This week, I attended a food tour of downtown Haifa, run by Haifa Street Food Tours and led by founder and operator Jessica Halfin. Jessica, who founded HSFT two years ago and operates almost entirely English-language tours, is extremely knowledgeable about the Haifa food scene.
The tours are customized based on the attendees, so each experience is a new one. I decided to take Jessica’s tour for a couple key reasons: I wanted to learn more about Israeli food culture, and I had realized that I hadn’t explored my neighborhood as much as I should have.
During our tour, which was attended by myself and Jessica’s friend from university, we visited five very different restaurants, each featuring a different cuisine, often with an Israeli twist. One of my personal favorites was a hole-in-the-wall burekas place (Borekas Turki M’Izmir), which served a delicious Arabic Cheese and fresh zaatar Turkish pastry. This place is open until 4 am, and will surely be one of my favorite late-night food options. Other stops included a Hasidic-owned hummus restaurant, called Badricef Heritage Foods and a home-style cooking establishment, Meir’s Ptiliot.
Some Burekas downtown Haifa
I also had the pleasure this week of traveling to Jerusalem with my Onward Israel program. After a bright and early start of 7 am, we drove to the City of David, which is actually the original site of Jerusalem. We learned about the Mount of Olives, which is the oldest and largest Jewish cemetery in the world. There are over 70,000 graves! It is a popular site to be buried in, because it is thought that on the Day of Resurrection, the Messiah will resurrect the dead, starting with the Mount of Olives.
There are graves dating back over 3,000 years ago. To see such history was humbling. After learning about the cemetery, we walked through the Siloah Tunnels, an ancient water-tunnel that was carved beneath the City of David to supply ancient Jerusalem with fresh water in times of siege. While the tunnel was extremely narrow at times, I was glad to be out of the hot sun! I can see why these tunnels were so important in ancient Jerusalem.
Later in the day, we went to the Western Wall to place prayers in the wall and connect with our shared Jewish heritage. While walking up to the Wall, I decided to wrap Tefillin with a group of Chabad Rabbis at the wall. I got into a conversation with Rabbi Shmuel Weiss, who, when told I attended school in Boston, asked me if I knew Rabbi Mendy Posner.
Mendy happens to be my Chabad Rabbi at Northeastern! I was shocked, as halfway around the world, I was able to find a connection to home. Jewish geography is an incredible game to play! After wrapping with Rabbi Weiss, I placed my prayer in the Wall and stopped for several minutes of quiet contemplation. The Western Wall is such an important part of Judaism, and even though I have been there numerous times, it never fails to inspire and amaze me.
Going to Jerusalem reminded me of the history and vibrant culture of this ancient city. I love living in Haifa, but the spiritual effect of Jerusalem cannot be rivaled. I cannot wait to move there in August and continue my adventures abroad!
The Western Wall
Zachary Gershman
