I had a great sleep last night of about 11 and a half hours, from 12:30am til 12pm. I woke up just in time to get ready for a huge lunch at 1pm.
After lunch at our hotel (which is Havat Habaron, in Zichron Yaakov), we were taken on a tour of the town by Nimrod. We saw Baron Rothschild's building; as well as Beit Ahronson; and the original shule of Zichron. We heard how the town was established by immigrants of the first aliyah in 1882; and how times were tough, so Baron Rothschild helped the people out. We also heard about how the Ahronson family ran a spy network against the Turks from Zichron during WWI; and how they paid for it with their lives.
Zichron is packed on a Saturday afternoon: the main street is full of young families and couples, with coffee shops and gelaterias everywhere. It's a trendy tourist hotspot, and in the afternoon it reminded me very much of Bondi Beach or Darling Harbour.
By the time we got back to the hotel, it was nearly time to do Havdalah. We all went out onto the terrace, in the open air, facing west onto the farmlands and the sea (and the sunset). It was really nice, singing and watching the sun set together. We played chinese whispers in the circle, and got some funny results. When there were 3 stars in the sky, we lit the candle, smelled the spices, and drank the wine.
Straight after Shabbos, we had an hour or two to pack our stuff, and then it was off to the main street of Zichron for a free night, out on the town. So at about 7pm, we got the bus into town, met up with Academy 1, and explored the night life.
Because Zichron is a tourist town, it wasn't nearly as packed tonight as it was in the afternoon: in fact, it was almost empty tonight. So we didn't have to queue for gelato - I had a scoop of delicious 'chocolate orange' flavour - or for a BBQ pizza. We sat and enjoyed our food for a while: and then we got up and explored, and the bizarre events of Sat the 17th began...
Here's how it started: Me, Asher, and Dane walked into a little store, where an old man called Meir Pomerance was reading a newspaper. He said to Asher: "where are you from?"; and Asher said: "Melbourne, Australia". And just from that, he said: "Are you an Epshtein?" And Asher pointed at me, and said: "No, but he is!"
Meir then told me that I have to visit Yossy Epstein, a relative of mine who lives nearby. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite tell us where Yossy Epstein lived: so, in quintessential Jewish-Israeli style, the three of us spent an hour going around Zichron Yaakov, asking passers-by if they knew where Yossy lived; and knocking on the doors of complete strangers, asking if they were him!
After this hilarious but unsuccessful hour, searching for the elusive Yossy Epstein, we went back to Meir in despair. So he finally looked up Yossy in the phone book; and we discovered that he lived on No. 32, in the main street. Why Meir didn't look it up in the first place, I do not know!
The three of us reached No. 32, and knocked on the door. I introduced myself as Yirmiyahu Epstein, "your family", and was welcomed in by Yossy's wife, Chaya, and by his daughter. It was a rather awkward first meeting - mainly because only Asher spoke passable Hebrew, and hence ended up translating most of what was said - but we ended up sitting down and getting comfortable; and soon Yossy himself came out and started getting into the geneological nitty-gritties with me.
We worked out that Yossy Epstein is the son of Jacob Epstein - the famous Israeli Mafia leader - and that Nachman Epstein (the father of Max Epstein) is Jacob's first cousin. So since Nachman was Nono's uncle, that makes me and Yossy pretty distantly related.
We sat and talked to my long-lost relatives for about an hour. They told me that the Epsteins were originally called the Sidorfskis; and that they came from Romania as part of the first Aliyah. These Epsteins (of whom my great- or great-great-grandparents were part) were the original founders of Zichron in 1882.
But in the 1920s, many of them left due to bad conditions: among other places, they went to Egypt. And from there, of course, Nona and Nono, and Nachman, and many others, went to Australia.
We talked til about 10:30pm, then we said our goodbyes, and left to join the rest of the group. It sure was incredible, suddenly (and unexpectedly) meeting long-lost relatives in Zichron Yaakov: the place really is full of Epsteins!
From No. 32, we went to a little bar further down where everyone seemed to be gathered; and we had a few drinks while other people played pool. Then, before we knew it, it was time to go.