Ohev Shalom - Into The Desert 2018

Saturday, October 20th: Our final day in Israel as a group was spent in Jerusalem. A brave band of eleven set out to visit the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem early in the morning, and we were rewarded by a spectacular service led by their chief cantor and incredible men's choir. There was even a castrata-type singer who wowed us all! After services, we split up into walkers and cabbers, and yet somehow both groups - separately - decided to detour at the famous King David Hotel!  Back at the Mount Zion hotel, we enjoyed lunch together and then a lovely tekes , a formal conclusion ceremony to our time together. We went around the circle and everyone shared a powerful moment or takeaway from the trip. Some felt it was the perfect way to draw our trip to a close, others (who shall remain... Alan Schapire) felt I talked too long. Sigh... Anyone with an ounce of remaining energy was invited for a walking tour with Eric, to see some of the streets and views immediately around our

Up again, bright and early (notice, I did not say bright-eyed!), we piled on the bus for our last day with our driver extraordinaire, Sinai, who dropped us off near the Dung Gate entrance to the Old City.  Before going in, we detoured and visited a fascinating place: within one building complex, we viewed: the room built where the “Last Supper” was said to have been held; the tomb of King David; the church built on the spot where it is believed that Mary ascended to heaven; AND had a great view of the southern part of the old city! When we went into the room housing David’s tomb, the men went in one side and the women went in the other.  Not expecting anything special, I was surprised when we had a lovely experience: an obviously Orthodox woman was in the women’s section praying over the tomb of King David.  She started to seem annoyed by some of our chatter as we entered. Suddenly, rather than criticizing, she asked if we were Jewish. When we said yes, she asked us with a sm

We started our day out waking up in Jerusalem. From there we headed on down to Masada through the Judean Desert.  Along the way, we were told a story about some Bedouin children playing in the caves up above and around us as we were driving by.  They were throwing rocks in the caves when they heard an unfamiliar sound to them from one of the rocks that they had thrown.  When they went to investigate, they found that the rocks had hit some clay pots, and that was an unfamiliar sound.  Upon further investigating,  the pots had scrolls in them.  Those scrolls turned out to be the Dead Sea scrolls! Continuing toward Masada, Eric relayed a story about some geological phenomena that I can’t explain as well, but essentially resulting in various very dangerous sink holes and the abandoning of the main road down to Masada.  But no worries, a new road was created that is passable most of the time, except for when the rains create flash floods coming off the mountains, which are also co

Thursday, October 18: We spent the day learning about Jerusalem. First we drove in a  minivan to the Museum of Underground Prisoners which was a  prison established by the British to house common criminals and  Jewish Freedom Fighters. The building was originally a Russian  Women’s Hostel. We saw the facilities where the prisoners were  held, the kitchens, synagogue and exercise yard. We heard  inspiring stories of prison breaks and two young men who chose to  end their own lives rather than being executed by the British. Next we went to lunch on Ben Yehuda Street. We enjoyed pizza  and shawarma and ice cream. Some of us did a little shopping.  Then we picked up Iftach Berman who gave us a very informative  lecture on the geopolitical situation of Jerusalem. We stopped at an  overlook of the city where he pointed out the various sections of  the city and the border wall. He told us the history of the city since  1948. We returned to the bus and traveled to another over

Wednesday, October 17th: Eilat to Jerusalem... A.k.a.   On the bus, Off the bus We got on the   bus at 8:30 a.m. to travel to a   Bedouin weaving collective near Beer Sheva, in the small town of Lakiya, to be followed by lunch there.   Along the highway we passed a nature reserve called Chai-Bar, where wild ostriches, oryx and other animals could be seen from the bus.     When we arrived in Lakiya, we got off the bus, and were greeted by a Bedouin woman who directed us to seating in a large tent.   After everyone was seated we learned not about weaving, but that we were in the wrong place! Sooo…   back on the bus.  A short   ride later and we arrived at the correct place and got off the bus.   The weaving and embroidery collective was founded by a Bedouin woman who went against the norm and attended nursing school. She returned to her village and began helping children with cancer and educating women with breast cancer.   The weaving center was opened in a 118 year old

Tuesday, October 16th:  And on the Seventh day, we rested! Day seven… .it’s  hard to believe we’ve only been here a week  (not counting the day we arrived).  We’ve seen and done so many interesting and fun things that it seems like we’ve been here longer. As they say, “ti me flies when you’re having fun!” This morning we had  a well- deserved rest day in the beautiful seasi de city of  Eilat  (aka, “the Israeli Riviera”) located along  the Southern tip of Israel on the Gulf of  Eilat , with views of Egypt, Jordan and further  a way, Saudi Arabia.   After breakfast at our beachfront hotel, some of us spent a relaxing morning at the pool o r taking a dip in the  Red  Sea, while others went to  the Underwater Observat ory Marine  Park ,  featuring  a view of the coral reefs and marine life through glass windows of the building, which is set in the reef itself. In the after noon, many of us went to visit  nearby Kibbutz  Keturah  in  the  Arava  Valley  to learn about 

Monday was our journey to Petra, a day I was especially excited about, from the bits and pieces I’d heard before our trip. We began riding our bus bright and early (7:00ish) to the border crossing to Jordan. At the crossing, we showed our passports to lots of officials, collected stickers, stamps, and important bits of paper, and showed off our ability to ignore simple directions and wander randomly. After testing the patience of our trip leaders (mainly Rabbi Gerber...) and their deputies, we begrudgingly allowed ourselves to be successfully led across the border without an international incident or lost soul. Once in Jordan, we met our terrific guide for the day (whose name already escapes me) (RJG addition: his name was Talal) boarded another bus and journeyed 2 hours through the Jordanian desert.  We partook of a rest stop at a facility with arguably the finest views I’ve ever seen from a bathroom window. At last we arrived at our destination

We began the day at Mitzpe Ramon, driving north to Sde Boker, a famous Negev kibbutz. At Sde Boker, we walked to the edge of the valley where Abraham and Moses wandered, and where Prime Minister David Ben Gurion and his wife, Paula, are buried. He was a visionary, (along with Jacob Blaustein) who saw the Negev desert as a place for growth for the Israeli people. Ben Gurion expressed his desire to be buried where his heart was, in his beloved kibbutz community, rather than where all Prime Ministers are buried, on Har (Mount) Hertzel in Jerusalem. We then visited the village of Midreshet Ben Gurion . Friends of Shari and Allan Baron, named Ofra and David, shared their story and home with us. David had been head of the Education, Research and Science Institute there. The Institute, dedicated to the study of all aspects of desert living, ie: solar energy, and the best forms of creating shade in one of the hottest areas in Israel. Their home is an example of “passive solar energy”.

Our Shabbat in Mitzpe Ramon was laid-back, but hardly without memorable activities. In mid-morning there was Yoga in the desert, followed by Shabbat worship.  In the afternoon we walked to the Visitors’ Center where we saw an exhibit and watched a very moving video about the life of Ilan Ramon, a hero in his hometown and elsewhere.  He perished in 2003 in the Columbia Shuttle disaster when he and six astronaut crewmates' ship exploded upon reentry to the Earth. Ilan Ramon was a devoted father, husband and patriot who piloted one of the jet fighters that took out the Iraqi nuclear bomb-making site in 1981. To make matters even worse, five years later his son, Assad, also a jet pilot in the IDF was killed serving his country. Adjacent to the memorial is the spectacular  Machtesh  Ramon, which is an enormous canyon created through geological events, rather than a meteorite hitting the Earth, the usual cause of these type of craters.  There are just seven of these format