more to it than that. This trip was an eye opener. From the views on the top of Mt. Arbel to the views on the Israeli conflicts, I have changed the way I look at things.

Another change was the way I looked at my brother. Dan separated his shoulder a few weeks ago and his arm is in a sling.

But that didn’t stop him from:

1. Parasailing

2. Repelling down a crater

3. Climbing a mountain (free climbing Mt. Arbel)

4. Shooting an Uzi Sub Machine Gun and an AK-47

5. Climbing in Archeological Tunnels (A difficult task for everybody, its hard to explain but just keep in mind that from a physical stand point, it was even challenging for me and I have both arms)

6. Climbing another mountain (Masada)

So that is one part. But the other is much more significant. Over the past year and more so over this past week, Dan has started to become less of my “little” brother. In other words, I trust him more. I respect his opinions more. He has started to develop a significant level of intelligence, and it has made it much easier for us to get along and for me to trust him.

The last person I want to bring up is our guide, Yoram Mor. Yoram has been a guide for over 20 years, and it shows. He was a constant wealth of information that never needed to stop. If we wanted to change our itinerary for the day, he would have it done. If we wanted to cram three 1 hour activities into 2 hours, he would have it done. If you needed a good jewish joke, he would tell you one. He was always there when we needed him, and he never stopped spewing information about where we were. It is honestly astonishing how much I learned about Israel on this trip, and I have no doubt in my mind that he played a huge role in that happening.

Israel was awesome, no doubt about it.

Next week I break down the college application process, see you soon!

Today has to be the highlight of the trip.

We left our hotel in Zefat and headed for the Golan Heights. Out first stop was Banias National Park, one of the three sources of the Jordan River. We hiked for a bit, and then left for our next destination.

Then came a new event. When we arrived at the Reshev Army Base, we were greeted by a member of the 71st Battalion, a tank force. Their representative, Adam, showed us an Israeli tank. Then he opened it up, looked at me, and said “get in”.

I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of the inside of the tank because these tanks are still in use and the contents of them cannot be on the internet. The outside of the thanks, however, can be shown on the internet, and those pictures should be up soon.

After trying on part of the uniform and helmet, I got to learn more about the tank and then got to stand on it.

Our next stop was the Golan Heights Winery. We got a tour of their facilities and then did some “tasting”.

We then went to an old Syrian bunker site. from 1947 to 1968 this site was where the old border was between Israel and Syria. And for that time frame, soldiers were placed in those bunkers simply to terrorize the Israelis in hopes that they would one day pack up and leave. Eventually the Israelis got fed up with the Syrians and kicked them out of the Golan heights, and since then the Syrians have been consistently sending weapons into southern Lebanon to be used in future wars, the most recent one in 2006.

Then came the surprise. My parents decided to take my brother and I to a gun range. It was AWESOME! I shot around 45 round from an Uzi Sub machine gun and another 10 rounds from an AK-47 Kalashnikov. It was the first time I had ever shot a gun. Dan also fired those guns, but he did it with a bad shoulder. Both my parents fired the Uzi.

We then left the Golan Heights and drove to Jerusalem via the West Bank.

As we drove back, we started talking again about the conflict. As I mentioned in my last post, what I have been told is that this is not just a matter of reaching a compromise. Muslim’s have a religious obligation to rid the world of non-muslims, or infidel. This is why when the state of Israel was created, a good percentage of Muslim’s left. Because they were told that they would not exist in a society run by non-muslims. Muslim’s cannot deal with the face that they are living in the proximity of an area run by jews. So they have spent the past century trying to rectify that. But the only problem with their plan is that every time they have fought, the jews have won.

This trip has been unbelievable on so many levels. I have been to Eilat, the Negev Desert, Tel Aviv, Cesarea, Zefat, Tiberius, and the Golan Heights as well as others I am sure. Tonight I have reached the final city on our trip, Jerusalem. I will spend the next 3.5 days here. I say 3.5 because on sunday I leave for the airport at 2am. Over the next few days I will explore this city in some way, But I don’t know how I am actually going to do it. But when I do, I will be sure to let you know.

Thanks for reading, and see you all soon!

Today was miraculous. We started the day with a hike on Mt. Arbel. I would love to describe the views I saw, but I wouldn’t do them justice. Rest assured, pictures will be up in a few days.

We then headed away from Tiberius towards the town of Zefat. But before we did, we made a special stop to plant some trees. My father planted one in memory of his mother. My mother planted two. One in memory of her mother, and one of her grandparents. And I planted one for Dianne Weiss, the mother of Geoff Weiss who is one of my best friends.

We then headed to Zefat where we saw a synagogue and went shopping.

Then we headed to a Kibbutz (a small town) right at the border of Israel and Lebanon, where I learned more then I could of ever imagined about the Arab-Israeli conflict. If you can call it a conflict. Using binoculars I got to look into southern Lebanon, an area that is essentially owned by Hezbollah. There is no police, only Hezbollah security. What I saw were a bunch of half-completed houses with no windows. And what I learned was that these houses were missile sites. And every house I could see was like that.

There are two UN bases that I could see in Lebanon. One is made up of soldiers from Indonesia who are muslim. They are never harmed by Hezbollah. The other is probably less than 100 miles away. But the soldiers are from spain, and they are Christian. Those soldiers are constantly assaulted by Hezbollah.

There are two sides to this conflict. The Israelis want peace. They are willing to give anything for it. Including half of their land, which they have already done once when they gave the Sinai Peninsula back to Egypt. Now lets get to the other side. Muslim’s believe that people who do not believe in their religion should not exist. The Muslim’s belief is that Israel should not and cannot exist. So what is there to negotiate?

The man who told me all of this at the Misgav Am Kibbutz was Aria. Aria is not originally from Israel, he actually was born and raised in Cleveland. After the second world war he realized that as a Jew he was better off making a life for himself in Israel than in America. He fought in 4 wars while serving in the Israeli forces and even at 67 years of age, still helped them in the  most recent war in 2006. What I learned from Aria was definitely different than what I normally hear from our local media, on both sides. Honestly, Neither FOX nor MSNBC nor CNN really has the true story based on what I heard from Aira.

Here is something that many people do not know. People say that this is a conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. But the fact of the matter is, there are no such thing as Palestinians. They are just Arabs from Syria or Jordan or Lebanon that weren’t born in the current state of Israel, but moved there in an attempt to drive the Israelis out. Here is a another quick fact. Jews have been living on this land since the early 1900s when they started legally buying it from the Arabs. The land was infertile and full of rocks, so the arabs were ready to get rid of it. So the Jewish National Fund bought the land, fixed it up, and then settled in it. All through legal process.

The gist of what they said was that The issue is not with the Israelis. It never has been, and it never will be.

Today was an eye opener.

Had a normal morning routine; woke up, had some fresh squeezed orange juice, and we left Tel Aviv for the city of Caesarea.

Caesarea was once a great port city in 10 BC up through 1000 AD. And while most of the current city was of a restoration, some of it was the same as it was in 22 BC when construction on it was started. Caesarea also has an outdoor theater, of which Eric Clapton has played in.

We then left for Atlit. Atlit was once a detention center in the 1940s for Jews who tried to enter Israel illegally. Let me explain. Israel declared itself to be its own country in 1948. Before that, it was a British territory. And since, at the time, the British had no idea what Hitler was doing to the Jews, the British put quotas on how many Jews could enter the country each year. Per year, they allowed 15,000. That may seem big, but not to the millions of Jews who wanted the go there. So, because many were denied, many tried to come to Israel illegally. And those who were caught were sent to detention camps, one of which was at Atlit. What is so horrifying about it was that many Jews that survived the concentration camps, which was not many to start with, ended up in these detention centers.

Now I will also say that the British were not the Germans. Those who died in these centers did so from old age or illness. And in addition, most of the prisoners were released after a few months and were free to live in Israel for the rest of their lives. But nonetheless, it must have been horrifying to have survived the holocaust, only to end up in another prison.

Our next stop was the city of Akko. Akko is an underground city that during the 12th century was home to the crusaders. And only about 30 years ago, they found this city underground. But what I found most interesting about this place, which also made this day an eye opener, was not the civilization that used to live there, but the one that currently did.

Id like you to think of an action movie which in part takes place in the middle east. The top ones that come to mind for me is one of the Bourne movies, maybe a James Bond film. Anyway, think of one of those middle eastern scenes. The main character is running through crowded streets, maybe crashing into a falafel stand at one point or another. But it doesn’t really give you a sense of where they are actually running. When I walked through these streets, I saw the same setting, but without Matt Damon running through it. What they don’t show you in those movies is how those people live. It is difficult to explain what I saw today. These areas were crammed, dirty, and polluted. The standard of living in this area was simply different than I was used to.

After a few hours of walking around, we then left for our hotel in the Upper Galilee. And before I sign off, I have one more note. In five nights we have arrived at three different hotels. And every night, since it gets dark pretty early in this season, we have arrived when it has been pitch black. So this is the third night where I have arrived at a hotel and have had no idea what the view from the hotel is like. But on the other two hotels the view has been amazing. But I had to wait until the morning to see it.

Over 150 pictures are up, another 50 should be up within half an hour of this post going up.

See you all tomorrow…

Im just gonna dive right in.

Got up early, just like any day, and had breakfast. For anyone who doesn’t drink fresh squeezed orange juice in the morning, you should start. And I don’t mean buying orange juice that used to be fresh and is now squeezed, I mean getting a juicer and doing it yourself. I am seriously thinking of starting to do that, because I am loving breakfast every day here simply because I have fresh squeezed orange juice.

We then drove from Tel Aviv to a place called Rehavot, more specifically the Weizmann Institute of Science. When I got there my hopes were not high. Honestly, it looked like a playground. But I soon found out these “toys” where much more than toys. Through them I was able to learn what it took 6 months for them to teach me in physics. I learned about sound waves, weight forces, centripetal acceleration, light sources, and others. I don’t really want to go into more detail because I won’t do it justice, but just know that pictures are being uploaded as I type, so chances are by the time you read this they are on Facebook, and if you are not friends with me on facebook and you are reading this, just friend me.

We then went to the Ayalon Institute which was a farm with an underground bullet factory back in the late 40s during Israel’s fight for independence. There are two things to note with this visit. The first is that you have to give credit to these 45 teenagers who sacrificed 3 years of their life to do something that no one knew about. For 3 years their friends and family criticized them for living on a farm and not helping with the war effort. They spent 8 hours every day underground where, if discovered, they would be killed. And they were all volunteers, all just around my age at the start.

In Israel, everyone is required to join the army when they leave high school. In my school, a majority of us just assume we are going to college. As I was walking down the street today I saw a bunch of kids in army uniforms walking in a line. They had automatic weapons on their back. And most of them didn’t look any older than I was. Just makes you think…

While I could go on, I’ve made my point and now I’m going to talk about something completely different while I was at the Ayalon Institute.

That is about American tourists. While I was there, I was with around 10 other american tourists who I had never met before. And it wasn’t the fact that they had no intrest in the exhibit that annoyed me, it was what they did during the presentation. Three of these kids were probably twelve, and they were dressed like morons. They all had big dark glasses, sports uniforms, wavy hair, and necklaces. Again, they were probably twelve. Their mothers had to sneak their camera in to get a picture, and they were constantly trying to do things to make the others laugh during the presentation. It was pathetic. People say that our education system is in need of serious renovation, and after seeing that I can’t help but agree.

Let’s get back to Israel. We had the Weizmann Insitute of Science, and the Ayalon Institute. We then drove back to Tel Aviv, had lunch, walked around the city for a bit, and called it a day.

Tomorrow:

Again I have no idea what we are doing.

Today was a day of highs and lows. Not psychologically, literally.

We started the day with breakfast in Eilat and then made our way to the Ramon Machtesh. A Machtesh (the real spelling is only in Hebrew so I winged it) is a structure created by a mountain that basically collapses within itself. Just think of it as a really big canyon except it only has one opening instead of two. In other words, I am not going to explain it correctly so if you really want to know more, google it.

Anyway, we first took a tour around it, and then we went to a cliff and repelled down into it. Now for my mother and I it wasn’t that big of a deal. But for my brother Dan, who currently has torn ligaments in his shoulder from lacrosse, it was a big deal. And he did it, flawlessly. I have a lot to say about my brother’s athletic performance during this trip, but ill save that for its own post.

Then we got in a van and drove into the middle of the Negev desert. Then we stopped for lunch at a place called the Aroma Cafe which was the second I had seen in Israel thus far and serves the best Chai I have ever had. It turns out that they started in Israel and now have locations all over the world, including Manhattan. Ill have to check out that manhattan location when I get back. Oh and by the way, right next to the Aroma Cafe was a McDonalds, in the middle of the Israeli desert. just putting it out there.

Next we continued in the desert until we came to a town of which the name I am unaware. And when we stopped, we got on camels and rode around. Now there were two things that stuck out from this little adventure. The first was the view. It’s not everyday you get to look out across the desert and see for hundreds of miles. I’ll post pictures at some point, but for now just know it was awesome.

The other interesting part about this experience was the merge of the old world and the new world. While I was on the camel, I started hearing some middle eastern music in the distance. And I smiled. But it turned out to be my guide’s cell phone. And when I checked my iPhone, I had 4 bars. So I updated my Facebook status and called a friend of mine back in the USA to just say “Dude, I’m on a camel.”

Even in the middle of the Israeli desert, I didn’t, I couldn’t, lose service. How amazing is that? AT&T will drop calls in the middle of manhattan, but not in the desert?

Anyway, We finished up the camel ride and got back in the van where we drove to Tel Aviv. I flew into Tel Aviv a few days but It was just to fly through to Eilat. So tomorrow I will spend the whole day there. But just like today, I have no idea what I am doing tomorrow. So honestly, I can’t wait.

Thanks for reading, see you all tomorrow…

Today was my first full day in Israel, and what a day it was.

I am currently in the city of Eilat, which is at the southern tip of Israel. Today I started off by going to an underwater observatory, followed by tubing. While I was tubing, I passed through Jordan and Egypt. Yea, that close to the border. I also saw the only place where four different countries met. In the middle of whatever body of water I was in was the border of Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.

Then we get to the main event. I had the opportunity to go scuba diving.

As some of you may know, my main winter job is teaching people to ski. And in the past few years, I felt that I had kind of lost touch with my customers. Because while I am still a great skier, I had forgotten what is was like to experience something unbelievable like skiing for the first time. And diving today made me remember how it feels. You get into a situation where you are completely reliant on your guide. You basically are trusting them with your life. But it’s difficult to pay attention to them because the view is amazing and you are so focused on not screwing up.

Scuba diving was amazing on two levels. The first was the view. Think back to when you are watching TV and the show jumps to miami and they are showing the light water with the multi-colored fish. Imagine having a panoramic view of that plus more. It’s amazing.

The second part of that experience was just the fact that I got to do something I had never done before. Something new that required me to rely completely on someone else. I couldn’t say anything, I couldn’t try to help. I just had to sit back and learn. And it made me remember what it was like to start skiing, and what it must feel for everybody that I teach skiing. And I have to say, it was a great feeling.

I friend/mentor of mine, Tom Krieglstein, turned 30 this month. And for his birthday, he is doing something called 30in30for30. Every day for 30 days he is doing something he has never done before. And its a phenomenal idea. Because I am 17 and had already forgotten what it felt like to be in that situation where you are so shocked after doing something new. So a refresher like that must be beyond amazing, and while I can definitely wait until I turn 30, I hope that when I do, I get to do the same thing he has done.

See you all tomorrow…