By Rabbi David Wilfond, Director of Education
The teens have been exploring the Desert. Tuesday morning the group travelled to Kibbutz Grofit, a town located on a small hilltop in the middle of the world’s longest and deepest valley that extends over three thousand miles from Syria all the way to Mozambique, Africa and is therefore called the Great Syrian-African Rift Valley. At Grofit, there is a therapeutic riding center that provides horseback riding therapy for nearly 200 children and adults with physical and mental disabilities, as well as emotional and behavioral challenges. The riding center brings advanced therapies to a remote region with a rural population that otherwise lacks many essential medical services. The teens got to tour the riding center, pet and wash horse, and watch videos about the impact of Grofit’s work. This horse farm is just one of the many unique examples of community and social justice the group has learned about, showing you can take any passion of yours and turn it into a project that helps others. Next the group travelled to Yotvata Park. Yotvata is famous as one of the places mentioned in the Torah where the children of Israel camped after the Exodus from Egypt on Passover more than 3,000 years ago. Today, Yotvata is a thriving desert town, with the Israel’s largest Dairy Cow Farm – in the middle of the desert! This is quite surprising as one might not expect milk-cows to live in the desert. In fact, the cows of Israel produce more milk per cow than cows anywhere else on the planet (including Wisconsin, the Dairy State!) This is due to Israel’s advanced agricultural technologies. Yotvata’s Park reveals the secrets of the desert with advanced technology and experiences in four worlds of content: Kibbutz and Dairy, the World of the Desert, Renewable Energy and the Yotvata Cowshed. The highlight of the visit was the ice-cream and sorbet making workshop and the unlimited chocolate milk from the chocolate milk fountain. The most delicious ice-cream is the one you make yourself – especially when it is 90 degrees outside!
Next the teens travelled to Kibbutz Lotan the youngest of the Reform Movement’s Kibbutzim in Israel. Lotan is a member of the Global Ecovillage Network. The teens got a chance to take part in a hands-on workshop to learn how to make the desert bloom and learn about the importance of sustainable efforts for water conservation, agriculture, and building. Dinner and Overnight where spent at Kibbutz Yahel, the first Reform Kibbutz built in Israel.
Wednesday the desert adventure continued with an early morning excursion to the Kasui sand dunes where they jumped, rolled, and played in the some of the softest mountains of sand they will ever feel. The group nourished themselves with a delicious desert breakfast before heading on a hike through the Red Canyon. The afternoon was spent snorkeling in the Red-Sea Coral Reef and enjoying free time along the beach in Eilat. Here one can see hundreds of species of colorful fish swimming free in their natural habitat of the crystal clear blue waters of the Red Sea.
Thursday morning the teens will visit Kibbutz Keturah, where they will explore their off- village and one of Israel’s largest Solar Fields. 100 robots are used to clean the solar panels every night! Here Israeli engineers will teach the teens about how alternative energy can be brought to some of the world’s most remote places, like the desert of Israel.
After Keturah the group will visit Park Timna to learn about desert geology. Park Timna is home to a really ancient cooper mine (at least 4,000 years old!) Many scientists claim that this was the first-place humans ever mined copper on the planet earth! This site represents the embrace of technology as core to human history and the development of human society. After lunch the group will travel to the Northern Negev town of Sde Boker, where David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minster choose to be buried. By his grave the teens will learn about the Vision of David Ben Gurion to make the desert bloom.
Friday the group will visit the Ramon Crater, knows as Israel’s Grand Canyon. There is so much to enjoy, to learn, and to look forward to as Mitzvah Corps explores the Deserts of Israel.
