Day Four - A Crater, an Astronaut, and Saturn (Sam Flint)

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 formations in the world, five of which are in Israel with the remaining two in Egypt in the Sinai.

The evening began with a makeshift Havdalah service in the hotel followed by a special “Poike Pot” dinner served outdoors under in the chilly desert evening.

After dinner we drove a few miles outside of town to reduce ambient light for star gazing led by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable local astronomy buff. He took us on an extensive tour of the night sky using a laser pointer followed by views of selected celestial sights with telescopes. 

We returned to hotel roughly eight hours before our bags had to be on the bus for Sunday’s touring.