We met with a rabbinic student who works with the Israeli Religious Action Center (IRAC). They are funded in part by the Reform Movement. The state funds construction of synagogues and pays Rabbis only if they are Orthodox. Marriages and divorces are controlled by the Chief Rabbinate which is controlled by the ultra-orthodox. The last… Read More Day 3 in Jerusalem

Wednesday morning started with a talk by a young Israeli girl named Murphy who is a member of Breaking the Silence, an organization of veteran combatants who have served in the Israeli military since the start of the second intifada who work to expose the Israeli public to the reality of everyday life in the… Read More Day 2 in Jerusalem

First we heard a talk about Jewish ethics and how they play out in Israeli society. Found out that Israel has the highest child poverty rate among developed countries mainly in the Ultra-orthodox communities and some of the rural areas. Not all Israelis are sharing in the wealth of the country. Spent the rest of… Read More First day in Jerusalem

On Sunday Tamar and I took a tour of the old Jewish quarter which included a museum and cemetery. The first photo is a grove of trees pruned to have six branches representing a Star of David. The next photo is a section of the wall surrounding the cemetery which contains markers for every Jew… Read More More from Frankfurt

I have now been in Frankfurt over 24 hours. This morning, Tamar and I went to a dinosaur museum and then to a large covered market. For my book club buddies, the museum had a skeleton of a woolly mammoth. On my flight to Seattle I sat next to a man from Britain. He was… Read More Arrived in Germany

My tour ended on Monday morning in Montenegro. I took a shuttle back to Dubrovnik and am staying in an Airbnb right in the center of the Old Town. Monday afternoon I just walked around, had my customary gelato and actually did a little shopping. I was saving my energy for my Tuesday morning walk… Read More On my own in Dubrovnik 

I made it completely around the wall. What an incredible experience. I am posting all the pictures I took even though there are multiple photos of similar vistas. I just wanted everyone to see it as it unfolded for me. Part way around stopped for a fresh squeezed pomegranate mandarin orange juice and had a… Read More Walked the wall in Dubrovnik 

Absolutely love this town in spite of its being crowded with tourists. We got a short tour then with a few of my shipmates I had a wonderful lunch and then rode the cable car up to get some spectacular views of the town. 

We have spent two nights in Herceg Novi on Kotor Bay, Montenegro. Kotor Bay is a large very protected bay, oddly shaped, off the Adriatic Sea. Montenegro, whose population is mostly Orthodox, was part of Serbia until 2006. Montenegro is a very mountainous country so felt little impact in the 1991-1995 war. Through its history… Read More Kotor Bay, Montenegro