Boy have we had a WEEK. Last Shabbat we enjoyed services at Kol Haneshamah. Then Sunday we left Jerusalem to begin our descent to the lowest point on Earth — the Dead Sea! After floating and mudding, we hiked to a waterfall and ended the day in Eilat. It was חם רצח (kham retzakh/hot murder — our Hebrew word of the day). Monday we spent the morning at the beautiful Eilat beach, swimming in the Red Sea. In the afternoon we explored Timna Park and learned about ancient copper mining. The next day we visited two kibbutzim — Lotan and Ketura — and learned about community life in the kibbutz. We ended the day by riding camels and enjoying Bedouin hospitality.
Wednesday we woke up before the sun in order to hike Masada and see the breathtaking sunrise. We then visited a development town and, even later in the day, saw one of the biggest naturally occurring craters. Thursday we hiked up a canyon, visited Ben-Gurion’s home in the desert, and ate a lot of salad (and hot peppers) at the Salad Trail.
We ended the night in the coastal city of TEL AVIV! Today we pretended to be spies and saved the city! After that we explored Jaffa and ended our second week in Israel with the best kabbalat shabbat service ever overlooking the sunset on the Mediterranean Sea.