Blessed are the Cheesemakers

You know the story about the synagogue you attend and the one in which you wouldn’t be caught dead, but how about the kosher Chinese restaurant that is open only on Shabbat and its twin across the street--with the same owner, cooks, and wait staff--that is open the rest of the week, except for Shabbat. As we learned on our recent trip to the Galilee, such a phenomenon exists in Tiberias. Although we drove past this attraction on our tour around Lake Kinneret, we decided against stopping in for a kosher Chinese-Thai feast as the area was very crowded with many tourist buses parked at the nearby hotels. Instead our dining experiences in the Galilee included: the local Arab restaurant in Korazim, a large establishment next to a gas station just off the main highway heading north (similar to our favorite “fifteen salads” restaurant in Tel Aviv—you can see from the photo where we got this name); a sophisticated hillside restaurant in Rosh Pina with a gorgeous view from the terrace of the hills and fields in the Hula valley below; and the cozy ranch-style restaurant at Vered Galil, a ranch/spa down the road from the Frenkel’s B and B, our base of operations in the Galil. Believe it or not Vered is famous for their “ fried chicken in a basket” and their excellent apple pie. At the Frenkel’s we took our breakfasts with a young Italian couple, Carlos and Anna, he an airline pilot and she a psychologist, visiting from Milan. We enjoyed the orange marmalade Etha made from their oranges, the olive oil pressed from the olives in their backyard grove, the pomelo from their trees, and the homemade labne, breads and rolls made by Irwin, among other goodies. The Frenkels moved to the Galil about 10 years ago from Jerusalem where they had been living for many years. Irwin, a former Weslelyan graduate, retired after a 15-year stint as the editor of the Jerusalem Post. Etha, born in Israel, spent much of her youth in the States. She continues to work as a psychologist. Their place is situated in a community of beautiful, rather large homes in the hills overlooking Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) not far from ancient synagogue ruins in Korazim.

From there it was a short drive to the Church of the Beatitudes, a beautiful spot on the shores of the lake where Jesus is said to have given his sermon on the mount about the meek and poor inheriting the earth, as visitors are informed by plaques with the essential quotations which line the main path. Unfortunately, after Lew put it into my head, all I could think about was “blessed are the cheesemakers” from Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Other more reverent folk were gathered in designated spots around the grounds conducting services with prayer and song. We strolled around for a bit before we began to feel overwhelmed by the many tour groups from Japan, Italy, Nigeria, and the States.