Day 35: Shacharut Ascent Camp ground to Timna Lake

The tough climb up to the plateau was made bearable by listening to Jeremy’s stories from school and college days – which really kept me entertained. It can be tough spending a long time with someone, especially in these circumstances and being at such different stages in your life, but I think Jeremy and i have done really well. We have intelligent chats about life and Judaism, fun chats, stories and singing, serious ones when we need to clear issues and overall have got on well. Coming to the end of the trip we started reflecting back and looking forward



As it got hot we found a tree giving minimal shade and managed to create our own extra shade for a well earned schloff.



We arrived at the gate of Timna Park, where we were soon picked up by a kind worker and taken to the lake on the other side of the park. The lake is a touristy camping area with showers, large Bedouin tents, camels, donkeys and some people making pitot with humous, labana and sweet Bedouin tea. We were fed along with a group of German tourists, and once every thing hd been cleared away we had the place to ourselves – once again unexpectedly provided for in everyway.
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Day 36 - Timna to camp ground 15kms from Eilat.

We woke up early, left most of our stuff at the campsite and walked back over Timna Mountain to the entrance of the park. It was a steep climb but the varied coloured rock formations made it quite spectacular.

We got a lift back to the camp ground and rested there until after 3pm before setting off again to find somewhere to sleep on our final night.



After a long walk through a wadi and up onto a plateau, we found a great place under a tree.



We all went to sleep not expecting what was about to happen. It started slowly and we thought it may pass, but soon the rain was falling heavily. Our final night in the desert was proving to be a test in itself, especially as Jeremy was sleeping outside and my tent isn’t waterproof.

Day 37 - Random Campground – Eilat

We survived the night and set off for the final leg into Eilat. As the actual trail goes to Tabba, there are many different routes to take off the trail into Eilat, and we each decided on a different one, and agreed to meet in Eilat and walk to the beach together.
My route took me on what was possibly the hardest climb of the trip – up to a viewpoint where I got my first real glimpse of Eilat. It was a euphoric feeling which was short lived as I had to then descend the steep and treacherous route down the mountain and into Eilat. The 3kms up and down the mountain, which would normally take about 45 minutes, took me over 2 hours and then I still had another 5 kms to actually get to Eilat.
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I final arrived and met Jeremy who had already consumed 2 litres of chocolate milk and read half the paper by the time I got there. We met up with Yonatan and all walked triumphantly to the beach. WE certainly did not expect what was coming next. We had managed to arrival in the middle of a Gay Pride techno party on the beach, a little shocking after the peace and spiritual highs of the desert but most amusing none the less.



We moved down the beach a little and wasted little time in jumping into the sea at the end of an epic journey which saw us traverse the whole land, from the mountains in the north and ending up in the sea in the south.





We had a great Shabbat with the Hecht family, chief rabbi of Eilat and found free accommodation outside in the succah of a Christian youth hostel.

The fun was not over as Jeremy and I hilled out together in Eilat on Sunday. After relaxing by the pool in the Hilton hotel
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And being asked to refrain from playing the piano in the lobby
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We made our way to dolphin reef, for which we got free entry thanks to someone we met on the trail the week before in timna. A beer on the beach, a swim in the sea, a moving movie about releasing a dolphin in to the wild and a kosher chinese meal - before we finally parted and I went back to Jerusalem leaving Jeremy to relax in Eilat for a few days.
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WE MADE IT

-Jeremy

More to come

Independence Day!

A great performance titled "Made in Israel".



Another fun video from Yotvata about Theodor Herzl pondering the decision to make the Jewish State in Uganda. I personally would have named it "Jewganda".



-Jeremy

Day 27: Ein Yorkeam through the Karbolet

Today was Makhtesh HaGadol. It is a geological erosional landform of Israel's Negev desert. One of five makhteshim in Israel, and seven in the world, it is the second largest, being exceptional in that it is drained by two rivers, the Nahal Ramon and Nahal Ardon. At the time of naming, Makhtesh Ramon (the largest makhtesh) was unchartered and so this was thought to be the largest.



Almost everyone we spoke to about the hardest day on the trail mentioned today instantly. This is known in Hebrew as the "karbolet", literally "cock's comb" but probably better translated as a knife's edge. For an hour or two we walked on a fairly sharp slant on the edge of the crater.



However, for all the hype that had been building for it, the actually walk was quite pleasant and not all that hard. It was incredibly beautiful though. We managed to run into a group of Israelis along the way who had just finished the army, and slept alongside them at a wonderful campsite in the middle of the desert, where we shared food and stories until the wee hours.

-Jeremy

Day 26: Sderot and Holocaust Remembrance Day

We left the trail today from Ein Yorkeam to head to Sderot. Sderot has become a rallying cry for Jews around the world who are disgusted by the inaction of the Israeli government in responding to seven years of rocket attacks on Israeli territory. 40,000 people are supposed to be living in Sderot but in practice only about 10,000 are present. Somewhere around 2/3rds of all children in Sderot have a form of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

Since the Israeli disengagement from Gaza in the summer of 2005 Hamas has taken over the entire Strip, using former settlements, concentrated Arab civilian centers, and former "confidence building" joint Palestinian-Israeli water treatment plants to fire thousands of rockets into Sderot and the Western Negev. What was billed at the time as a measure to help solidify Israel's security situation has served as a tragic reminder yet again what can happen when concessions are heaped upon a group of people hell-bent on Israel's destruction.

We now have the absurd situation of Israel supplying fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip which in turn gets used to fuel rockets that are fired back into Israeli territory. Even the people transporting these goods into Gaza are being attacked!

And yet Israel is once again accused of siege warfare and fomenting a humanitarian crisis when it is clear that Hamas is deliberately engineering the starvation of their own people for selfish gain. Classic "cut off your nose to spite your face" behavior we've seen over and over again.

Brandon is raising money for a charity in Sderot called Kids for Kids, and he arranged a visit to a local school to hand out teddy bears to the second grade children. Bradley did a great job of teaching them English songs and getting them involved in dancing and singing. Afterwards we bought some lunch downtown and spoke with many of the residents who said that they would gladly leave the city if there was anywhere to go. All in all a very rewarding, informative, and (thank God) quiet day 1 kilometer from the Gaza Strip.



As we took the bus back to Jerusalem for Shabbat we heard a siren which signaled the one-minute national silence for Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. Everyone on the highway pulled over to the side of the road and stood by their cars. I couldn't help but make the parallel between this commemeration and what is going on in Sderot today. Never again will the Jewish people sit idly by while our own people are being murdered. We know too well how easy it is for the world to sit on their hands during genocide (see Darfur), so it's our responsibility to take any and all necessary action to defend ourselves.

-Jeremy

Day 19: Tel Azeka to Moshav Lakish

We woke up to gale force winds and a beautiful sunrise, the moon also still hanging in the sky behind us. Packing up was no easy task, my tent almost got blown out to sea 30 kms away. Soon the 4 were down to 2, as Brandon and Simon chose to call it a day. Jonathan and I have had similar adventures, he too has been to India, Thailand and other eastern countries, he too has looked into alternative lifestyles, done plenty of hiking and living off the land, and has now come back to discover the beauty, wisdom and spiritual insight of Torah Judaism. So, conversation flowed nicely as we once again braved the terrible heat.Recently we have had the joy of meeting many Bedouin shepherds, who have been generous in sharing milk from their goats with us – a welcome treat in the middle of the day. At noon we needed to take cover from the heat – check out this video:



Traveling in general, but more specifically being on this trail, really helps you appreciate everything you have. Water is an essential and priceless commodity, and we fully appreciate each drop as if it were fine wine. We are not carrying any unnecessary item, and each thing really serves a purpose, means a lot to us and we really take good care of it. It shows me that if I just get down to the essentials of life, I could really be free from things clogging up my room and my mind, and I could really find pleasure and gratitude in all of the abundance which is thrown my way. It says in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) ‘Ezer hu ashir?’ ‘Hasameach behelko!’ “Who is rich?” He who is satisfied with what he has!” I have everything I need and if just I focus on what I have rather than what I don’t have and think I need, I would surely be a happy man. Even on the trail where I am cutting down on consumption and eating small (yet tasty and healthy) meals, it is much more than the children in Malawi will ever see. They survive on one bowl of porridge and a few vegetables a day, whereas I am used to meat and 2 veg at least once a day. Makes you realise what you have, and what you have to give those who need it.
Anyway, back to the trail where we met a group of scouts who gave us oranges and water, where we had a shower from a hose on the side of the road and where a car stopped, reversed and gave us 2 ice-lollies, both of which I happily ate.



Finally we reached Kfar Lakish, a beautiful Kibbutz 60 kms south west of Jerusalem. After chatting to the Thai workers (great to have so many opportunities to practice my Thai) to find out if we could shower and perhaps stay with them, we set off to rendez-vous with Jeremy who was waiting at the front of the kibbutz having become National Ultimate Frisbee champion. After considering our options, a car drew up and asked if we would like a place to sleep. Not an offer we have ever said ‘no’ to! So they whisked us off in their car to their parent’s house, where we had warm showers, before Jeremy rustled up some matza-brai and omelette, which went nicely with the salad, cheese and several litres of ice-tea they brought out. What beautiful, hospitable generous people they were. It shows like so many times before on this trail that you don’t have to be religious to have a holy heart. Thanks Tal and Guy.
- Bradley

Day 18: Even Sapir to Tel Azeka

Shalom l’kulam. My blog debut comes about because we were without Jeremy for 2 days after a wonderful physical and spiritual refuelling over Pesach in Jerusalem. This is because he was busy competing in the Israeli National Ultimate Frisbee championship – where he became an Israeli national champion, mazultov Jeremy.

After getting a bus back to the trail, Jonathan, Simon (another Englishman who was joining us for a day) and I embarked on our first ‘night tiyul.’ We climbed into the mountains on the outskirts of Jerusalem near Even Sapir, the path lit only by the light of the near-full moon and found a place to camp for the night. Camping out on a hill on the way into Jerusalem for Pesach, I realised that thousands of people must have camped on that very spot on their way into Jerusalem, to bring sacrifices and join in the festivities when the temple still stood. Now on the way out I was excited to be making my way towards the desert, where our ancestors were forced to flee just after Pesach 3000 years ago. I’ve never been attached to Israel or the Jewish people so much – I was always pulled east to the mystical Hilmalayas and mind and martial training of Japan, Thailand and Korea. However this trip is really helping me connect to this land and its people and history, which I am coming to realise is my land, people and history – and I am playing a role in the continuation of the story.

We arose early in the morning, were joined by Brandon, and were promptly hit by 2 days of Chamsin – heat wave. Somehow we managed to battle it out, invigorated by the rolling, forested hills stretching out for miles around, and the stimulating stories from Simon, who had a rough night having almost turned into a werewolf (for the full story - http://travelpod.com/z/gouldy/israel_nov_07/1209323820). At one point the heat was so bad we had to duck down into a village, Mata, just off the trail, to hose ourselves down and refill our water bottles. The trail to Tel Azekar wound down through forest paths covered in wonderful smelling pine cones, from trees that aren’t native to Israel at all. All these forests were planted by the JNF, what a great job they have done in bringing life back to the country. Nearing the end of a sweltering and exceedingly tiring day, we came out of the woods and were faced with Tel Azekar – and the steep ascent to its summit. I somehow found the strength to run to the top in time to daven mincha before the sun set over the Mediterranean. The view from the top was stunning, as we looked out over the field where David defeated Goliath. As we set up the tent and had a bit to eat, we too felt some of the the sense of achievement of the young man who managed to conquer the huge challenge facing him.

Days 24 and 25: MOFN to Makhtesh HaKatan and Ein Yorkeam

A makhtesh is a geological landform regarded to be unique to the Negev desert of Israel and the Sinai Peninsula. Although commonly regarded to be "craters", these structures are more accurately described as erosion cirques. A makhtesh has steep walls of resistant rock surrounding a deep closed valley which is usually drained by a single wadi. The valleys have limited vegetation and soil, containing a variety of different colored rocks and a diverse fauna and flora which has been protected and preserved over millions of years.







Today we hit Makhtesh HaKatan or "The Small Makhtesh," possibly the most beautiful natural site I have ever seen. From the middle where we slept you have a perfect 360 degree view of the entire crater. The soil has amazing brilliant colors of yellow, orange and purple. These two days we walked with Yonatan, a fellow Shvilist from Meitar walking the entire country before he enters the Air Force.





These have been our most challenging days so far, with massive steep ascents and descents occuring frequently. The last, and most dangerous, is called Maale HaPalmach. This route up and out of the riverbed (Wadi) went straight up the side of a cliff up several ladders which were installed by the Palmach in 1944 as a route to Eilat.







The Palmach was the regular fighting force of the Haganah, the unofficial army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the British Mandate of Palestine. It was established on May 15, 1941 and by the war of 1948 had grown to three fighting brigades and auxiliary aerial, naval and intelligence units. Being a Palmachnik (Palmach member) was considered not only as performing military duties, but also as a way of life. Significant leaders of the Palmach include Yitzhak Sadeh, Yigal Allon and future prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Defense Minister and member of the Knesset Moshe Dayan.



The Palmach was established by the British military and Haganah on May 15, 1941 to help the British protect Palestine from the Nazi German threat. They were also to assist Allied forces with the planned invasion of Syria and Lebanon, then held by Vichy French forces. British experts trained the Palmach special soldiers and equipped them with small arms and explosives. However, after the Allied victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein in 1943, the British ordered the dismantling of Palmach. Instead the whole organization went underground.



The Palmach contributed significantly to Israeli culture and ethos, well beyond its undoubtable military contribution. Its members formed the backbone of the Israel Defense Forces high command for many years, and were prominent in Israeli politics, literature and culture.



We slept in Ein Yorkeam last night, a beautiful desert spring with fresh water to swim in and wash our clothes. Tomorrow morning we're headed to Sderot to show our solidarity with the people living under constant rocket attack. We will be delivering gifts to the kids, over 80% of whom have some form of Post Tramatic Stress Syndrome. After that we'll hit the trail again Sunday morning.

Happy Trails,
Jeremy

Day 23: Meitar Forest to MOFN (Middle of @#%&ing Nowhere)

Welcome to the Negev Desert.


As you can see, we've left the land of kibbutzim, flowing water, and greenery. This is exactly what we've been training for. As a child, one of my favorite movies was Lawrence of Arabia, the story of a British officer during World War I that integrated himself into Bedouin society with the goal of establishing an independent Arab state from the Ottoman Empire.



Through this movie I began to romanticize the desert, with its sweeping landscape and bleak nothingness. And as we hit the Negev outside of Arad it finally dawned on me the importance of the desert as the birthplace and central theme of Judaism: the three relationships of man to man, man to himself, and man to God. As all that is tangential melts away in the heavy, beating sun, man is stripped down to these three core facets of existence. Petty desputes and infighting go by the wayside as internal dialogue and personal betterment occupy much of the time during these long hot hours.





There's nowhere to go but straight ahead.

-Jeremy

Day 22: Arad backwards to Meitar Forest

To make up for the one and a half days we skipped going forward to Arad, we walked backwards in the direction of Meitar. The first site of interest we hit was Tel Arad.

Tel Arad is located west of the Dead Sea in an area surrounded by mountain ridges. The site is divided into a lower city and an upper hill which holds the only ever discovered 'House of HaShem' in the land of Israel.

The lower area was first settled during the Chalcolithic period, around 4000 BCE. Excavations at the site have unearthed an extensive Bronze Age Canaanite settlement which was in use until approximately 2650 BCE. The site was then apparently deserted for over 1500 years until resettled in the Israelite period from the 11th century BCE onwards, initially as an unwalled piece of land cut off as an official or sacred domain was established on the upper hill, and then later as a garrison-town known as 'The Citadel'.

The citadel and sanctuary were constructed in the time of King David and Solomon. Artifacts found within the sanctuary of the citadel mostly spoke concerning offerings of oil, wine, wheat brought there by numerous people from David and Solomon's time and throughout the reign of the kings of Judah. In the Persian, Maccabean, Roman, and early Mohammadean eras locals continued to transport these items to the sacred precinct of the upper hill.



During the reign of the kings of Judah the citadel was periodically refortified, remodeled and rebuilt upon one another a number of times, until ultimately it was destroyed between 597 BCE and 577 BCE whilst Jerusalem was under siege from the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar. Among the most fascinating artifacts unearthed from this time are ostraca from the mid-7th century BCE that refered to this citadel as the House of HaShem.

Habitation of Tel Arad and the upper citadel did not end with the Babylonians. In fact, during the Persian period (5th - 4th centuries BCE) almost a hundred ostracon and pottery were written in Aramaic and were mostly accounts of locals that brought oil, wine, wheat, and etc to the upper hill.

Several citadels were built upon one another and existed in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. King Herod even reconstructed the lower city for the purpose of making bread. The site lasted til the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and completely expelled the 'circumcised' in 135 AD. Tel Arad laid in ruins for 500 years until the Islamic period in which the former Roman citadel was rebuilt and remodeled by some prosperous clan in the area at the time and functioned for 200 years until around 861AD when there was a breakdown of central authority and a period of widespread rebellion whereupon the citadel was destroyed.



Brandon and I went off ahead of the other three and managed to lose our way at a tricky trail marker. We went way off the trail only to stumble upon a herd of sheep with no shepherd in sight.

And oh yeah, and a pack of guard dogs.

Brandon had warned me about Bedouin dogs, having basically been attacked by 20 of them a few months ago on a hike. As soon as they saw us approaching they began snarling and fanned out to surround us. They kept getting closer and Brandon and I waved our hiking poles and threw warning shot rocks. Eventually Brandon connected with a rock to the face and they left us alone. My heart was racing for about an hour afterwards.



The next bit of us getting lost was far more pleasant as we stumbled upon the Bedouin village of Djirat, receiving lemonade from a kind woman and an impromptu tour of caves used by hermits over 200 years ago. According to the tour, Djirat was an important stopover for Abraham on his journey from Hebron to Beer Sheva on his way to Egypt. Today they offer Bedouin feasts and tours. The man kindly gave us some za'atar (a spice like oregano) and sent us in the right direction.





Our stop for the night was Meitar Forest, where we slept on a beautiful ridge with a great view of the sunset.



-Jeremy

Day 21: Kibbutz Lahav to Meitar (forward to Arad for Shabbat)

Our good friend Yochanan from Aish HaTorah joined us today on the trail at Kibbutz Lahav. We found another great trail angel with proper beds and an ample supermarket where Bradley proceeded to actually return a second time to get another chocolate milk drink out of a bag.



Shock! chocolate milk has been one of the offical drinks of All for the Kids. The fact that I tell Bradley constantly that the bottles are the same price as the bags has proved to be no deterrent from his choice of purchase. "It's just more fun to drink it this way," Bradley probably said at some point.

Today was a hilarious comedy of errors from the get-go. No sooner than walking out the gate of the kibbutz did we realize that the trail was the opposite direction. Yonatan spotted a cactus with the sabra fruit emblematic of the Israeli spirit (prickly on the outside, sweet on the inside). Bradley dove into his sabra with unbridled enthusiasm only to get hundreds of hair-thin needles all over his mouth and hands. HILARIOUS.



We made it to Meitar (more on this later) and took a bus forward to Arad for Shabbat, where Brandon had hooked us up with a family he knew from a few months prior.







The six kids and several more guests had us entertained deep into the night and following day with stories and board games. We even got to attend a special "Seduat Moshiach" or "Meal of the Messiah" which is a Chassidic tradition dating from the Baal Shem Tov. Much wine was imbibed and matzah eaten as we sang tradition nigguns (anthems without words) for several hours in the manner of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.



Sinai, the head of the house, explained one niggun that sounded suspiciously like the French national anthem by saying that Napoleon was so enthralled with this hymn that he bought the rights from the Baal Shem Tov himself. Check snopes.com to see if the story is actually true. His story is actually quite special in itself. He moved with his family from Brooklyn about five years ago to Arad, but for the first few weeks his house wasn't ready yet, so they stayed in a Bedouin camp!

-Jeremy

Day 20: Moshav Lakhish to Kibbutz Lahav

Welcome back to the blog! I missed the two days following Pesach due to the extreme heat and tying up some loose ends in Jerusalem, so Bradley will have to add some thoughts about his time on the trail.

It was great to be back in Jerusalem for Pesach. As mentioned in the previous post, Pesach is one of the three main pilgrimage holidays in Judaism along with Sukkot and Shavuot, so it was amazing to be walking the path into Jerusalem at the same time of year as our ancestors have done for thousands of years.

I had the best prayer service of my life right before at shul Kol Rina in Nachlaot, which is a very inauspiscious location tucked away on a side street in a bombshelter. Every brand and flavor of Jew was present for the davening, making it a truly inclusive and joyous experience.



At around 8 PM I headed over to my friend and fellow ultimate frisbee player Dave's house for the meal, where we proceeded to eat, talk, and laugh until 3 AM. Each person was assigned a part of the Haggadah to read and extrapolate on, and the kids had some great skits for the four questions. The Masons are truly unique in that they eat all organic vegetarian, and the meal was absolutely amazing with charoset, spiced carrots, tabouli, quinoa, garlic spreads, and the piece de resistance: a massive lasagna with matza instead of pasta noodles. Delicious.



Recharged and ready to hit the trail, I proceeded to catch a bus to Kiryat Gat - a medium-sized city near Hebron - and hitchhike three times (including getting a ride from some police officers investigating a forest fire) to Kfar Lakhish where I waiting for Yonatan and Bradley to show up.



We didn't really have a plan on where to sleep for the night, but as fortune would have it a few friends of the original trail angels saw us by the side of the road and gave us a place to stay. We had matza brie, salads, and massive omelets. Did I mention how much I love trail angels?



The walk took us through beautiful sweeping wheat fields and through (yet again) herds of cattle and goats on our way to Kibbutz Lahav.

-Jeremy

P.S. A new karaoke Thai Songkran video is up for that day. Does anyone know how to flip the video in Youtube so it's facing the right way?