Haifa and Acco

23 February 2007. Friday. Warm, hazy-bright day.







We were up a little later than usual and after breakfast left the hotel at 8:30. We took the bus to Akko or Acre, a city that is very ancient and is mentioned in the Bible. It also had a considerable history during Crusader times and Ottoman times. Napoleon tried to invade here and was repulsed. The citadel, originally built by the Crusaders and later taken over by the Ottomans, came into British hands in the 20th century. It was used as a prison for Jewish and other captives during the Mandate era. A number of Jewish fighters for Israel were kept there and some were executed. We saw the cells and the execution chambers. It has been restored but is something of a controversial site with the Israelis. As we left the prison we recalled the story told us by Joski, the former Irgun (Etzel) fighter who participated in the attack on the prison to free Jewish prisoners. This attack was depicted in the movie Exodus.


We walked along the defensive walls facing the sea which were originally built by the Crusaders. The walls had been reinforced and improved during the Ottoman era. We came to a tunnel which had been recently discovered and whose purpose is unclear but which was built by the Crusaders. It was undoubtedly a passageway under the fortifications. We passed through the tunnel and emerged in the old city of Akko. We walked through some of the narrow streets until we came to a marketplace or souk. We went to a restored bathhouse or hammam which dated from the Ottoman era. The bathhouse has been redone in such a way that one walks through with the feeling that it is still in operation. We were shown the various rooms and finally the heated Turkish bath room where statuary figures depicted the activities of the bathhouse. There was also a video presentation projected on a large screen with a discussion in English of the functions of the bathhouse.

We went to back to the souk and had a little while to shop. One of the pictures sent with this shows some of our group making purchases in a spice shop. We also found a sweet shop which sold Arab goodies such as baklava. We reboarded our bus and returned to Haifa where there was a little time in the afternoon to wander around and shop or sightsee. Shopping was limited as the shops were closing in the afternoon in preparation for Shabbat. Another photo attached shows a view of the Baha'i shrine seen from the top of the hill. It is a very large tract of land perfectly landscaped and manicured with several buildings relating to the Baha'i faith. It is beautifully kept. Haifa is a holy city to this group as Jerusalem is to others.

Sharon our wonderful tour guide left us to return to Jerusalem for Shabbat, but will be taking us to the airport tomorrow evening. We have all adopted her and feel we have been so lucky to have her as our guide.

We gathered again at the hotel about 4:30 and went by bus to the synagogue of Congregation Or Hadash. Rabbi Edgar Nof, an immigrant from Argentina greeted us and gave us a tour of their building. The congregation was started in 1964 and is one of the three oldest and largest Reform Congregations in Israel. They are part of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and are the sister congregation to about 6 Reform congregations in the USA. Rabbi Nof told the story of how the basement of their synagogue was turned into a shelter and used for 200+ daily children during the Hizbollah war in 2006. Rabbi Nof told us a little about the dynamics of their congregation and the generous support they receive from the URJ and other Jewish organizations. Or Hadash is a Classical Reform Congregation and the services would be partly in English as we and another congregation from Lexington Mass were their guests for the evening. Sydney participated in the lighting of Sabbath candles as a representative of our congregation and Craig received a gift for our congregation from theirs. They were very excited to have so many guests this evening. The service was very participatory, with the Rabbi calling on many of the children to help lead the service. One very cute young girl read and “signed” the Ve’ahavta. Afterward our group dispersed in twos and threes to homes of members of the congregation. We all had very interesting and pleasant experiences and met some fascinating people. The families returned us to our hotel. We met in the lobby and shared our stories of our visits with these families. We will report these stories later. It was a long day and we all were ready to turn in, anticipating a busy last day in Israel tomorrow.