August 12th PM--Techelet Snorkeling, BBQ at the Raanans

After a meaningful morning experience at the Beit El Tefillin factory, we headed onto our next activity of the day. We stopped at the mini-market at Beit El to get snacks for the way (thanks Savta and Roy!) and Yehuda and Roy dared each other to get Nachman Kippot and wear them all day....oy! Then we stopped at Cafe Cafe on the highway for a speed lunch (and quick change into bathing suits) and headed up north to Hof Dor to go snorkeling for the snails used to make techelet for tzizit. When we came two years ago for Leora's Bat Mitzvah we toured the techelet factory near Maaleh Adumim, but now we were actually going to go snorkeling at the exact spot where biblically the snails were found and used to make the techelet. We learned that in our generation there are two mitzvot that we can now do that were lost for generations. One was yishuv eretz yisrael (living in Israel) and the other is the techelet. The kids had a blast, and although our family only found hermit crabs, other families found the real thing. The Glickmans joined us, which was fun for everyone. After the snorkeling we actually got to dye wool and see the chemical reaction, turning the wool from yellow to blue. The beautiful blue was gorgeous and the process was fascinating. Next we headed to a BBQ at the Raanans and to say goodbye to our dear friends, which we really are not very good at. As always we had a wonderful time (especially listening to James serenade us on his guitar). We miss them already and can't believe its almost time to head home...