I have been shedding skin everywhere I go. One of my aspirations for this trip was to free myself from material possessions. For a while I felt a little frustrated that I couldn't mentally let go of having money, clothes, electronics, etc. Tel Aviv was somewhat of a miserable lonely experience--I thought I could stay with friends but that didn't work out, and in general it is just like a modern, shallow, Western European city, except without any fascinating history.
In addition, the youth hostels there are rediculously expensive. So after a few days in one of them I decided to put my bags in a locker and sleep on the beach. I stopped taking any money out and when I needed food I played violin in the street. I realized that, though this new found independence felt amazing, I needed to get out of Tel Aviv. I dropped the Hebrew class I was taking before committing to it, bought a teach yourself book instead, and hitch hiked north.
I got picked up by these hippie rainbow guys who run tea shops at festivals and parties. After working, and playing music with them for a few days at this incredible Israeli dance festival, I went on ahead to Zfat to take a free course on Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) on the campus of the organization I worked for at the beginning of the summer. There I learned that my last name is a combination of lev=meaning heart in Hebrew, and "enter;" that I was born the morning of the first day of passover, the Jewish holiday celebrating freedom; I learned the uplifting power of eliminating negative thoughts and actions from my life, and I realized that music is the highest expression of my soul, and that my purpose in life is to share this incredible gift and try to achieve this level of spirituality in all aspects of my life.
In addition, the youth hostels there are rediculously expensive. So after a few days in one of them I decided to put my bags in a locker and sleep on the beach. I stopped taking any money out and when I needed food I played violin in the street. I realized that, though this new found independence felt amazing, I needed to get out of Tel Aviv. I dropped the Hebrew class I was taking before committing to it, bought a teach yourself book instead, and hitch hiked north.
I got picked up by these hippie rainbow guys who run tea shops at festivals and parties. After working, and playing music with them for a few days at this incredible Israeli dance festival, I went on ahead to Zfat to take a free course on Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) on the campus of the organization I worked for at the beginning of the summer. There I learned that my last name is a combination of lev=meaning heart in Hebrew, and "enter;" that I was born the morning of the first day of passover, the Jewish holiday celebrating freedom; I learned the uplifting power of eliminating negative thoughts and actions from my life, and I realized that music is the highest expression of my soul, and that my purpose in life is to share this incredible gift and try to achieve this level of spirituality in all aspects of my life.
Tomorrow I am leaving my suitcase and most of my stuff and hitching to a student community in the desert outside of Jerusalem to meet other people I met hitch hiking, but who knows if that's where I'll end up. . .
I cannot tell you how good it feels to be freeeee!
Other activities in the last couple weeks: learning to read, write, speak, and understand hebrew (albeit slowly), cooking all my meals, and watching amazing sunsets.
So, I think I may be traveling for long time. A ticket to India is unbelievably cheap from Amman, Jordan. I think I'll hit that up in a month or two.
Shalom v'ahava,
Lev
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