Hold Your Breath

Machtesh. Israel. 2010

I really felt that this picture needed it's own forum. It was very hard to tell which pictures came out better than others because the sun was so strong while I was taking them. For the majority of the time, I just clicked away and hoped for the best. When I uploaded the pictures to my computer, this one nearly knocked me over. This is what it is all about.

Good Looking Jews

It's official. I am a terrible keeper-upper when it comes to writing this blog. Funny that with all the spare time that I actually have, I can't seem to sit down and write anything.

The last two Shabbat's have been wonderful. The Shabbat before last was spent in Jerusalem, which is always the best way to spend Shabbat. It also happened to be Simhas Torah, a holiday full of dancing. Rachel, Naomi and I stayed at the Heritage House with Becky, Esther and Lindsay. The Heritage House (because I can't remember if I wrote about it previously) is a hostel located in the heart of the Old City that is essentially free to stay at, but where most people do the best they can to leave a donation upon leaving. I have never stayed in a "real" hostel before (the one in Haifa didn't count), so it was an experience. It is an all girls facility, but has a brother hostel located right around the corner, and on the roof of the men's hostel is where Havdallah is held. A lot of the time, there is also a speaker that concludes Shabbat, and of course, some sort of nosh (food). Staying in the hostel was a lot of fun. The Madrechot (essentially counselors) that run it are very nice, and it's incredible the amount of people that you meet when you stay there.

Because we were staying in the Old City, and because it was Simchas Torah, and of course because his family is amazing, we spent a lot of time with Rabbi Eli. We had a number of meals by him, and he was kind enough to take a group of girls dancing one night, and of course to the Kotel afterward. It was incredible. Unfortunately because it was a holiday and Shabbat, I don't have any pictures of the dancing, just of the Heritage House after the holiday and between Shabbat. (The Heritage House itself is Shomar Shabbat.)

I spent the week volunteering and had a few days to prepare myself for an Oranim sponsored trip to Eilat. During that week I got to attend a VERY special event - - - a wedding of a good friend of mine, Gery, that I met the very first time I was in Israel. It was an incredible experience, and the wedding was absolutely gorgeous. Mazel Tov Gery and Netta!

I was super excited about the trip because there were two major places that I hadn't been in Israel - - - Haifa and Eilat - - - and I am ecstatic that I got to do both during this trip. Oranim bussed us to Eilat on Friday, nice and mookdam (early) in the morning, six AM to be precise. Of course, Israeli's are not used to traveling more than twenty minutes without stopping, so the six hour ride was broken up with many stops, one of which was at the Machtesh, the largest of the three craters in the Negev Desert. We literally hiked up one side of the crater, and down another. It was incredible - quite hard - but a lot of fun and the view was absolutely worth it.

Eilat itself was just okay. I don't know that I would do it again. The beach was just like any other beach, although the water was so blue you could see clear through it. It was a lot of fun to stay in the hotel with so many Oranim participants and get to know everyone and learn everyone's story. I was also glad to experience the night life and see how it differs from the rest of Israel. We spent one night at the Bealtes Bar, a famous bar in Eilat that is devoted to the Bealtes and that becomes a dance bar at night. The second night Oranim charted a small cruise ship to take all of the participants for a ride around the Red Sea, which was a blast. I also spent a significant of time walking the board walk that runs along the beach strip near the larger hotels in Eilat.

All in all though, I would say that my favorite part of the trip was the first hike we did, and the hike we did on the ride home. I can't recall the name of where we were on the way back to Ramla, but the hike was equally as beautiful as the Machtesh, and equally as hard. From the summit of the second hike I looked over not only Eilat, Israel, but Jordan, Egypt, and a bit of Syria. I actually fell down the incline once or twice on the second hike and I have a lovely bruise in an unmentionable place from the tumble. It was worth it. I absolutely believe that no matter where life leads me, the view will not compare to those of Israel, especially those of the Negev Desert. It's like someone painted it there for me to see - - - it's as if I blink it will disappear.  

(Again, I'm not sure why blogger isn't letting me tag my photo's, but the first is of me in The Heritage House, and the second is a good chunk of the Ramla group on the way up to the Machtesh.)