"This was not our first trip to Israel, so I decided we had had enough of following the tour group, listening to the same small talk, seeing the same sights... When I was younger, I read a novel called "The Source" by James Michener, describing the history of Eretz Yisrael through the excavation of an archeological tel, and I had always dreamed of seeing the sites he described. And it was like a dream come true- from the excavations of Tel Hatsor, to the Crusader Castle at Cocav haYarden, to the Holy City of Tsephat- we talked to the excavators, stood on the ramparts, and davened Mincha in the ancient Shul...

...on our way back to Jerusalem, we drove through Tiberias, and I noticed a kind of monument on the mountain overlooking the city. Suddenly, I felt I had to be there! Our guide knew the way, but only when we had left the car to stand there overlooking the Kinneret, did he reveal to us that this was the resting place of Rabbi Akiva. And standing on that Holy site, with the incredible view of Kinneret and Golan, I found my heart opened in Tefila as it never had before... "

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