Day Seven - Ei-lat... of rest! (Ellen Kornfield)

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, “time flies when you’re having fun!”

This morning we had a well- deserved rest day in the beautiful seaside 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 away, Saudi Arabia. After breakfast at our beachfront hotel, some of us spent a relaxing morning at the pool or taking a dip in the Red Sea, while others went to the Underwater Observatory 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 afternoon, many of us went to visit nearby Kibbutz Keturah in the Arava Valley to learn about life in this desert kibbutz and its focus on environmental research and innovations. At the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, located on the kibbutz, we learned about the environmental research being done there. This multinational institute teaches that “nature knows no borders,” meaning that everyone needs to work together to protect the environment. The kibbutz sustains itself financially through its large crop of date trees and producing and selling solar power among other things. It also grows and researches algae for different uses including fish farming and medicines. While there, we visited “Methuselah,” a date tree that was grown from a seed from 70 CE., discovered during an excavation of Masada (pic of Methuselah on the left).

It’s been really interesting to see the different types of kibbutzim on this trip and how each has it’s own culture.

During our trip to the kibbutz, we stopped at Kibbutz Yotvata, the largest kibbutz in the region, and a main source of dairy products throughout Israel. In particular, they serve some of the best ice cream in Israel (mine and many others’ opinion….sorry Ben and Jerry!), which we got to enjoy! We also drove by the "Chai Bar" nature preserve, where we saw ostriches and oryx (like a cross between a goat and a deer).

Dinner was a sunset sail on the Red Sea aboard an old double-masted ketch.  

All in all, we had "ai-lot" of fun in Eilat!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day Nine (Group A - Jerusalem) - Politics, Then and Now (Myra Baylin)

Image
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...
Read more

Day Eleven - At Least It Wasn't "Al Ha-Panim"... (Rabbi Gerber)

Image
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 ...
Read more

Day Ten – Synagogues, churches and shopping! (Allan & Shari Baron)

Image
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 aske...
Read more