Ten Awesome Days!

I consider myself to be the luckiest person on earth! I just spent ten days in the beautiful land of Israel. My father and I were lucky enough to staff a Mayanot Birthright trip (he went as the rabbi, and I went as the rabbi's wife - clearly a different rabbi's wife!!).

We met up with 40, incredible, young Americans in JFK airport, met our amazing Israeli staff, Gavriel, Miri and Chana, upon arrival - and were even lucky enough to have seven awesome Israeli soldiers join us for half of our trip.

When you go to Israel with Birthright you can totally forget about that necessary something called sleep. In place of sleep you are guaranteed days which are packed beyond your imagination, experiences that will stay with you forever and friendships to last a lifetime.

We hiked in the Golan Heights (and it was quite a hike!), got in some jeeping action, got the big picture on the borders of Israel, visited the holy city of Tzfat, tried our hand at writing like a Sofer, spent time on the beach in Tel Aviv, heard an original recording of the State of Israel being declared - in the very room in which it was declared, danced at the Kotel on Friday night, enjoyed a beautiful Shabbat dinner together, took in the scene at Ben Yehuda street, heard from a Holocaust survivor at Yad V'Shem, were very moved during our visit to Mt. Herzl (a military cemetary), toured the Old City of Jerusalem, celebrated Bar and Bat Mitzvahs with members of our group, ate dinner in a Bedouin tent, rode camels (well actually I skipped this one in order to get a tiny bit of extra sleep), climbed up Massada in the RAIN, and went for a float in the Dead Sea.

We  walked on the very ground where our ancestors walked before us. We learned incredible tales of our Jewish history. We saw first hand the miracles which take place on a daily basis in Israel and we learned first hand of the sacrifice and dedication of the IDF.

Along with all of these incredible experiences (and truth be told I didn't list everything we did), we also did plenty of eating.

As I like to say, I spent ten days eating fried foods served in a pita (or in a lafa!). I spent my days eating lots and lots of falafel and "shnitzel" sandwiches. Each day I ate something stuffed in a pita and filled with techina, hummus and a variety of vegetables. It was awesome! It was a nice little break from cooking and I happen to love these Israeli foods!

If you have been to my Shabbat table, you know that I truly love Hummus. After my last trip to Israel I truly wanted to be able to duplicate  the taste of Israel in my home. Luckily Susie Fishbein introduced me to a great recipe for hummus. The recipe I have included here is her recipe with just a few tiny modifications.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do - and as they say in Israel, B'tayavon!

Hummus


1 can cannellini beans
1 can chick peas

3 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 cup tahini paste 
5 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
a sprinkle of black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water


Drain and rinse the beans and place in the bowl of a food processor. Add garlic, tahini paste, lemon juice, soy sauce, salt, pepper and cumin. Process until smooth.


Drizzle in the olive oil, followed by the water. Process again.


Enjoy!!