11/10: No classes, so went with a group to Israel Museum (really cool place with artifacts from many cultures as far back as possible, art, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and showing “The Clock”). Didn’t get to see everything, so I hope to go back soon.
Erev Nativ (every Tuesday is “Nativ Night,” we have some sort of program all together): Rabbi Joel Roth talked to us about how he feels the Conservative movement is the most legitimate movement in Judaism today. He felt very strongly, and I agreed with much of what he said (such as his heavy emphasis on halachic pluralism). He compared Jewish tradition to a chess board: the pieces can be moved in a certain way, but it’s all coming from the same setup. He believes a glass dome descended upon the chess board a couple hundred years ago in the Orthodox world, freezing the pieces in place, but in the Conservative movement the pieces are still moved. An interesting analogy, but I am hesitant to accept it as valid. While he was here, I realized that though I had recognized that some Nativers came from modern Orthodox backgrounds I had thought everyone here was pretty much Conservative, but now I see that there are actually a lot of Nativers identifying as Orthodox. Just interesting.
After Erev Nativ we had some announcements. Of greatest interest was that relating to the release of Gilad Shalit. After over 5 years in hostage, this Israeli soldier will be returned to his country as Israel releases 1000 terrorists. At first it seemed that everyone here was overjoyed (which I understand) at the prospect of the return of Gilad. Most Nativers, as well as other people in Jerusalem, walked to where Gilad’s parents have been camped out in front of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s home (which happens to be down the street from Beit Nativ). But I am more concerned about the release of 1000 terrorists. Won’t this lead to more deaths? More murders? I know Gilad does not deserve his current treatment, that people all over Israel and all over the world have been praying for his return, but that does not make his life more valuable than any other. This deal does have the potential for giving Israel good PR, but also giving Palestinians good PR, so it is hard to say which will be stronger in the UN debates.
12/10: In the morning we split up into our tracks for text studies led by the Yeshiva students of each track. With Elan, Louis, and Mia, I provided texts and led discussion over all that the 4 species of lulav and etrog may represent. I must say, we were surprised at how well the text study went because (1) we had about 2 minutes to prepare and (2) people actually participated, actually studied the texts as we asked them to! Then we traveled as Nativ to HaShuk Arbaat Haminim, The Lulav and Etrog Market. We got to pick our own palm, willow, myrtle, and citron (stupid word), and I bought a set together with Mia and Deena. We haggled for lower prices and got a nice set to use during the holiday for under 60 shekel. That night was the first night of Sukkot. For the first time ever, I slept in a sukkah, which was surprisingly nice, especially as I slept between smelly blankets that I found on the floor in my hallway (though I must say they smelled better after Zoe dropped her orange juice onto me).
Inside one of our sukkot
In a sukka, wishing a happy holiday
In the shuk
13/10: I went to Shira Chadasha for services. There I happened to see my roommate Suzanne with her mom (here family came for the holiday and Suzanne stayed at the hotel with them so I didn’t know she would be there). After services, I went with my friend Pam to her cousin’s house for a wonderful dairy lunch.
14/10: The most exciting event this day was finding a hat for 10 shekel.
15/10: I went to the Sephardi synagogue in Yemin Moshe (a nearby neighborhood) for services, had a delicious Kiddush, and unable to bring myself to try to get hosted for lunch, I went to the Ashkenazi synagogue where I knew I’d find Nativers. There, I ended up eating another Kiddush (this shul is known for its Kiddush). We came back and somehow I found myself eating a bit of the Moreshet Yisrael (the shul between our Beit Nativ buildings) Kiddush. After lunch (I really only ate a bit of cholent and some vegetables) I napped in my room for 3 hours, which took me to the end of Shabbat.
I then started packing for the 3-day Desert Survival tiyul (hike) we were to leave early Sunday morning for.
16/10: Up at 5:25, I do last minute packing and head downstairs for the bus to take us south to the Negev. I think Yerucham went to a synagogue in Be’er Sheva, and Kfar and Karmiel went to a hostel for services and breakfast. The food was pretty much what we get at base, but a lot better. We reloaded buses and a little while later arrived at the edge of the desert. We put our night packs (with clothes, toiletries, tallit and siddur, etc.) in a cage to be attached to a jeep to meet us at our campsite that night. Then we set off for the hike. We were led by Nadav, our guide, and trailed by Esther, our medic. (Description and reflection of hike below.)
so beautiful
That evening, we reach our first campsite and are told to get a pad thing (so the rocks below us are not too jagged), sleeping bag, and our night packs and set up our “beds” while we still have some light. But I don’t see my night pack. I look in the pile again. I ask everyone if they might have taken it. I look with Rachel everywhere on the campsite. It is nowhere to be found. The assumption is that my bag flew off of the cage. The company in charge of bringing our things to and from the campsite had someone drive back to look for it, but could not find it. (He did bring back socks, toothbrush, and toothpaste for me.) But I love the people on Kfar who helped me out by lending me clothes.
17/10: The next day when we reached our campsite, my bag still had not been found, but they also had underwear, deodorant, and shirts for me for the last day. So my bag is lost somewhere in the desert, left to fend for itself. Nativ and that company will work things out so I am reimbursed for all that was lost, but no money and no thing can take the place of the BBYO Tefillat HaDerech (traveler’s prayer) keychain I received at my last convention, the tallit I got for my bat mitzvah, or the tallis bag my mom made for me.
18/10: We finish our hike, have lunch, and take a bus back home, just a few hours after Gilad returned home too.
Tiyul: We had 3 days in the desert, and it was not enough. The tiyul was 3 days of climbing up and down mountains, 3 days of nature peeing, 3 days of singing, 3 days of learning about plants and animals and rocks in the desert, 3 days of the best “Too Far Kfar” bonding. Everything was so beautiful, and my pictures do it no justice. Sometimes it was tiring, sometimes our feet hurt from blisters, but the feeling of being on top of a mountain was more than worth it.
hiking up!
To me, the first day was the hardest. We arrived about an hour late, so we were a bit rushed and very much not used to the hiking. The second day we had all day to hike (we woke up before sunrise, left not too long after sunrise, and arrived at the campsite as it was just starting to get dark) and we had the shortest distance to hike, so we took frequent breaks to learn about plants we passed (one that makes a soap, one that flies dislike, one that will explode in water [or Jake’s mouth] to release its seeds as a last effort to continue its genes, etc.), rocks and fossils, and animals. We also had a 3 hour break for lunch and napping/hanging out. The last day we had a bit more time than the first day, but to travel the greatest distance (about 9 miles, for a 3-day total of 20 miles, going approximately halfway across Israel at its widest point).
hiking is tiring
At the end of hiking the first two days (because the last day we left the desert), we would get yummy soup when we arrived at the camp before eating dinner. Dinner was surprisingly delicious, and the first day the vegetarian alternative was the best I’d eaten in a long time. We had a campfire and would sing non-typical campfire songs, and most people slept under the stars. In the morning, we had a pre-breakfast of cookies, peanut butter, and chocolate spread. After davening we had official breakfast, including Kariot, the greatest Israeli cereal.
Our group had an amazing time. We all feel much closer to each other, and the few people with whom I had rarely spoken before I now consider friends. We all legitimately like each other, and we have been reassured that we will be fine without our Karmiel and Yerucham friends 2nd semester. In fact, when we were at the far end of the same campsite as Yerucham one night and when we had lunch in the same place as Karmiel the last day, we felt no desire to be with them at all. We know that we are the best track. (When we were back at base and talked to the other tracks more, we were honestly surprised that they had a lot of fun, too.)
Most of Kfar. We love each other!! And two guys in the back are playing baseball with a rock.
Many of us would like to have continued the tiyul for another day or two or three, including me. I am still unsure what I want to do during my 2 week break in January. I might (depending on my Hebrew level) do Magen David Adom (“MADA,” Israeli Red Cross) training for the first week, and then I’ll be a volunteer paramedic about 1 day a week while at Kfar. Whether or not I do MADA, I will have time that I want to be free in Israel. Part of me wants to go to cities I haven’t seen (as I have yet to take advantage of my free weekends this way), and part of me wants to just hike more, probably in the north, because I know this is something I’d love to do more. So help me out- what should I do?
Trivia: How did most girls deal with their hair during tiyul? Braids. Why was this not so great for me? (1) My roommates decided that my hair must be braided from now on, never again in a ponytail. (2) That isn’t going to work, Suzanne and Leah, you saw how my hair fell out of my braid all the time, sticking out horizontally from under my hat.
Cities vs. hiking? My inclination would be to find a way to do both.
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