The following will be a few smart paragraphs that a person not currently in the mood for brainstorming can safely skip. So. There is the Torah. This is the Pentateuch of Moses. Part of the Old Testament, the Tanakh. The Torah is the most important thing for Jews. There is a kind of interpretation of the Torah and Tanakh and commentaries on them - the Talmud. The Talmud consists of the Mishnah (Written Talmud) and the Gemara (Oral Talmud, something like commentaries on the Mishnah). This is incredibly important.
Everything concerning the legal norms reflected in the Talmud is called Halakha. This is super important.
There is a medieval rabbinic tradition of interpreting the Torah called 'Midrashim'. This is arch-important.
There is also Aggadah. Aggadah is edifying stories about the Jewish religion as a whole. Midrashim, by the way, is based on Aggadah, and part of Aggadah is included in the Talmud. Aggadah is also oh so important.
And there is also Kabbalah. Kabbalah is such mystical linguistic-numerical 'muddles' with the Tanakh. Hebrew letters (there are 22) have their numerical equivalents. Which vary in thousands of ways. Plus: there are also 10 hyper-mystical 'prime numbers'. In short, Kabbalah is a universe of various alphanumeric combinations - 'emanations', which, of course, have the deepest meaning. Kabbalah is so important that it couldn't be more important.
In principle, one could list another hundred or so, perhaps less important, but still very, very important terms. But to unravel such a tangle, several lifetimes would be needed.
All this I say to the point that modern Israel continues to live deeply, even in its seemingly completely secular life, according to the laws of Torah-Tanakh-Talmud-Mishnah-Gemara-Halakha-Midrashim-Aggadah-Kabbalah. It is impossible to understand all this exultant Talmudism. One can feel it. The Jewish spirit manifests itself most vividly in what defies any explanation: a) Jewish logic, b) Jewish humor. Which, however, are very interconnected and which in Israel are on every corner.
For example, the famous Golda Meir once, responding to accusations from Arab countries that Israel was developing its nuclear weapons, replied: 'We have no nuclear weapons, but if necessary, we will use them.' Here is everything: from Talmud to Kabbalah.
Or, in many Jewish cities, for example in Netanya, there is Benjamin Street. Benjamin is a name, like Vasya. Meanwhile, there are many Benjamins in Israel. Among them are many famous ones. Benjamin Rothschild, for example, the main sponsor-philanthropist of Israel. Jews even have a saying: 'Let the baron pay!' (similar to our: 'And who will do this? Pushkin?') There are many other Benjamins with means. When the mayor of Netanya was asked which Benjamin he had in mind when naming the street, he replied: 'Whoever gives more money, the street will be named after him.' The question remains open. And apparently, will remain open for a long time. Here again is everything: from Mishnah to Aggadah.
Or, in Judaism, as is known, it is forbidden to eat pork. Because the pig is a non-cloven-hoofed and non-ruminant animal. And you can eat cloven-hoofed and ruminant animals, like a cow. So the pig defiles the Jewish land. But many non-kosher tourists come to Israel who gobble up everything: non-ruminants, non-cloven-hoofed, arthropods, annelids, and arachnids. And therefore the state of Israel still needs boars and pigs, and on an industrial scale. What to do? A purely Talmudic solution is adopted. The kibbutz Mizra takes up pig farming, and it builds special platforms for the pigs. That is, the boars and piglets live on a stage their entire lives, like Alla Pugacheva with Joseph Kobzon. And thus, they do not defile the Holy Land. Here, 'backwards again,' is everything from Torah to Gemara.
So, Israel lives by ancient laws. It is practically impossible to understand these laws. A most complex system. An Orthodox Jew must observe at least 613 rules. Daily. It is literally impossible to observe them all. Because life is richer. For example, a wife has the right to divorce her husband if he does not buy her jewelry. This is written in the Law. In the ancient and, accordingly, the modern one. But no one specifies how much jewelry the husband should buy his wife, when, how often, etc. Every time a wife sues for divorce over jewelry, a dramatic judicial Talmud unfolds, which a non-Jew cannot understand.
Again about kashrut. The main principle of kashrut is not to mix milk with meat (at least half an hour between consuming one and the other). A Jewish problem (joking, but nevertheless seriously discussed): can you eat meat with milk teeth?
Due to the fact that Israel is an ancient country, the most important tourist interest is, of course, ancient Israel. The situation here is as follows. Almost all tours there are very standardized. With individual tours (even for a lot of extra money) problems arise if you do not plan the trip very, very far in advance. In Israel everything is very economical and fitted, as they say, 'flush'. If you travel by bus, there will certainly not be a single empty seat. And that bus will drop tourists off at six or seven hotels. This, it must be said, is tiring.
By the way, after the Thai delicacies, in Israel prepare for modest conditions. Even in five-star hotels, there is usually no mini-bar in the room. Plates and glasses are small. So that you, pardon, kosher less. Shampoo is given sparingly. Napkins are the size for wiping hamsters. In the Sheraton hotel (five pompous stars) in Eilat, where I stayed, to play table tennis, you had to leave something valuable as a deposit, like a watch. Why? Unclear. Am I going to steal their battered racket? The gym is paid (30 shekels, about €6). I encountered a paid gym in a 'five-star' for the first time. Sauna - okay. But the gym? After my workout, the instructor in the gym wanted to make me put away the dumbbells. He said: 'If you don't put away the dumbbells, I'll call the police.' But I called the manager and made a riot-like scandal. I didn't even expect such nastiness from myself. In short, it's clear why the French refused to open a Club Med in Israel.
So, you will be offered one of the standard tours. They usually include: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Nazareth, the Jordan River (where you can be baptized: baptism shirt "to take away" - 100 shekels, rental - 25), Lake Kinneret (also known as the Sea of Galilee), the Dead Sea, Eilat. Attention! Travel agencies often omit Bethlehem. Because Bethlehem is the Palestinian Authority and the company is simply too lazy to deal with it. But you need to go to Bethlehem. After all - the Church of the Nativity.
Maybe it makes sense to visit ancient Israel as a pilgrim, that is, with a pilgrimage tour. But then you will have no rest and no sea. Choose for yourself. There are three seas in Israel, not counting the Sea of Galilee. There is an Israeli joke: 'The Red Sea is better than the Dead Sea.' Caption: 'The Mediterranean.'
In any case, you need to go to Jerusalem separately later and stay there for at least 4-5 days. I will not elaborate on the sights of Jerusalem. The word 'sight' is perhaps inappropriate here. Rather, it is appropriate to say 'shrines.' The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Via Dolorosa, the Western Wall, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Tomb of the Virgin Mary, the Al-Aqsa Mosque... In short, take a guidebook and read.
All this is very ancient, but, of course, there are no exact dates. In the Garden of Gethsemane, a German-speaking guide said: 'This garden and these trees are 2000 years old.' To that, one of the Germans objected: 'No, they are not 2000, but 2007. I was here in 2000. And then they were 2000.' Regarding exact dates in Israel, I suggest you relax. Many things are unclear. For example, they say that Jericho is either 8 or 10 thousand years old. But now it is the year 5676. So what? Was it built before the Creation of the World? In short, you are in Israel. It has its own logic.
Jerusalem - without any exaggeration - is the Navel of the Earth (this Navel can, by the way, be touched in the Orthodox chapel of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre). A Jewish man from St. Petersburg who moved to Jerusalem said: 'I am glad to move from the city of three revolutions to the city of three religions.' In short - that's well said. When you ascend to Jerusalem (and to Jerusalem you do not 'approach' or 'drive up', you ascend to it, both literally, because it is at an altitude of 800 m, and figuratively), so, when you ascend to Jerusalem, you will pass, for example, the village of Abu Gosh. For some, it will be interesting because the wedding of Pugacheva and Kirkorov took place here, for others, because this is the place where, perhaps, the only time in history Russians deceived Jews. Although no, I'm lying. Not Jews, but Arabs. But still funny...
The thing is, in the village of Abu Gosh, Arabs for centuries stopped pilgrims going to Jerusalem and robbed them blind. But the Russian pilgrims turned out to be smarter. What are Arabs not interested in at all? That's right, fatback. Our men stuffed fatback with coins and walked past the Arabs who turned away disgustedly from pork.
There are many amazing places on the way to Jerusalem. Sometimes your head spins. For example, when the guide says: 'Here is the city of Jericho. Here is the famous casino.' Casino and gambling in Jericho - that is, we agree, wild! Something like 'business in Eternity'.
Jerusalem generally has a wonderful climate. It's hot, but the vast majority of residents do not use air conditioning. Here there is Gehenna, a small desert area. A bad place, and the sign too: 'Passage through Gehenna is impossible. Find alternative routes.'
From 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM in Jerusalem (and indeed in all of Israel) is siesta. You cannot make noise. Even calling each other at this time is indecent. When do Israelis work? Unclear. But judging by, for example, the multi-million-kilometer drip irrigation pipes, they do work. Regarding the priorities of cities, Israelis say: 'In Jerusalem they pray, in Haifa they work, in Tel Aviv they have fun.'
Modern Israel is a very interesting and strange country. After all, it is a reconstruction country. For almost 2000 years it did not exist, and then suddenly it does. The greatest miracle, of course, is the language, Hebrew. For two millennia they did not speak it, and suddenly they started speaking. That is, of course, not 'suddenly'. They took the Tanakh (the Bible) and painstakingly began to turn the written text into spoken language.
When the Hebrew University was organized, where they planned to teach physics, chemistry, programming, and other microbiologies in the language of the prophets, at first everyone perceived it as a joke. But one politician said: 'Israel without a university is like Monaco without a casino.' The first intake was only 17 students. They were taught by 12 professors. That's about 3/4 of a professor per student. And it worked! Now the university operates full force. Biblical management and Old Testament mathematics are thriving. Old Jews recalled how in the 50s, sitting on a still wild beach in Tel Aviv, they inspiringly invented Hebrew swear words. Like 'khamor' - donkey. And then, about 30 years later, they heard with pleasant amazement that Jewish youngsters were cursing each other with those very same bad words they had invented.
In Israel, there is a very high level of politicization. Dozens of some parties, endless demonstrations. And all of it is serious. Very strange. But interesting. Orthodox, Conservative, Reform... Who isn't here. Jews say: if at a wedding the mother-in-law is pregnant, that's Orthodox; if the bride is pregnant, that's Conservative; if a rabbi is pregnant, that's Reform. In Israel, there is everything. Up to pregnant female rabbis. Although there are more pregnant female rabbis in the USA.
In 2000, in Israel, in the Valley of Armageddon, thousands of journalists with cameras awaited the end of the world, i.e., the final Battle of Good and Evil. They wanted to be the first to write and shoot a fresh report about the Battle. It didn't work out. The end of the world did not happen. At that time, the Jews had the year 5669. Another seven years passed. And in Israel everything is in place: both the Eternal Jerusalem, and Jericho, and Armageddon... Even the city of Sodom is in place. And near Sodom grow Sodom apples. In our language - the upas tree. If you burn the upas tree, it yields ash, all that is left of that Sodom. In short, everything is in Israel. And that is good. So a warm shalom to everyone from 5676! And, as, I don't know how many thousands of times the Jews repeat at Passover: «Next year in Jerusalem!».