Aylin Hospital in Jerusalem
- Picking onions as part of Project Leket
We made it out alive from the Negev, the desert in the southern part of Israel and even had a great time while we were there. The desert was very hot, but also very enjoyable. Before heading into the Negev on Tuesday morning we participated in two social action projects. First we picked extra onions from a field on a Kibbutz as part of Project Leket to be donated to homeless shelters and soup kitchens around the country. Picking onions was something most of us had never done before, but it felt good to work outside and help those in need. We also visited Alyn Hospital in Jerusalem, which is Israel’s premiere comprehensive rehabilitation center for physically challenged and disabled children, adolescents and young adults. In a few weeks we will be doing a bike ride to benefit the hospital. If you would like to make a donation in honor of our ride please visit http://www.alynus.org/CampMicah. So far we have raised $1,852.00 for the hospital.
Campfire in the Negev
Top of Pencil Point Mountain
top of the mountain in the Negev
In the Negev we met our guide, Lee and we began hiking by doing a spirit walk, in which we all walked alone for a period of time to reflect on the environment and how it relates to our Judaism. We then made camp and spent the night sleeping out under the stars. The next morning we woke up around 4:30am, had breakfast and headed out for our first hike up Pencil Point Mountain. It was a difficult trek up the mountain, but it was rewarding to reach the top and look out over the desert. After spending some time on the top of the mountain we walked down the safer side of the mountain and headed to the oasis. There we swam, ate and relaxed in the shade. We then left the oasis and spent a couple of hours under the shade of a tent waiting for the temperature to drop and for us to be allowed to continue our hike. Once we were allowed to start walking again we headed to our next campsite where we had a delicious dinner and used the great outdoors as our latrine. We then promptly fell asleep nice and early so we could wake up before sunrise the next morning. Our morning hike consisted of walking to an area where we individually experienced the sunrise. In the words of Mikey Wolkon “It was sick.” We then walked out of the desert and met the bus that took us to Ben Gurion’s grave. Here our guide told us a little bit about the former prime minister and we placed rocks on his grave. We had a lovely breakfast and had the chance to use real bathrooms before heading off to Kibbutz Keturah, where the rooms are very nice. We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the pool, going on a tour of the Kibbutz and hanging out with some of the Israeli children that live there.
Hanging out with Israeli teens on Kibbutz Keturah
Making seed balls at Kibbutz Loton
Getting ready to go snorkeling in Eilat
This morning we headed over to Kibbutz Loton near where we are staying to learn about Jewish Ecology. There our guide taught us about what Kibbutz Loton is doing to work on saving the environment and we got the chance to do some hands on projects as well. Afterwards we headed to Eilat where we went snorkeling on the coral beach and saw many gorgeous fish and coral. For lunch we headed to the shopping mall and had some Israeli (and American) food and some time to do some shopping. Back at the Kibbutz we had free time to explore the kibbutz and use the pool. We’re all looking forward to our second Shabbat in Israel as we celebrate services and dinner with members of the Kibbutz.
