In the afternoon we visited Kibbutz Lotan, the second Reform Kibbutz in the Arhava, now in its 17th year. It has many of the same agricultural activities, and is also running a health center that specializes in Natural Health. One of its projects is recycling. We visited a play park made completely of recycled materials, including play parks made of tires and clay, canopies made in geodesic domes using date palm fronds and recycled materials. We had wonderful discussions with Lotan hosts.

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Lotan particulars
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Back at Yahel, we gathered for Tefilla. God is the Well-spring of all things. They flow down to us. Michael showed us the blue threads in his tefillin. The source of the blue dye in the snail has been rediscovered.

For Study Session #6, and for all of ur remaining sessions, we had our choice of leaders, Michael or Leon. Leon would tantalize us with some thought provoking questions. Michael, enjoying Leon's phrasing, would coyly tease us with some possible thoughts of ways the discussion might go. We always seemed to end up with half of us in each group.

Study Session #6: Michael on Maimonides: We exxplored the dichotomy that if G_d is all-knowing, how can there be free will? Maimonides wrote that the way to attain awae of God is to study the Cre tion., But that leads to the fear of God! To allow the love of G_d, the Rabbis came up with the watchmaker theory. G_d completed his creation and is sitting back watching it. It is up to us to make it work.

Michael then took up Nachmanides who stressed that G_d saw. G_d keeps watch on all of G_d's miracles all of the time. What we can participate in is to discover the 'new way' or participate in it as it happens.

Leon on "How lovely is that tree!" pointed out that Jews are the people of (specialists in) ambivalence. The sages taught that if you interrupt study to admire a beautiful scene, it is sinful. Danny contributed that Torah is written because the values it is teaching are not obvious. When we describe G_d as non-heirarchical, i.e. G_d is in everything, it becomes dangerous. We may ascribe G_d-like character to those things.
Rav Kook suggested that in the diaspora, the sanctity that combats nature was dominant. In the Zion, the sanctity that is in nature again comes back to balanc with the other.

Leon on "The Desert as the Locus for Revelation" prepared for our travels later in the day.

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Leon on The Desert
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In the afternoon we boarded the busses to travel to King Solomon's Mines with Leor, our Desert Guide, who showed us that this extreme landscape supports lots of life; animal, plant, vegetation, and human. We were joined in our travels by Elan, Lori's young son who was out of school because of a national teacher's strike.

The earliest copper mines at Timnah probably date to 6000 BCE, 1000 years before the pyramids, and 3000 years before the Exodus. It took the burning f 4 tons of wood to smelt one ton of copper, so the supply routes must have been well established. The mountains reveal two time periods. Sandstone formations are older, limestone newer. The mine shafts go straight down in the soft rock. They are now covered with grating. There is also an archeological dig revealing the place they smelted the rock.

And yet another archeological excavation. Here there was a temple to the Goddess Hathor, and Egyptian deity. The cultic ritual items uncovered there d ted to the 12th or 13th century BCE. Up some steps into the cliffs, we saw carvings on the cliffside also dating from Egyptian times. Leor read a passage from Exodus about a brass snake. Remains of such a snake here give evidence that at the time of Exodus the mines were active.

We ran into a surprise at the foot of the Timna plateau. There was a desert mishcon constructed according to biblical measurements. A guide named Yeshua showed us through it. The mishcon had been erected by the Southern Baptist church and placed here with the permission of the Israel Tourism Agency.

Back on the bus it was getting dark, and we headed to the wild animal preserve at Har-Baryotvata Nature Preserve. Earlier, passing by the preserve on the way to Timna, we had seen Ostriches and Orixes. Now it was dark, and we arrived at the feeding time for the predators. The keepers would throw food into the cage as we went by, and most of the animals came out to get it, giving us a good glimpse of Sand Cat, Fenix (small fox), Domestic Cats, Wolf, Catecarl, and Israeli Leopards. In smaller cages we say Desert tortoise, Snakes of many kinds, spring Mouse, Sand Rat, Lizard, Falcon, Owls, hedgehogs, and vultures.

January 18. Off to Eilat. Barbara counted heads on the bus. Lori told us that the weather in the north was threatening storms. The national teachers' strike continued. Lori's son Elan was able to join us again.

Eilat looks like Disney World with lavish new resort hotels dotting the shoreline. On the tour boat Eilat we cruised first into Jordan wate s, then across to Egyptian waters, then anchored above a choral reef in about 20 feet of water. The water was clear blue. Some of us went swimming (75 degree water.) The coral is clean, and you can clearly see tropical fish swimming. Ian was the only one with a snorkel (some earlier tourists had stolen the boat's supply.) There was an absence of shellfish - probably because these are Israeli waters.

During a lunch feast on the boat the wind came up, and we sped off to the harbor, nosing into a shel ered inner harbor for safety. One of the tourism sailboats was not able to navigate the narrow channel and had to go back out to open water to ride out the storm.

We tried the aquarium. The underwater observatory had no visibility because the waves had churned up the mud.

On the bus trip back, Leor took us off the road up a small valley that lies on a fault. The Government services a road up the valley to a earthquake seismic station. The mountains on each side of the valley were strikingly different. Reds of igneous rocks on one side, and whites of a light sandstone on the other.

Most of us walked up the path in the narrow ravine, kvetching all the way. Moses and the people of Israel. The sun was setting and the view was breathtaking, the sun's rays still shining on the Mountains of Edom across the valley to the East. We sang together a Shashlit, (if you say it 3 times per day, you are guaranteed a place in heaven.) It is the prayer because it is an acrostic. Since every letter is used, (including Aleph, which is silent), every base is covered. The music, prayer, and silence were palpably spiritual. We stood for a few minutes in silence. Then, as we straggled back to the bus, a few of us tried lying in the silence with rocks for our pillow. G_d was in this place....

Leor, our guide, says that a person's first night sleeping alone on the desert is a fearful, almost out of mind experience - so silent and alone that one is too tense, awe-full, to sleep. The moon was so bright that we cou d see our shadows.

Back at Yahel, Michael led us in a beautiful Sephardic evening service. Then we were treated by a delightful, spirited Russian Klezmer group.

Wednesday, January 19. 6:45 a.m. We were awakened by the customary Bang on the Door.

At the Tefillah, Leon taught us when it is customary to bow and some thoughts about the inclusion or exclusion of some lines of prayer.

Our Study Sessions #7 were
Michael: "You Are Gods, the greatness of humanity."
Leon: "Birkat Hamazon."

In the late morning, we joined Kibbutz Tikun Olam projects. One of the projects was hosting a group of Adult protected living people that the Kibbutz had adopted and brought to the Kibbutz for activities like a Tu Bishevat planting. Matt got us all singing some songs. Then we went out and planted trees together. Jay Weinstein involved us all in an activity making tree posters by ripping up bright strips of construction paper and pasting them on a background. Most of the group was absorbed and excited, and proud o their creations which we put on a large roll and exhibited in the dining hall.

Study Sessions #8:
Michael: "The Crown of Creation." rabbinic Sources.
Leon: "On Becoming a Human Torah."

After Tefillah, Dinner, and singing with Matt, we were treated to a slide presentation by Miriam Stern, (Michael's delightful wife) who showed us some of the works she created for a showing at Yeshiva University on a theme of "Symbolism of Women." "And she took a veil and covered herself." The collages raised the q estions; What do sheitels (wigs) hide or disclose about the women who wear them? How do women use the required orthodox dress and wig to assert themselves and gain power?

We danced Israeli dances with Danny, who used fewer words, and made us feel like experts!

It was the first night of a full moon, and Leon told us there was a blessing service that could only be said on such a night. He led us, and at one point told us that custom had the participants jump at the moon - which we happily did. I'm sur it shone even brighter after that.

Thursday, January 20: Petra!
We were on the bus before dawn, breakfast on the bus, watching an incredible sunrise on the Mountains of Edom, with heavy clouds, and majestic sunbeam ladders. We arrived at the Border Crossing in Eilat, where we disembarked and after passport checks, bought some Jordanian dinars. Then we boarded a Jordan tourist bus with a new Guide, Sisna. Sisna is the only religious Moslem woman tour guide in Jordan, and this was her first busload o Jews. She regaled us with optimistic stories about how Jordan is a land of harmony. She told us some of the moslem customs. Anyone over 10 must heed the call to prayer except women during menstruation and after birth.

Our bus climbed high in the Badjeran mountains where Lawrence of Arabia lived. We stopped at Nussa, believed to be the place where Moses struck the rock.

Petra was cold and windy. Most of us walked the narrow path through the towering stone cliffs. We were all awe-struck by the Treasury when it towered into view. A few of us took carriages. A few went on ahead with Leor and climbed into the striated tombs above the treasury and the theatre. Others stayed with Sisna on the main path.

Back on the bus, we stopped for a late lunch at a nice hotel. Then on to Aquaba for a quick bus tour, and back to the border, onto our Israeli bus, to Eilat.

Lori took us to dine in a fine restaurant off the beaten path, where we feasted. We were joined by three Rabbis from UAHC who were with an Arza tour. We were all asked to say one thing we had observed about our tour. We were all enthusiastic. We arrived back at Yahel just after midnight. We sadly said goodbye to Leor.

January 21, Tu Bishevat
Tefillot was again original. Michael asked us to try something new. Think of how we are one with nature; how we are composed of minerals and water, like rocks...
After Tefillot, we joined Study Session #9:
Michael: "Where Can I Find You and Where Can I Not Find You?" God in Mystical Thought.
eon: "Holy Land or Holy Word?"

In mid morning, we had a snack break with the visiting ARZA rabbis who were visiting the Kibbutz. We regaled them with our happy impressions once more.
 After the Rabbis left, we went out and planted our trees. It was a simple act, full of meaning, and it passed by too quickly. Sometime that morning, Michael ran into our group and announced excitedly that it was raining. We all ran outside and danced in celebration. The rain, more like a mist, lasted only a few seconds. We then divided up to help with preparations for the celebration of Tu Bishevat.
 We broke into a spontaneous Rain Dance! Photo by Helen Tannenbaum

In the afternoon, Study Session #10.
Michael: "How Great Are Your Works, Adonai?" Shabbat as a Manifestation of God's Greatness.
Leon: "Creation or Liberation?" Shabbat and God's Greatness.

We were joined again by Mikhal Schiff-Matter, our Cantor from HUC, and her delightful daughters.

Before Shabbat, we were all invited into the homes of Kibbutz members, prior to the festival service. Our hosts were open and warm, and shared new insights about life on the Kibbutz.

The Tu Bishevat Seder was a large family. Many people of all ages participated in the readings, in Hebrew and in English, and we all feasted in the wine, fruits and nuts spread before us. This is the seder in which the wine begins as red and becomes white to signify ....? (or is it the other way around?)

As the Seder ended, we all broke out in song, led by Mikhal. When we had exhausted the Israeli songs, several people added the Yiddish repertoire, ending with a show-stopping frenetic rendition of Joe and Paul by Michael and Miriam.

Saturday, January 22.

We were able to hold the Tefillot and Torah Reading outdoors, with the birds singing and watching.

After lunch, we had our last Study Session (#11.)
Michael: "Human Creativity and its Challenge to A areness of God's Greatness."
Leon: "Revealed Yet Not Revealed." The Inevitability of Interpretation."

After lunch and Zemirot, we were treated to a highlight by Nadov Stark, Lauri's son who has been a member of the "Seeds of Peace" camp experience for the past two years. He showed us the 60 minutes tape in which he and other campers were interviewed by Morley Safir about the experience of young Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, and other Arabs living and camping together and struggling with the animosities between their countries.
 Then at Leon's instigation, a group of us went out under Nadov's guidance and climbed a nearby ridge above Yahel. We ranged in age from 17 (Nadov) to over 70. The trek and the views were exhilarating. We saw firsthand the rock-clay nature of the terrain that allows only the hardiest plants and animals to survive. Narrow goat paths were etched in the sides of the steep hills, and erosion left a trace of how dry wadi beds become rushing torrents when it rains. At the top of our selected ridge, Leon had us pause to praise G_d in a service for the occasion. One of the prayers was for those who fall over. Somehow we made it back in time for Seudah, Shelishit and Havdalah.
 Intreped climbers atop of the local ridge.
 Michal and her darling daughters help us celebrate Havdalah. Photos by Helen Tannenbaum

For a second last time we boarded the bus. Trusting souls, we didn't ask where we were going. The bus went south, then toiled for what seemed like an hour up a winding narrow road. We stopped on a precipice overlooking the Arhava and could see the lights of Aquaba down the valley, and the lights of Arab villages in Edom.

We were ushered into a huge Bedouin tent, where we were greeted by the hospitality of __, a man who had lived with the Bedouins for over two years. He regaled us with gentle stories of Bedouin hospitality and insisted on our sharing the coffee he was brewing. We sat or lay on cushions on mats and carpets around large squat tables. We were treated to a feast of Israeli chicken and salad.

Afterwards, Leon read a list of phrases that reflected our experiences. It began with "Jet lag, and ended with Mah Rabu Ma'asecha HaShem." Michael fondly mentioned the names of several people who had made the Kallah possible, Larry Rafel, Bud Cohen, and __. He also marvelled that we had all come together - a wide band of ages and experiences, and had pitched in together to make this joyous, spiritual experience. We gathered in a circle and sang and sang, as is the tradition in all Kallahs. Finally, Michael stepped forward and gently reminded us that we were having trouble saying goodbye - but we had a bus to catch at 4:30 the next morning.

And 4:30 it was. A crowded airplane to Sde Dov, and hurried partings as the main group looked for a bus that was parked outside the gates.

It was a once in a lifetime experience. Thank you G_d for being the reason for our quest, and Michael, Leon, Barbara, Lori, Leor, Danny, Matt, Michal ... for its happening.