toledo

Toledo
The way from Cordova to Toledo lasted five hours; this was good time to fill our cells with energy and to continue sleeping. Before we reached Toledo we passed in Lamanch the land of Don Quixote, it was amazing to see the wind mill on the top of the hills, Don Quixote fought the wind mill and we came to learn about them.
Toledo, three of its sides are surrounded by the Tacho river and in the fourth side a wall. The old city is located on a hill. We climbed the old town from the wall side with escalators. We walked through its backstreets to the old synagogue, one of two that still remains in the old city. It is a magnificent synagogue, now there is a museum there about the golden time of Toledo Jewery. Afterward we walked to a culture center near Toledo cathedral, there we ate oriental food: salad falafel humus. A folk unique music group played with ancient music instruments songs and danced Jewish music from the middle ages. We reached the hotel, in that afternoon we all gathered to speak about our identity, personal identity. Gary Jacobs opened this conversation by introducing his identity in a very interesting way then the conversation that developed was very unique, we the Israeli Jews have a definition problem between Jewish and Israeli what is coming before ? The United states Jewish between Jewish and American , the Negev Bedouins between Muslim, Palestenian, Israeli? Every participant told his opinion and feelings and we all felt the similarity and the difference among the participants and the groups. In Toledo I met my daughter Hadash Lulu' she is learning in Madrid Spanish dancing and circus, in that evening she activated the group with acrobatic exercises that are based on new balances then every participant expressed his feelings with his voice without words.
The next day we visited Toledo cathedral, a magnificent building with interesting art treasures. Every participant got money for food and two hours time to walk and eat in the old town of Toledo.. We returned to the hotel to finish the dwarfs' game. Every dwarf found out who was his giant. We prepared ourselves and continued the journey to Israel already that night..
The questions that came up after the visit Toledo were:
a. Why do we need frames to be kind to one another?? Dwarfs' game, Jitli project? How shall we continue with constructive connections once the frame is no loger there?
b. In Toledo we felt a yearning to Jerusalem, to the oriental food, to historical songs, to our real indentify. What makes a town or city to be so unique? Its beauty? Its history? The people that lived there, that are living now? A combination of the all factors?
c. How someone builds his identity? Specifically when one has choices. What helps us to choose an identity? Connection to myself, to my friends, to my nation, to my homeland, to the era?
d. And again connection among people that is born with the help of art: without words, creating new balance, accepting each other, what do all these activities contribute to our personal shared future?
e. Why were we all so excited before the return to Israel?

Does anybody who read this blog have answers to those questions ? JITLI participants?


Toledo's video clips
Sleeping - pictures

Ho ha on the way to toledo

Toledo the first day

Toledo the second day

Toledo- Hadashlulu my daughter activities

enjoy

Itzik