Advertisement
Published: December 25th 2006
Hello!! Happy belated Chanukah!! And Merry Christmas (tonight)!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. I had a great Chanukah here in Israel. The first night also happened to be Shabbat, so me, my roommate Vanessa and our friend Yonatan made shabbat dinner together. I made latkes for Chanukah and chicken. Ok, well I cooked, and they helped, hehe. I am the cook of the group, and I enjoy cooking, so it works out well, cuz then they have to clean up! hehe. So we lit the Chanukah candles, and sang some songs, and had a lot of fun. It was really nice. We lit candles every night at our apartment, and it was nice. Chanukah is not a big deal here. Its not a huge deal really in Judaism, but its made to seem like a bigger deal in the US because its around the same time as Christmas, and there's efforts to not have jewish kids feel like they are missing out on presents because they don't have christmas. But basically, Chanukah is not a religious holiday, and took place after the Torah was written, so it is more of a historical holiday. Its about the Jewish
victory of the Maccabees against the Greek/Asyrian's who had taken over our temple and defiled it with all these pagan greek statues. So the Maccabees reclaimed the Temple, and cleaned it all up, and only had enough of the special oil to light the candles for one night, and miracle of miracles, it lasted for 8 days, which was just long enough to make some new holy oil! Good timing. So, there is some debate about the actual miracle, and stuff like that, but Chanukah is still one of my favorite holidays, even if I don't get presents anymore. I also went to my cousin's house in Rishon and Kfar Saba for one of the nights of Chanukah, which was nice.
Also, I got a whole week of vacation during Chanukah because the schools have vacation! Sweet for me. It was so cool to have vacation during Chanukah. It is a big travel time in Israel because the schools are closed. It was so strange, but nice, to not have Christmas here. It does exist in some small areas, in the Christian pilgrimage areas such as Nazareth and Bethlehem, and in areas with lots of illegal immigrants who are
not jewish. But on the whole, you don't see Christmas here. It was a nice change. Not to mean anything against Christmas and all my Christian friends, but the whole season is so overwhelming in the US, Christmas is just everywhere, and the consumerism is unbelievable. So it was a nice change.
So some of you know this and some of you don't, but I've been doing lots of family genealogical research since I've been in Israel. I've actually gotten really into it and have been finding lots of interesting things. I have also been in contact with a woman somehow connected to part of my mom's family, and she happens to live in Israel, pretty close to where I live. So one day last week, I went to visit her for the first time. I spent several hours at her house, talking about all the research we've done and exciting facts, and I've learned some very cool things about this family line, that perhaps I will reveal in the future. hehe. I guess I've always been interested in my family history, and now I'm really into actually researching it! It was really cool to meet this woman, who
I would have never met if I hadn't been in Israel. Some things are meant to be😊 hehe. Ok, I'm not gonna be cheesy here. So that was another exciting thing.
Then, on Wednesday, my group left for a 4 day trip to the south of Israel. We got up early Wednesday morning and started heading south on the bus. Our first stop was a hike in a place called Ein Ovdet outside of Beer Sheva area. It is a canyon in the desert with a waterfall at the end. I was there 6 years ago, the first time I came to Israel, and while it was pretty much like I remembered, it was a wholly different experience. I don't quite remember why, but the first time I was there, I was having a bad day, so I wasn't very happy to be doing a hike. This time, I was in a great mood, and it was a nice hike, beautiful scenery. There is a natural spring there in the canyon that is pretty dried up and small because well, its the desert and it hasn't rained in a long time. But you could see on the sides of
the canyons where the different layers of sediment matched up and had been pushed apart by the water over many many years. (Similar to the grand canyon, though not nearly as big). So we climbed to the top of the canyon and waterfall that was barely a trickle, and you had this awesome view of the whole area.
Next we headed to the desert home of David Ben Gurion, and his kibbutz in Sde Boker, and his desert research institute. Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, and the one who declared the establishment of the state moved to the Negev (the desert in the south) when he retired from his position as Prime minister. Ben Gurion first came to Israel in the 1920s I think (my memory may be off in the year by a bit). But in any case, he came way before Israel was a state, to then Palestine, to be a pioneer and develop the land of Israel. He saw the Negev, the desert, as the key to the future of Israel, that if we could grow and develop the Negev, the future of Israel would be secure. Well, the desert hasn't exactly been
developed like he had hoped. Its not that its not possible, because there are thousands of Israelis living on settlements and kibbutzs in the desert who have proven that it is possible, but its just not quite the popular place to live. Its hot and boring and just hasn't been developed. The land of the Negev is 60% of the physical land of Israel, but only 8% of the population of Israel lives there. That is a huge difference, but also means that there is plenty of room for the communities in the Negev to grow. Problem is most people don't want to move there, they like being close to the city like tel aviv or jerusalem or Haifa in the north. The settlements in the Negev are pretty isolated and small. This is a big problem, and something that the people who do live in the south are trying to change, to make it more appealing for more people to move there. So, we visited Ben Gurion's home in Sde Boker, which is called a hut, because its not really a house, it is like a camp cabin pretty much. Its pretty small and very simple. But Ben Gurion
sun rise in the desert
sun rise over the Machtesh.not only believed in the importance of settling the Negev, but he wanted to set the example and fulfill his personal dream by living there. There is a desert research institute now next to where his house is, and we went to a nice seminar about the Negev there. So, after this we headed even further south the a town called Mitzpeh Ramon, which is one of the bigger towns in the Negev, but is completely in the middle of nowhere. We stayed at a hostel there for the night, where I ran into someone I knew from college, just an acquaintance who I hadn't seen in several years (imagine of all places! hehe). In the evening, we went to a special performance. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it was basically a fire show, ya know like sticks and such on fire, twirling them around. It was really cool. We also lit Chanukah candles all together there. After the show, it became a dance party/game time because they left out all the cool toys/juggling type things that we could try out. So we were there for like 2 hours having tons of fun and dancing. It was
pretty much a hippie/Israeli type bar, with couches and tables low to the ground, like in Bedouin tents and just to chill out and let the music flow through you. Tons of fun, very relaxing, getting everything out of your head and just letting go. Then we walked back to the hostel, which was a really nice, chilly walk (its very cold in the desert!) And there were tons of stars out, it was beautiful.
The next day we woke up at 6am to head to our next hike. We went to Ramon Crater, or as it should be called Machtesh Ramon. It is not an actual crater, like you think of, like when a meteor crashes into the ground. It is something natural that evolved over thousands of years from the changing climate, tectonic plates (think earthquakes) and erosion. It looks similar to a canyon, like the grand canyon, but a canyon is open on both ends, and a Machtesh is only open on one. It has a river that exits it on one side, that created the Machtesh in the first place. Otherwise, it is almost completely enclosed. A Machtesh is a special natural phenomenon that was
first discovered in Israel. There are 5 in Israel, and a few others in surrounding countries, but Israel has the most. This particular one we went to is the biggest, like about 30 miles long. Thats why it should be called a Machtesh and not a crater, because it was discovered in Israel, and its not actually a crater. In almost every language it is called a Machtesh, but we don't call it that in english, because well, english is a "special" language. hehe. Anyway! So, we got there super early in the morning, and had breakfast in the middle of the crater. It was freezing in the morning because, like I said, the desert is cold at night, until the sun comes out, and the sun had just risen. We finally started to hike, and I have to say it was pretty difficult, very high up, and most of the time a very narrow path and kinda scary. But the view was absolutely amazing. You could see the whole crater, and the town Mitzpeh Ramon in the distance. Also, we all screamed together at the same time and there was an awesome echo that went across and all the
way around the Machtesh. We hiked for a good few hours, which was awesome, and were all exhausted at the end. Next we continued to drive south to Kibbutz Yotvata. Yotvata is a famous kibbutz, because it has a great restaurant, and is specially known for their dairy products, and they also have restaurants in the big cities across the country. So we had a great lunch there, and then a tour of the kibbutz and the dairy factory. It was very cool. Being that it is such a famous Kibbutz, it is very hard to become a member of the kibbutz, you can't just move there whenever you want to. The kibbutz also still holds true to its socialist/communal roots, and all the important decisions about the kibbutz are made by a type of "town hall" vote where all the members come to vote and make a decision. If you want to become a member, first you put in an application, have an interview, and then if they like you, you have a 2 year trial membership, and after that, if they like you and think you will contribute well enough to the kibbutz, then you become a real
view of the Machtesh
the inside and other side of the machtesh with cloud shadows overhead member. Pretty hardcore. But I like the fact that it is still holding onto its socialist routes, unlike most of the kibbutzs in the country, which are becoming more every man for himself. Oh, this area is of the desert is called the Arava Valley, and the kibbutz is right on the border with Jordan. There is even a special gate on the kibbutz for crossing, but only specific people are allowed to cross at this gate, it is not a normal border crossing, but special for the kibbutz. Also, after Israel and Jordan made peace in the 1990s, several Jordanians came to Kibbutz Yotvata and got training on agriculture. The agriculture at the kibbutz is amazing, and they have very special techniques to make their desert bloom, like irrigation drip pipes one meter under the ground, and they channel the sewage water from Eilat, up north to grow their crops. Its very good use of the water. Ok, so finally, after this we headed south to Eilat! We got there for dinner, and it was a very nice hotel, so we were all happy. After dinner, we all wandered around the promenade/shopping area on the beach and met up
at a cafe. Eilat is a tourist/travel resort area, which is famous for the beach, shopping, and clubs/discos. You would think we would have all gone out and partied all night, but you would be wrong! We were all so exhausted from the long long day, and we had to wake up at 7am the next morning anyway.
So, Friday, we woke up early again, for yet another hike, this time in the Eilat mountains. We started off slowly, did a little activity. Our guide taught us the symbols for the paths all over Israel. There are certain symbols with colors showing how easy or hard the path is, and the turns of the path. The other symbol is to show whether the path is going north or south. The trails go from the farthest point north in Israel on Mt Hermon in the Golan Heights, all the way south to the Eilat mountains (Joel...does this make you more interested in coming?! plenty of hiking for you and your friends!). So, our guide had us try to walk the path alone, without the group for a half hour, following the symbols and to experience the quiet of the desert.
I went first, and it was really a peaceful walk through the desert and mountains, and cool to be relying on myself to know where to go, rather than following a guide, and to really experience the extreme quiet of the beautiful desert. The group all got back together, and continued the hike up a huge mountain. When we reached the top, we had an amazing view of all Eilat, the sea, and of the 3 other surrounding countries, Jordan, Egypt (the Sinai) and Saudi Arabia. It was just breathtaking. We sat up there for a while, enjoying the view, made some tea and talked. Then, I got a phone call. Yes, I got a phone call on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. What is amazing is not the phone call, but the fact that even in the desert, on top of a mountain, people are still talking on their cellphones! I remember when my brother and his friends would go on a few day hikes in the mountains my parents would be so worried because they would be unreachable by cellphone beacuse there was no reception. Well, this is not a problem in Israel! Cellphones
are such an important lifeline that Israelis really can't stand to be out of touch, so their cellphones work every where, and they won't hesitate to use them all the time, everywhere! So, anyway, we then started the really difficult trek down the mountain. I was amazed at how much I truly enjoyed these mountain hikes. I remember 6 years ago, on my first trip to Israel, we did lots of hikes in the mountains, and I hated it. I really didn't get any enjoyment out of it, it was hard, and scary and I didn't like it. This time, I really loved it, and I'm so happy about that. It was a really great, cleansing feeling to be climbing, just us and the desert. When we reached the bottom, we headed across the street and went snorkeling! There is a small coral reef in Eilat, so this is where we went snorkeling. The water was really cold, but for me it was totally worth it. We all looked ridiculous, shivering in our bathing suits, and the snorkeling masks on, it was hysterical. I wish I had an underwater camera, because it was so cool to see all the fish
and the coral in the reef. The reef actually used to be a lot bigger but a lot of pollution from the big ships that come into the port in Eilat all the time have caused a lot of damage. I saw some amazing fish, and I even saw a real live Nemo!! And his sea anemone home, hehe. It was cool. After this, we all ran out of the water to change because it was sooo cold. Then we had a great lunch and a little beach party (there was a dj on the beach cafe where we ate lunch). After lunch, we finally headed back to the hotel to relax for a while, and for Shabbat to begin. We lit shabbat and Chanukah candles for the last night of Chanukah, sang songs, etc, then we all took a long nap before dinner. Friday night, we all went out to a pub, and at midnight, it was our friend Vanessa's 26th birthday, so we all sang happy birthday to here and drank and had a good time. But we were all so exhausted, we didn't stay out too long.
Saturday, I slept really late because we were allowed
to, because it was Shabbat! I woke up and was very surprised to see that it was cloudy out. I know what you're thinking, so what a few clouds. Except this is the desert, this is Eilat, and it is almost never cloudy. And these weren't just little puffy white clouds, these were dark storm clouds. So this was certainly a rare happening. After lunch, we walked around the town, and had a very short tour of the historical area of Eilat, which is pretty much one old building and a memorial. Eilat is not a very historical town, but it does have one important historical event, which the memorial commemorated. So basically, when Israel was fighting its war of Independence from 1947-1949, Ben Gurion, the leader of Israel was meeting with the big world powers to carve out the details of the cease fire for the end of the war, which would officially establish some borders for Israel. Israel was given the Negev, but the troops had not yet gotten far enough south to officially declare it part of Israel. So, Ben Gurion ordered its two brigades to go south to Eilat as quick as possible, without stopping, or
you reach the top and then...
view of Eilat, Aqaba in Jordan, and the gulf of Aqaba. hike #3 getting into any fights with Jordanian forces in the way. The two brigades, the Negev and Golani brigades reached Eilat within a half hour of each other, and together were ready to declare Eilat for Israel. Only problem was they didn't have a flag, so they took a big white sheet, and drew on it the Israeli flag with markers and stuck it on a pole and declared Eilat as part of Israel officially. They then sent a telegram to Ben Gurion telling him that Eilat was their's. So the memorial is of these men hanging up the Israeli flag. Eilat is a great example of something out of nothing. It is often hard to remember that Israel has only been around for less than 60 years, because it is like a Western country that has developed so quickly. But Eilat is a great example of what Israel has done to the land. Eilat, 60 years ago was nothing, just a few huts and the mountains. Now, it is a city, with hotels and tourism and a port and its really a modern city. Kind of amazing if you think about it. And a great example for the whole of
the Negev. After our short little tour, we started walking around, and nature treated us to RAIN. Yes, it rained in Eilat when I was there! Ok, I know rain isn't exciting for you, but it rains in Eilat pretty much one day a year, and we were there for the rain! It only rained about 10 minutes, but it was still cool. And then, we were even luckier because there was a full arch rainbow in the sky! It was all very cool. So we all wandered around the city for another couple hours before heading back to have the Havdallah service (the exiting of Shabbat), packing, and having dinner. At the end of dinner we surprised Vanessa with a birthday cake and presents and the guys hoisted her up in a chair. It was a nice end to the trip. After this, we all piled back onto our bus for the 5 hour journey home to Tel Aviv. We got home really late, like 1:30am. It was such a great trip and I was sorry to see it end. Its nice to know that there are still pieces of Israel that I haven't seen, have yet to discover,
and I think that even though it is such a small country, there were always be something new to discover, even if its just a small thing. And that thought makes me happy.
Well, thats all for now, I think this a plenty long entry. Love you all! Happy new year!!
Oh, and Congrats to Daniel Bachner and the whole Bachner and Katkin family on their official announcement of their engagement! its about time!
Happy belated birthday to Adam Flager!
Hope to hear from everyone soon by email, I miss hearing from you all!
Love,
Leah
Advertisement
Tot: 0.271s; Tpl: 0.024s; cc: 6; qc: 51; dbt: 0.2322s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
cousin LInda
non-member comment
Great pix!
Leah, The pictures are incredible. What gorgeous places! I loved the way your guide allowed you to have alone time in the desert. I hope I can do that someday..