Lucy Mink
James Madison University
BA 2015
The past two days have been an absolute whirlwind! We have done so many different things, and gotten so little sleep, in the past 48 hours that this blog will be split into two parts. After waking up bright and early in Jerusalem on Wednesday, June 6th (and yes, I consider 7:00 am bright and early, I’m a college student), we traveled south to the Negev Desert, heading to our overnight in the Kfar Hanokdim Bedouin Tents.
The first stop that we made was in a town called Sderot, which is located extremely close to the Gaza Strip. This town is a big target for missiles and rockets; when they know that a rocket is coming, they only have 15 seconds to find shelter. Because of this, children from Sderot cannot have a normal childhood, they can’t even play on an outdoor playground. While we were in Sderot, we visited JNF’s indoor playground for the neighborhood children, and learned how it has helped the community. Living in Sderot sounded extremely intense, so I’m sure that having this indoor playground, (especially one this awesome, seriously it had foosball and air hockey and an indoor rock wall and everything!), is extremely beneficial to the community.
For lunch, we stopped at an Israeli farm. This was one of the best meals that we’ve had so far, because everything was so fresh. We ate sandwiches, picked carrots from the ground, and ate fresh tomatoes (which I don’t care for but everyone else liked), cucumbers, strawberries, and, for the few of us who were brave enough, habenero peppers. Then we made our own pita bread! Needless to say, we were sufficiently stuffed.
Our last stop before the Bedouin Tents was at the tomb of David Ben Gurion. This stop was very interesting because we got to learn about David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, and the legacy that he left on the country.
Upon our arrival at the Bedouin Tents, we got to do one of the things that I was most excited for: RIDE CAMELS!!! I shared a camel with the next blogger you will hear from, Hannah, and it was so amazing. It was a little scary at times, like when Joe (that was the name that I gave to our camel) went downhill or sat down, but it was also super fun. After the camel ride, we had an incredible feast (it was a really good food day for us), learned about the Bedouins and their traditions, sat around a campfire and made s’mores, and got somewhere between zero and four hours of sleep before our 4:00 am wakeup call to go to… MASADA
Hannah Fingerhut
Tufts University, A15
After the incredible evening at the Bedouin tents that Lucy described, 4:00 a.m. was a bit difficult for most of the group, but the breathtaking view awaiting us at Masada was well worth it. Actually, on the short bus ride to the base of Masada where we would start our hike up, many of us were worried about missing the beginnings of the sunrise. As a result, once we arrived, we briskly made our way up the path that we later learned was built by the Romans (although technically, their Jewish prisoners did the work) in order to similarly make their way to the Jewish fortress. We reached the top with time to spare (spent welcoming the day with our own variations of some pre-sunrise yoga) only to find that we were looking down upon the vast, mountainous Negev desert. It was absolutely tremendous. Soon, we saw the sun emerge and continue to rise above the distant mountains. The scene was stunning, and although many pictures were taken there, they do not even come close to capturing the essence of the moment. Following the sunrise, we traveled around the fortress atop Masada to learn more about the Jewish people’s struggles (as well as taking a short break from the educational aspects to hear the echo of our group’s collective voices at one point on the mountain - truly amazing). By the time we were ready to hike down Masada on a long, winding path, we all felt the need to reapply sunscreen, as the sun was beaming high above our heads - drastically different compared to what it was just two short hours before.
Next stop: The Dead Sea. You hear plenty of stories of the Dead Sea, of floating in the water and maybe even some of pain due to even the littlest of open cuts surrounded by the salty water. Actually experiencing the beautiful sight itself and partaking in these common adventures, though, was awesome for all of us. The bus ride to the Dead Sea allowed for some much needed nap time, but by the time we arrived, we were all very excited. The mud at the bottom of the Dead Sea is well known for its ability to soften your skin, and we, like many others, felt the need to test out the theory. As if in our finger-painting days, we covered ourselves in mud and after impatiently waiting for it to harden a bit on our skin, we began our approach to the water itself. Once in far enough, we all sat ourselves down only to feel and watch our legs and feet float right up to the top of the water. It was amazing. We even went out a little further, as if walking on water. One even thought of the movement as the closest we would get to flying. The awesome experience of floating (or flying) in the Dead Sea and the time allotted for the beach there was a much needed relaxing afternoon.
Later in the afternoon, we arrived at Kibbutz Almog where we will stay for the remainder of our trip. We also celebrated Taglit Birthright’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah tonight with a “Mega Event” (essentially a party/concert for the many Birthright participants in Israel right now).
The beauty that we saw today is incredibly challenging to capture through words or photographs, and yet so believable because of the exquisite natural scenery throughout this country. I know that I, as well as the rest of our group, look forward to seeing more as we head into the last leg of our Birthright experience.
It is almost Shabbat here, we will post again after tomorrow at Sundown.
James Madison University
BA 2015
The past two days have been an absolute whirlwind! We have done so many different things, and gotten so little sleep, in the past 48 hours that this blog will be split into two parts. After waking up bright and early in Jerusalem on Wednesday, June 6th (and yes, I consider 7:00 am bright and early, I’m a college student), we traveled south to the Negev Desert, heading to our overnight in the Kfar Hanokdim Bedouin Tents.
The first stop that we made was in a town called Sderot, which is located extremely close to the Gaza Strip. This town is a big target for missiles and rockets; when they know that a rocket is coming, they only have 15 seconds to find shelter. Because of this, children from Sderot cannot have a normal childhood, they can’t even play on an outdoor playground. While we were in Sderot, we visited JNF’s indoor playground for the neighborhood children, and learned how it has helped the community. Living in Sderot sounded extremely intense, so I’m sure that having this indoor playground, (especially one this awesome, seriously it had foosball and air hockey and an indoor rock wall and everything!), is extremely beneficial to the community.
For lunch, we stopped at an Israeli farm. This was one of the best meals that we’ve had so far, because everything was so fresh. We ate sandwiches, picked carrots from the ground, and ate fresh tomatoes (which I don’t care for but everyone else liked), cucumbers, strawberries, and, for the few of us who were brave enough, habenero peppers. Then we made our own pita bread! Needless to say, we were sufficiently stuffed.
Our last stop before the Bedouin Tents was at the tomb of David Ben Gurion. This stop was very interesting because we got to learn about David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, and the legacy that he left on the country.
Upon our arrival at the Bedouin Tents, we got to do one of the things that I was most excited for: RIDE CAMELS!!! I shared a camel with the next blogger you will hear from, Hannah, and it was so amazing. It was a little scary at times, like when Joe (that was the name that I gave to our camel) went downhill or sat down, but it was also super fun. After the camel ride, we had an incredible feast (it was a really good food day for us), learned about the Bedouins and their traditions, sat around a campfire and made s’mores, and got somewhere between zero and four hours of sleep before our 4:00 am wakeup call to go to… MASADA
Hannah Fingerhut
Tufts University, A15
After the incredible evening at the Bedouin tents that Lucy described, 4:00 a.m. was a bit difficult for most of the group, but the breathtaking view awaiting us at Masada was well worth it. Actually, on the short bus ride to the base of Masada where we would start our hike up, many of us were worried about missing the beginnings of the sunrise. As a result, once we arrived, we briskly made our way up the path that we later learned was built by the Romans (although technically, their Jewish prisoners did the work) in order to similarly make their way to the Jewish fortress. We reached the top with time to spare (spent welcoming the day with our own variations of some pre-sunrise yoga) only to find that we were looking down upon the vast, mountainous Negev desert. It was absolutely tremendous. Soon, we saw the sun emerge and continue to rise above the distant mountains. The scene was stunning, and although many pictures were taken there, they do not even come close to capturing the essence of the moment. Following the sunrise, we traveled around the fortress atop Masada to learn more about the Jewish people’s struggles (as well as taking a short break from the educational aspects to hear the echo of our group’s collective voices at one point on the mountain - truly amazing). By the time we were ready to hike down Masada on a long, winding path, we all felt the need to reapply sunscreen, as the sun was beaming high above our heads - drastically different compared to what it was just two short hours before.
Next stop: The Dead Sea. You hear plenty of stories of the Dead Sea, of floating in the water and maybe even some of pain due to even the littlest of open cuts surrounded by the salty water. Actually experiencing the beautiful sight itself and partaking in these common adventures, though, was awesome for all of us. The bus ride to the Dead Sea allowed for some much needed nap time, but by the time we arrived, we were all very excited. The mud at the bottom of the Dead Sea is well known for its ability to soften your skin, and we, like many others, felt the need to test out the theory. As if in our finger-painting days, we covered ourselves in mud and after impatiently waiting for it to harden a bit on our skin, we began our approach to the water itself. Once in far enough, we all sat ourselves down only to feel and watch our legs and feet float right up to the top of the water. It was amazing. We even went out a little further, as if walking on water. One even thought of the movement as the closest we would get to flying. The awesome experience of floating (or flying) in the Dead Sea and the time allotted for the beach there was a much needed relaxing afternoon.
Later in the afternoon, we arrived at Kibbutz Almog where we will stay for the remainder of our trip. We also celebrated Taglit Birthright’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah tonight with a “Mega Event” (essentially a party/concert for the many Birthright participants in Israel right now).
The beauty that we saw today is incredibly challenging to capture through words or photographs, and yet so believable because of the exquisite natural scenery throughout this country. I know that I, as well as the rest of our group, look forward to seeing more as we head into the last leg of our Birthright experience.
It is almost Shabbat here, we will post again after tomorrow at Sundown.
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| Sunrise at Masada |
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| Putting some dead sea mud on before floating in the water |
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