Grapes of Joy -- Safed grapevines

Friends of mine have this wonderful grapevine in their front courtyard. The house is multiple rooms looking onto the gated courtyard.

Right now the grape vine is in full greenery, with grape clusters ripening in the early summer air. Truly lovely.







This one makes you want to say , "Is it live or is it Photoshop?". The grapes look almost like plastic grapes right now.












Looking up at the clusters from below, with the sun on the leaves.
You have to admit, I live in a very picturesque little town.

Windows of Opportunity

I was purchasing some stock photography today, and realized that maybe I could sell some of my images as stock photos.

Many of the photos that look good on screen don't print as beautifully. I like to send my pics to print to make sure they'll look good printed.

The local digital photo store has a website to upload images. Then I just drop by to pick up my prints and pay for them. It's a little store in Tsfat, but I really like sending in my prints via the net. http://picdigital.co.il/

So I'm thinking that pics that don't print quite as stunningly as I like (who me, picky?), I could sell as stock photos. Have to check into the specs. My camera is only 4.5 Mb memory, so there's a limit to the size that prints well at all.

For instance, this picture is very pretty, but the really nice shot of this window can be seen at http://www.jewishbyte.com/store.php?i=105799517/roshhashanah.29667456

Plants around Tsfat

You can tell that this picture was taken earlier in the season. By now the grasses are brown among the herbs and shrubs, the thistles also brown and full of fluffy white seeds.





The calendula in my garden is a wonderful self seeder. It withstands the hot dry summers, and with a little water always offers up some blossoms.


In my herb garden I grow a number of medicinal and ornamental herbs. This one is sage. It was in bloom recently, among my mint, jasmine, and other plants.

The Dead Tour Tsfat II

Just south of the old Tsfat Hadassah hospital, which is now the Wing B housing the psychiatric department, lies the resting place of Nahum Ish Gamzu. Nahum Ish Gamzu was the teacher of Rabbi Akiva. His motto in life was alway, "It's all for the best". Whatever happens is ultimately for the good.

The gravesite has been recently improved with a lovely wooden roof, bookshelves, and seating. The neighborhood is quiet and peaceful, a perfect place to read Psalms in the shade.

Lag BaOmer, Meron, and Bonfires

This is a low res image of Mount Meron from our perch in Tsfat by day. The right hand second "camel hump" is Mount Meron. At the base of the mountain is where you find the ritual resting place of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.

By now Meron is on it's way to becoming the fourth largest city in Israel, a status it enjoys once a year on Lag BaOmer. Tents are pitched for kilometers, and the roads are already blockaded. Security is tight. Not enough for me to let my kids go alone..


This shot is from the Old City of Tsfat at sunset last summer at around Klezmer festival time. You have to admit, we've got a highly photographic little corner of the planet.



Last year we stayed in Tsfat for Lag BaOmer, not being fond of big crowds. This a cool night shot without a tripod of the kids gathering wood for the bonfire.










The bonfire a bit closer.

Remember, always follow safe fire practices, and stay upwind!

The Dead Tour I - Shem V'Ever cave

Welcome to The Dead Tour, Tsfat.

No, not the Grateful Dead of rock 'n roll fame.

The Holy Dead of Jewish fame.

This is a picture of the cave which is attributed to be the place of the yeshiva of Shem and his grandson Eber. Midrash says that Yaacov come here to learn for 7 years on his wasy to Lavan's back in Ur. Shem was one of the three sons of Noah.

The Kuzari explains that before the birth of the 12 tribes, divine influence was handed down father to son, sometimes skipping a generation father to grandson. Shem was the recipient from Noah of the tradition of divine inspiration.

Today the yeshiva of Shem and Eber is open only at certain times, and somehow I'm never there when it is. This is a picture of the door. There is a synagogue next door to it, which has prayer services three times a day.

Kol Rina looks out over the Ari towards Meron

Recently a new structure appeared on the stairs leading down from the Old City to Meor Chaim. It's a new Beit Midrash (house of study). The sign says that on the premises there is Torah learning, an institute for (learning for) bar mitzvah and chazanut (cantorial duties), "shirat habakashot", which I would loosely translate at poetry of supplication, and various study groups of Jewish heritage.






Looking up a bit, you see this open door structure that is labeled "Across from Rashbi Beit Midrash Kol Rina V'yishua". The voice of joy and redemption. It sits a top a hill overlooking the cemetary towards Meron, thus the allusion to Rashbi.
Ah, such a view from the Beit Midrash!

But what's that in the right hand corner of the picture? Garbage?











Alas, as with many construction projects in Tsfat, this one has yet to clean up the resulting pile of rubble, refuse, and general dirt that resulted from the building.

Hopefully they will, so that it looks as lovely from the outside as I'm sure it does to look out from the inside.

Tel Hatzor nearby

On Monday of Chol Hamoed, we went to Tel Hatzor. I've been wanting to go for over a year. There was an article last summer in the Shmurat HaTeva publication "BaShvil HaAretz" about the dig which sounded very interesting. We went on a day when there were guided tours. Definitely made the day. The kids again really enjoyed hearing all about how the Israelites entered the Land, and see signs of our history from then until the times of King Ahab. Quite impressive water works, a palace, and other interesting remains. There was also a mud brick making activity for the kids. Weather was great, with a fierce wind picking up on the late afternoon. I used my Photoshop Elements to try out some panoramic pastes. Since I didn't use a tripod, the fits aren't exact. But you get the "picture" of how lovely the views are.

This is a view from the western prominent citadel north towards part of the "lower city" which has not been much excavated. To the right of the hill is a major "dent" in the slope, part of a temple.





I just had to share this picture of the most amazing looking beetle we saw while there. I took pictures of three bugs while we were there. One is this green and gold cousin of the cockroach. Another was a water beetle we saw on the descent to the water works (9 stories deep in the earth). The other was a nasty spider that the Nature Reserve volunteer said sucked blood and was only mildly poisonous.



This is the view from "area G" when you first go up on the Tel. The view at the left most is looking north and a little west to the Naftali mountains. My the right most, you are looking toward the Golan Heights.

Meiri Musem Safed

On the first day of Chol Hamoed we went to the Meiri Musem for a tour. There was a nice guide who had done a Master's thesis on Tsfat. The museum is full of interesting old Tsfat collectibles, facts, documents, pictures, and more. Highly recommended.

It also fit in the budget really well. 18 NIS per adult and 8 NIS per child. It was a touch rainy, so no major outings seemed appropriate.

Our kids 9 and 11 were the perfect age for the museum. They've had enough history background to enjoy it, and listened carefully to the guide.
















This is a view of a "house for 8" that is made of typical Tsfat houswares of old.







This is a sweet display of wooden walking sticks of "Ziknei Tsfat", the Elders of Tsfat. The hall is dedicated to that mythical creature, the elderly sages of Safed. Only all the biographical material is real.

Cloudy Spring Days over the Galilee

When you look south of Safed, you look out over rolling hills that look like waves in the distance. The clouds add even more of a wave appearance some days. The word "Galilee" is "galil" in Hebrew, and is related to the word "gal", or wave.

Right now the hills are a lovely green, and the cloudy grey skies bring out all the different variations of green.

I took this picture as two pictures and played with the panoramic scene setting in my Photoshop Elements. That was fun! I own Elements because it costs 1/10 of the price of the full Photoshop, and suits my needs for almost everything. It's a lot of fun.

More spring in the holy Safed Cemetary

This view is looking out from the corner of the "tiyelet" towards the holy Ari's gravesite. The large blue monument with lots of people around it towards the enber of the image is the Ari's grave. There are many famous Jewish scholars, mystics, poets, and even a prophet (the prophet Hosea ben Beiri) buried in the Safed cemetary.

Some of us have children there, too.

On the horizon of the picture, you can see the flat hills, beyond which is Lebanon. We are actually, as the crow flies, only 15 km from the "Good Fence" passage from Lebanon.

As the season gets hotter, the green will gave way to brown. But for now, the new life of spring is abundant even in our holy cemetary.

Springtime in the .... cemetary

It's already the "yellow wave" of color here. Thick green growth covers the ancient cemetary of Safed right now, and the yellow of the mustard is the dominant color. The "red wave" of kalanit (anenome) has finished, with the red wave of poppy not quite in yet. Later, as the green dies down, there is a "purple wave" of various thistle blooms.

This view will be brown, maybe even blackened from small brush fires, by the time the Ari's hilulah comes around on 5 Av. Right now, it's grand spring colors.

Purim in Tsfat

In case you didn't see enough happy Jewish children enjoying Purim, I'll share some of the Tsfat views with you.

I think this was the first time in 11 years my kids didn't need to wear their coats on Purim. It rained on Shushan Purim, though. But then, we weren't in Jerusalem.

Not a Purim picture yet

I took this pictur before I bought a tripod. You can tell. It's a night pic from the stairs that lead down from the Old City to Meor Chaim looking towards Kiryat Breslov at night.

Lately, Kiryat Breslov is not totally lit up at night, so I haven't gotten a repeat shot now that I own a tripod. Ah, well.

Hopefully I'll have some quaint Purim pictures after Purim. Yesterday there were all sorts of cute costumed kids all over the city. It's a delightful time of year here.

Artist Quarter Bouganvilla and green fence

This is just one of many views of the beautiful spring colors here in Tsfat. This alley in the Artists Quarter is one of my favorites for odd pictures.

Center for the Blind

This building is being expanded even as I write this. I'll try to grab a picture of it when the new addition is finished. They're adding a new floor to the existing structure.

Down the street from here is the Old Hadassah Hospital, now the psychiatric wing of the Rebbecca Sief hospital. Across the street is the main post office and Yigal Alon Cultural Center.

The iron work gate is common in Tsfat.

Artist Quarter Corner

This view is of what used to be the Spier's studio, and is now Shaarei Bina Seminary. This is the back view, looking towards Kiryat Breslov.

One of the things I find interesting in photographing Tsfat is that the stones look really washed out and white in full sunlight. I've actually had more success with certain shots on cloudy days when the stones don't reflect so strongly.

The Palatine Hall

This is a view of the Palatine hall in the foreground. It sits on the hill just above the Central Bus Station. Behind that you see buildings belonging to the local branch of Bar Ilan.

View of Kiryat Breslov in Safed

This was taken from the stairs that go down the hill near the Or Yakar yeshiva looking in the direction of the cemetary. The older wall is part of the old shul, I think. In the upper right you see the bottom of the new synagogue of Nachal Neva Makor Chachma, the large Breslov shul in Safed. I really like the Magen David in the old window.

Pictures of Tsfat

Don't you love digital cameras? Tsfat is so beautiful, you could just take pictures all day.