We drove from Ein Zivan kibbutz to the Druze town of Majdal Shams. It’s still in the northern Golan Heights in the southern foothills of Mount Hermon. It’s one of only four remaining Druze-Syrian communities in Israeli territory held since the Six Days War in 1967. Our guide said that there used to be 135 such towns in this territory. Druze are a small Middle Eastern religious sect with their own doctrines and loyalties that broke off from the Ismalili Muslims in the 11th century and today are not a part of the Muslim community at large.

Our main stop in town was at the Al Yasmeen Restaurant for lunch. It’s owned by the Masdi family which is a Druze family. The family has lived here since 1870 and owns and operates the restaurant. Suad, the mother, is the cook and she made us a really excellent lunch with more than a dozen dishes plus lemonade.

The first photo isn’t great but if you look to the left and behind of the tall building, you can see the Syria-Israeli border marked by the road and fence going up the hill. Again, we were very close to the Syrian border.

This is just a photo of Majdal Shams. The hills behind the town at this angle are in Israel.

This is the street right in front of the restaurant where we ate.

The next photo was taken after our first course of food and this and each subsequent course was delicious.

Majdi, one of the family’s adult sons, gave us a talk after lunch. He told us that Druze always live in the mountains because for 1,000 years, it’s easier to defend your home from your enemies. He told us about Druze customs and beliefs, such as reincarnation. He included several stories from his life about reincarnations and it was very fascinating stuff. He also showed us the Druze flag and explained about the five colors of their flag.