שלום חברי,
A lot has happened in the last few days! I had an incredible shabbat, and today I had my צו ראשון (First assesment with the army). The latter will be in a different post, as it is a bit complicated in an of itself. But, I digress.
This past thursday I went down to Greg's kibbutz Tze'elim צאלים. Greg is a very good friend of mine from IC. We went on birthright together the winter of our sophomore year. In all honesty I wasn't such a big fan of Greg back then. We had a few classes together, and at first he really rubbed me the wrong way (he still is a bit abrasive, but that just means he makes a good Israeli). That was Greg's first trip to Israel, and when we got back to the states, he dropped out of school and immediately made Aliyah. To give you an Idea of how fast it was, we came back on Jan. 16th and he was on his Aliyah flight on Feb. 18 (or so). Birthright was also when I started contemplating aliyah, so natrually as time went on I asked him TONS of questions. After Greg did Kibbutz Ulpan, he went into the army and has been in a קרבי (fighting) unit called Givati for the last year and a half. I may have mentioned him in some of my earlier posts while the war was on because he fought in it. Making aliyah was very beneficial Greg, I saw him go from a troubled young man who disregarded responsibility to a patriotic citizen of the State of Israel who inspires me greatly. I respect him and am thankful for what he is doing for the safety and liberties I enjoy as a new Israeli immigrant, as well as what he is doing for the security of the entire country.
Friday morning I traveled down to Kibbutz Ketura from Be'er Sheva. I was on Ketura this past summer for an internship, which was supposed to be focused around Ethanol as fuel. However, as it often happens in Israel, the funding didn't actually come in. Thus, I ended up doing manual labor 6 days a week at 6am in the middle of the desert in the summer. In all honesty it was a good life, although work was early we finished at noon, ate lunch, had a nap, and then usually lounged around the pool for the rest of the afternoon. All in all, I couldn't complain (although sometimes the 115 degree F weather was a bit much...). I made many friends while I was there, and my experience greatly aided in my decision to make aliyah, so for me this was a bit like things coming full cricle. One of my good friends from IC, Jenna or Gani as some of you know her, managed to come down that friday to spend shabbat on the Kibbutz with me. If you know of whom I speak and would like to know exactly how said events took place, I'm positive she will be writing about it in her blog.
Shabbat was amazing. Kibbutz Ketura is most definitely one of the last places in Israel that one can experience the feeling of 'pioneering' the land of Israel. It's nesteled at the foot of the Judean mountains in the Arava valley. It is about half an hour drive straight north of Eilat, and a 15 minute walk from the border with Jordan. On the kibbutz they have the only large scale algae factory in the world, as well as the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. They slogan is 'Nature Knows No Borders,' and they focus on coexistence. If you would like to read more about the Kibbutz and the Arava institute you can do so here and here respectively.
The scenery is absolutely stunning, and I can honestly say there is no more a spiritual place in this world than in the middle of the desert... I can't even begin to describe to all of you the plethora of feelings and rejuvination I was lucky to experience this weekend. It's really a place you need to visit for yourself, and I strongly encourage anyone who comes to visit Israel to take the trek down and spend a bit of time there (I can hook you up if you're interested). I don't really know what else to tell you, as I could write a book about what happened to me over shabbat.
I will write about my experience with the army, and the possibilities for my future in this country in the next few days after I work out the balagan (mess) בלגן that I am dealing with currently.
The pictures are all from Ketura. ד"ש
This past thursday I went down to Greg's kibbutz Tze'elim צאלים. Greg is a very good friend of mine from IC. We went on birthright together the winter of our sophomore year. In all honesty I wasn't such a big fan of Greg back then. We had a few classes together, and at first he really rubbed me the wrong way (he still is a bit abrasive, but that just means he makes a good Israeli). That was Greg's first trip to Israel, and when we got back to the states, he dropped out of school and immediately made Aliyah. To give you an Idea of how fast it was, we came back on Jan. 16th and he was on his Aliyah flight on Feb. 18 (or so). Birthright was also when I started contemplating aliyah, so natrually as time went on I asked him TONS of questions. After Greg did Kibbutz Ulpan, he went into the army and has been in a קרבי (fighting) unit called Givati for the last year and a half. I may have mentioned him in some of my earlier posts while the war was on because he fought in it. Making aliyah was very beneficial Greg, I saw him go from a troubled young man who disregarded responsibility to a patriotic citizen of the State of Israel who inspires me greatly. I respect him and am thankful for what he is doing for the safety and liberties I enjoy as a new Israeli immigrant, as well as what he is doing for the security of the entire country.
Friday morning I traveled down to Kibbutz Ketura from Be'er Sheva. I was on Ketura this past summer for an internship, which was supposed to be focused around Ethanol as fuel. However, as it often happens in Israel, the funding didn't actually come in. Thus, I ended up doing manual labor 6 days a week at 6am in the middle of the desert in the summer. In all honesty it was a good life, although work was early we finished at noon, ate lunch, had a nap, and then usually lounged around the pool for the rest of the afternoon. All in all, I couldn't complain (although sometimes the 115 degree F weather was a bit much...). I made many friends while I was there, and my experience greatly aided in my decision to make aliyah, so for me this was a bit like things coming full cricle. One of my good friends from IC, Jenna or Gani as some of you know her, managed to come down that friday to spend shabbat on the Kibbutz with me. If you know of whom I speak and would like to know exactly how said events took place, I'm positive she will be writing about it in her blog.
Shabbat was amazing. Kibbutz Ketura is most definitely one of the last places in Israel that one can experience the feeling of 'pioneering' the land of Israel. It's nesteled at the foot of the Judean mountains in the Arava valley. It is about half an hour drive straight north of Eilat, and a 15 minute walk from the border with Jordan. On the kibbutz they have the only large scale algae factory in the world, as well as the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. They slogan is 'Nature Knows No Borders,' and they focus on coexistence. If you would like to read more about the Kibbutz and the Arava institute you can do so here and here respectively.
The scenery is absolutely stunning, and I can honestly say there is no more a spiritual place in this world than in the middle of the desert... I can't even begin to describe to all of you the plethora of feelings and rejuvination I was lucky to experience this weekend. It's really a place you need to visit for yourself, and I strongly encourage anyone who comes to visit Israel to take the trek down and spend a bit of time there (I can hook you up if you're interested). I don't really know what else to tell you, as I could write a book about what happened to me over shabbat.
I will write about my experience with the army, and the possibilities for my future in this country in the next few days after I work out the balagan (mess) בלגן that I am dealing with currently.
The pictures are all from Ketura. ד"ש
-יחיאל–
1 comment:
Your pictures really make me miss this summer.
Sigh.
Glad all is well with you! Hopefully I'll see you in a few weeks!
Post a Comment