One of the most interesting things about Safed are the local people who live there. You get all sorts of curious combinations of origins and accents, dressed up in traditional religious clothing reflecting their sects. The one I liked the most – by far – was this Yemen guy who runs a hand-made type of [...]

Welcome to Safed, the proclaimed “World Capital of Spirituality and Jewish Culture” were eager souls (like Madonna) come to absorb the holy word of Jewish spiritual teachings, like the Kabbalah. The old city of Safed is a unique jewel. It’s been years since I last visited the place, and it’s a shame, since it’s beautiful, [...]

Safed in northern Israel is one of those ancient holy cities over 2000 years old where Jews have always lived and studied, even throughout the many years of recorded Jewish exile. The remaining old synagogues of Safed, dating back to the 15th and 16 centuries, were the heart of those Safed Jewish communities. Many of [...]

Menara is a Kibbutz up in northern Israel, very close to the Lebanese border, with some breathtaking views of Upper Galilee. To get to the high end of the cliff, visitors can take a cable car all the way to the top. Once there, you can also take Traktor tours of the Kibbutz, the border [...]

1208 meters above sea level, Mount Meron is one of Israel’s tallest mountains. On my family tour to northern Israel, we stayed an over-night in the area, and woke up the next day to an unbelievably gorgeous weather and one of Israel’s finest views topped with a fine delicate cream of clouds hovering above. On [...]

There’ve been complaints, repeating ongoing complaints, that my personal blog rarely has anything personal. Hell, it rarely has any people in it. It’s true, I guess, I do try and maintain my friends’ privacy, but when it comes to my family – there’s no escape. During Easter, I went back from Hong Kong to Israel [...]