Moving Mountains1: The Desert

This is one story of Kivunim Orientation, and a preview of the struggles and experiences that await.


Orientation Pictures


In the desert strangers grow into unified bodies, revelations are transmitted, dreams are planted, and it is therefore appropriate that leaders like Ben-Gurion turned to the desert for the future. This orientation taught us that the future has been here for a while, and we should see to it that others don't miss out. The following account highlighting the last ten days demonstrates the capacity and intention of this program to transmit lessons in the art of moving mountains.

Great heights were first experienced in Ein Gedi, where the group hiked Nachal Tamar, a dry riverbed that contained a waterfall and was visited by a few ibex. The day of this hike, and the first day of the program, the very edge of the Judean Desert awoke to a rare sprinkle of rain. It was hot and humid everyday that we were in Ein Gedi, and the rain was immediately missed.

That night we welcomed in a Jewish pilgrimage holiday, marked by a harvests of seasonal crops, and spending time in sukkot. The desert dwellings were used by the Israelites in the desert, and, as we learned quickly, they really didn't keep much sun out (not to mention cats). Once the holiday left, the group set out for a midnight hike at Nachal Pratzim, an extremely unique setting where mountains really were mobile to humanity, because the environment was formed out of a particularly soft chalky powdery substance. The hike through the nachal was dry, but a few times a year the riverbed floods as water currents rush into the Dead Sea, thus reshaping the landscape, producing a new site even from the last time I visited. Here the group enjoyed the insight of a special character, named Yisrael Hevroni. Under his authority, and his long white beard, we studied the desert with our ears, shared moments of pounding silence, and walked for hours on our own until dawn. Hevroni, a visually devout man, shared a story from Jewish law stating that religious redemption and spirit of God now resides in the desert, and from the desert will come the sparks for religious redemption (it was 3am...).

Following this hike, and Shabbat, we participated in a very steep climb up a mountain through a gorge called Nachal Tamar. This gorge, on rare occasions, also carried water directly to the Dead Sea. Here we had the opportunity to discuss the current situation of the lowest place on Earth, about 411 meters below sea level. The Sea continued to dry up at an alarming rate, due to human intervention. Israel and Jordan have both been cutting off water sources for other purposes, like bottled water. In addition, companies like Ahava are removing further from the sea to produce mineral lotions and hand creams.  As a result, there are really two Dead Seas. One is the authentic receding body, and the second is an area controlled by dams. The water levels here are actually rising due to residue build-up on the sea floor. Unless the UN passes a resolution stating that the site should be honored as a Wonder of the World, and then acts on its decision, or some other protest takes place, the loss of this source will have irrevocable consequences on economies and tourism, as well as migratory patterns for birds, and other environmental factors.