Another early day, only this time earlier than probably anyone on the program thought we would ever be getting up. Come 7am we were boarding the bus for an early morning hike in Ein Ovdat, which is near Sde Boker. Sde Boker is the area of the Negev where Ben Gurion lived when he initially retired and decided he wanted to be an example to the country as a way to get them to come settle the Negev. Sde Boker is also where the military base I spent a week training on during EIE is, it was cool to see it again!
As you all probably know I am not the most outdoorsy kid. But, I can 100% say that I had a great time on this hike. We got there right as the park opened so for the majority of the hike it was just us which was amazing because everything was literally silent. It was also neat because Moshik, who is one of our program coordinators has been with us the last couple of days since Levi is off getting married and at one point he told us to be very quiet because of the "israeli bambi" (that's what we decided to call them) and he didn't want us to scare them off. We stayed very quiet and watched them run up the mountain. We were all in awe because they just hopped up and did so very quickly.
We then decided to lie down on the side of the hill and just relax for a few minutes to soak in the silence before the birth right trips caught up to us and made the animals run away and the silence go away. Moshik also said something that I really thought was very true of our entire hike and surroundings. He said "The most dominate sound in the desert is silence". After the hike, we finally got to eat breakfast. We had brought with us fresh fruits, veggies, and pita from the shuk (the market) as well as some bologna (which was yummy), hummus, cheeses (the kosher kids just didn't mix them), and different chocolate and caramel spreads. I think I can honestly say that the fruits I have had since arriving in Beersheba have been some of the best fruits I have ever eaten. The nectarines we had tasted like candy and the grapes were the perfect consistency. One of the spreads that Moshik brought was also one of the high lights of the day. The container said it was some caramel spread thing but it was actually this parve cookie spread that I swear tasted like a gingerbread cookie. Everyone in the group when absolutely crazy for it.
After the hike we got back on the bus to go take a tour and learn about Ben Gurion and his vision for the Negev. We watched a video about him and his dream followed by a tour of his house. As part of the tour our guide gave us cameras to take pictures of things we have questions on in the house. For example we wondered why he and his wife each had their own rooms. It was because he would stay up all night reading because he thought sleep was wasteful and it bothered his wife. I also learned that he put his zionist dreams above his family and simply put all his effort into making sure that Israel became a solid state and that the Negev, which is 63% of the land in Israel became a popular place to live (clearly this part is still being worked on). The picture that I took was off a photo of Abraham Lincoln that he had in his living room. I found interesting that he had pictures of other nations leaders but more interesting that all these leaders were those that took a stand and freed people of their land. I think the same ideas really resonated with Gurion. We also learned that one of his deepest regrets was that he hadn't given orthodox yeshiva students exemption from army service. I thought that was really interesting because without the exemption I think Israeli government would be really different and I think the orthodoxy would have a more modern and more realistic vision of the country as a whole.
Following the tour of the Sde Boker kibbutz we watched a movie about Ben-Gurion's vision and history in political decision making as it referred to new settlements in the Negev. Luckily I was able to watch the whole thing despite my exhaustion, but others took the opportunity to sit in a dark theater as nap time. We then had lunch and go back on the bus to go visit 3 distinct new settlements. The first was a lone farm. The husband and wife who started the farm, which produces cheese and milk and also has a restaurant, decided to give up their life and move to the Negev with their 6 children to raise goats. They lived without water and power for 10 months while building a home for the animals and digging pipelines. I had a hard time walking around and playing with the animals but everyone else seemed to find it all enjoyable. I did however snap a picture because I know that especially mom would like to have seen baby lambs.
The next community we went to had not yet been declared a permanent settlement. About 2 years ago a religious couple decided they wanted to start a community with both secular and religious families growing up and interacting side by side. Thus, they formed the Shizaf community. There are about 13 families currently living in the community (and 7 of the 13 women are currently pregnant). They are working on getting permanent status and all seem to care a lot about the community and put time and effort into making it work while working day jobs in neighboring towns. They celebrate all of their holidays, shabbats, etc. together integrating both religious and secular traditions into their practices. Personally, I forget that not everyone lives like I do where both groups live and work together on a daily basis. Everything in my life has, for the most part, been integrated together. I am finding though, thru this program, that said culture is very particular to growing up in a reform community where we take a more modern, social, and in my opinion cultural approach to Judaism.
The final community we visited for the day was a bedouin settlement. Unlike the bedouin village I visited on EIE, this village, despite its status as a permanent settlement, has no access to water, electricity, or modern technology. They can't even get a building permit. Because we weren't dressed very modestly we weren't able to walk around the community but we got to talk to the leader of the community for a little bit. It was very interesting in listening to him talk because he was very honest with us. For instance, someone asked about piligamy and he gave us a full explanation as to his reasoning for why he has 2 (and is looking for a 3rd) wives. The director of the organization (bustan) working with the community also told us about traditional bedouin lifestyles and how the bedouins have adapted to more modern times. This community however was trying to promote a true and original example of bedouin life that has apparently been lost. The director's family story was very interesting. When he was 17 his family was the last of their community to move from living in a tent to a modern home with electricity, wifi, etc. He said his mother instantly stopped making all of their food homemade and that he and his siblings lost a sense of connections that had had because they each had their own private rooms. After we asked some questions we were fed a traditional bedouin meal complete with rice, salad, bedouin bread, and a delicious soup with potatoes and carrots.
After dinner we finally finished our long day and headed back to the apartments where I spent the rest of the night relaxing and hanging out with friends in our room.
Friday July 5th- The start of Shabbat
Shabbat in Israel is always a very interesting time because cities really do shut down. We started the day at 11 so we were all very glad to sleep in. We went downtown to the bank to get the rest of the first half of the trips stipend for food and laundry and then had some free time to roam the city on our own until we had to be back at the apartments at 3:30 for group programming. Because it was friday the town was filled with a market with various jewelry stands and other little trinkets. I tried on a couple of Key necklaces but decided that it is only my first week here and I would rather look around before I buy. After walking through the crafts several of us walked down to the shuk so that we could see the fresh fruit and veggies. I also wanted to go so that I could buy some peanuts and dried golden raisins to make a nut mix. To get back to the apartments we were on our own on the bus. Luckily, we had taken the bus back before and knew where we were going. We got back to neighborhood daled safe and sound, picked up a few groceries we needed at the grocery store and went back to relax and eat lunch in the hour we had left.
During programming we talked about Yahel's central values including humility, empowerment, sustainability, and initiative. We then created maps of what influenced each of us to want to do service learning. I created my map with a bunch of arrows leading from the different influences in my life to me to show how the people and activities in my life have shaped my identity. These events and people included G.G. and her work the the NJ Special Olympics, being in WHECTY/NFTY/JYPI, wanting to be a genetic counselor, and being given the position of philanthropy chairman in Kappa. After sharing our maps and discussing some logistics for the rest of the program we had free time to get ready for shabbat. During this time, my 3rd roommate also arrived. She had been interning in the West Bank for the last couple of months and didn't finish that program until yesterday. Her name is Kyra and she goes to GW. She loves musicals, lifetime movies, and eating healthy so she fits right in with Jessica and I. To show her around a bunch of us when on a walk around the neighborhood before getting ready to go to our host families for shabbat. It was about 5:45/6 when we were walking and there was absolutely nothing open in the neighborhood. Everything was closed for Shabbat.
The way host families worked was that we were in 5 groups, 3 went to shul and 2 met the families at their homes. All of the families belonged to the same orthodox egalitarian temple but the 2 groups that didn't go to services were more secular families that don't keep shabbat. I was sent to one of these families. The couple hosting us was very sweet and used the gift I brought them during dinner (I brought vegetable shaped spreaders). The wife is originally from Toronto and I guess grew up reform because she went and worked at Camp George and her cousin who was visiting did NFTY in Montreal. At dinner there were also a couple of American girls who have been in Israel for the last few years working on their masters and a woman from Australia who made alliyah. Oddly enough one of the American girls is from Fairfax and went to JDS. The other went to UMD. Its amazing how many small connections can be made in such a small city in Israel. It was really interesting to get to talk to everyone at the dinner and even more interesting that we were being served sushi, stir-fry, and indian food (all vegetarian) in Israel. On EIE we didn't eat any ethnic foods except Italian! We also asked them what there was to do in Beersheba for when we have free time and because its the summer all of them said that there really isn't much to do here. This only confirmed what Hannah and I kept hearing in Tel Aviv, which was "why are you going to Beersheba, there's nothing there." But, I think that we will find ways to entertain ourselves. Plus, from looking at our schedule we really don't have all that much free time.
We didn't get back from dinner until about 12:30 so I got back, talked to my roommates and then wrote this. And now I am going to bed very excited because I have nothing to do until 4pm tomorrow which means I can sleep all day.
I hope everyone had a good 4th of July.
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