Adventures in the Desert

Day #10

There is no doubt that Jerusalem is the heart of Israel. Besides being the most populated city, it is clear that what Jerusalem represents above all other cities in the country is its emotional, intellectual, and spiritual core. Sometimes it takes leaving a place to truly grasp how important its influence is on your mind and heart.

We packed up our luggage and bid farewell to Jerusalem for the night. The custom upon leaving Jerusalem is to recite the traveler’s prayer with a special insertion for returning to Jerusalem after a short period of time away. Our hearts were longing this place, but knowing we would return very soon was a comfort.

We made our way through the “Shfela” the lowlands between Jerusalem and the coast to the archeological site called Beit Guvrin. There we were met by the Archeological Seminars group, led by friend of VBS Ian Stern. We were given the opportunity to participate in a real archeological dig in one of the 170 cisterns uncovered in the hills of Beit Guvrin. This was certainly a highlight for the younger participants. Once we learned that someone discovered some gold earrings in one of the cisterns recently, the moms on the trip got excited too! We were also given a spelunking tour of one of the newly discovered area by winding through some very narrow places. Some of us weren’t sure if we were going to make it through some pretty tight spots, but we all made it and were pretty satisfied with our climbing skills too!

Back on the bus, we traveled toward Tel Aviv again to participate in a Mitzvah project. Like our visit to the Chagall windows and Yad L’Kashish, our visit to Table to Table (M’Shulchan l’Shulchan in Hebrew) was way of contributing to Israel instead of being passive observers. www.tabletotable.org.il
Table to Table began as an organization collecting food that wasn’t served at parties or celebrations and bringing the meals to shelters and places where those in need to eat. It has since evolved into a major volunteer effort where acres of produce is grown and picked by volunteers to feed the thousands of needy children daily. The most recent statistic is that 1 in 4 children is under nourished in Israel, up from a 1 in 5 statistic of a few years ago. We were given the chance to pick some fresh Valencia oranges that would be taken to local shelters to help the hungry and needy directly. Even though we only had about an hour to pick, each piece of fruit would make a difference in the life and health of those in need. Even though we performed this mitzvah lishma (for its own sake) the organization expressed their appreciation by giving us some T-Shirts.

We began making our way south to the Negev for our Bedouin adventure at K’far HaNokdim. Just outside the city of Arad in the southern Judean desert – our destination is like the Hilton Hotels of Bedouin tents. It’s hard to say we were roughing it when our tent was supplied with comfortable pads, sleeping bags, clean sheets, heating, electricity, and yes – a hot water pot for tea and two different kinds of coffee! We arrived just in time for our camel ride (watch out for the dramatic dismount!) and we greeted by the Bedouin man who poured us tea and told us the story of who the Bedouin are. Dani, our guide, translated his Hebrew for the group. We realized there was a bit of editorializing when the Bedouin man was explaining the current practice of polygamy. The Bedouin man was explaining having multiple wives was preferable to Western cultural values and used former president Bill Clinton as an example. We all heard Bill Clinton’s name, but when Dani translated he very briefly explained that the Bedouin feel multiple marriages is a preferred way of life. Then he turned his head aside and shook his head in tacit disagreement! We all laughed at his reaction knowing he was a bit uncomfortable with the concept.

We all felt close enough to sleep together in the same tent considering we had been traveling together now for 10 days. After we adjusted our beds and stretch out comfortably and confirming that the loudest snorer would get placed outside the tent, we all quietly drifted off, with the kids turning out the lights after the parents. In case we thought tent living like this would be as luxurious as this, the wind picked up in the middle of the night shaking our tent and causing the flaps to beat forcefully against the tent. Poor Cheryl was closest to the edge of the tent but was smart enough to have ear plugs to dull the brunt of the noise.

[CONTINUED on Day 11]