Ancient Caves to Modern Culinary Creations

On the last day of our organized tour, we started by driving to a national park called Beit Guvrin that has over 5,000 caves. We entered one of the caves and began digging artifacts that are estimated to be more than 2,200 years old. The things we found were what the Jews had to get rid of when they had to quickly leave the area during the Hellenistic period which is the time when Hanukkah began. We found shells, bones, oil lamps, and lots of pieces of pottery. Finding everyday items from 2,200 years ago made me feel connected to the Jews from that time period. After that we went spelunking in a different cave that had yet to be excavated. We went down slides and through tiny tunnels and had to carry flashlights because it was pitch dark.

Finally, for the last activity of the trip, we went to Mechana Yehuda and met the chair of the market, Tali Friedman, who is also a famous chef. She led us through the market as we tried samples and listened to stories about the history of the market and where the different vendors came from. The market is like its own city within the city of Jerusalem and Tali is like the mayor - everyone knows her. She always takes the opportunity to lift up women who work at the market. She explained the market is very much a man’s world — so that made it even cooler for a woman to be running the place.

Plus, as you can see from the photos below - the food was phenomenal and her team was so fun to work with. It was a perfect way to end the formal part of our trip together before saying goodbye to our aunts, uncles, cousins, and our absolutely incredible tour guide Avishai (who was equal parts patient and brilliant).

Now, the Saratovsky five are heading to Tel Aviv for some rest and relaxation...