A weekend hideaway in Israel

May 10, 2009 - 12:18 PM by David

The little house on the Galil

As great as it is to live near Jerusalem, it’s always a treat to go away for the weekend.
And lately through the generosity of friends, the frequent destination has been to Poriya Ilit – a small, country community up in the hills about five miles southeast of Tiberias and the Kinneret.

With a breathkaking view of the Kinneret, and woodsy, kibbutz feel, the community of a few hundred families runs the gamut from multi-million dollar homes with picture windows, to ramshackle, small stucco homes covered in weeds.

A few years ago, our friends bought something in between – a modest one floor house, with about an acre in back. Even though they live in Ma’aleh Adumim, their idea was to fix the house up and use it as a vacation home and an investment.

They’ve done an amazing job of renovating the home both inside and out, and if they chose to, they could boast one of the nicest B&Bs in the area. But they don’t, preferring make a beeline on weekends and spend their time gardening, barbecueing and enjoying a swim at the nearby Kinneret.

I don’t know too many people in Israel with a ‘vacation home’ – most of us have enough trouble maintaining one home. So we feel incredibly fortunate when on one of the weekends they choose to stay put in their main home, they turn the keys over to us.

The feeling and the atmosphere upon arrival is totally different than that of suburban Jerusalem. The air is clearer, the spaces are wide open and it just smells healthier. We arrived late Friday afternoon after attending a bar mitzvah party for the twin boys of friends from Manof, another beautiful community high up in the hills of the Misgav region.

After a great Shabbat dinner, we took a walk around Poriya, joined intermittently by the some of the dozens of good-natured dogs who roam the streets unrestrained. There seems to be all types in the yishuv – some new age massagists with a teepee in their front yard, a few religious Sephardic families, a smattering of Anglo Christians, and for the most part, upper middle class Israelis who had the foresight or the family lineage to buy property at this mountain paradise.

On Shabbat, after a late sleep and leisurely breakfast, we drove down to the Kinneret and spent a few hours swimming at one of the free beaches on the southeast side. I tried to listen closely for the music from the annual Jacob’s Ladder Folk Festival that many of our friends were attending, but it didn’t quite make it across the lake.

After hanging out on the lawn in the afternoon at the house and wrestling with the boys, we had a leisurely drive back home the two hours to Ma’aleh Adumim. While we were away only a little more than 24 hours, it was enough to get re-energized and relaxed. Now, back to the madness…

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