I just got back from a two-day dessert adventure with Jacob Gilbert, Hershel Singer, and Danny Lebowitz, and it was absolutely meshugenah (crazy)! Ein Gedi (Kid-Spring) is a beautiful oasis next to the Dead Sea, which is about an hour bus ride from Jerusalem. If you can bear the extreme heat, the water pools, ibexes, and expansive scenes are well worth the trip. As the main motivator, planner, dad, and chef of the adventure, I can proudly say that we were well prepared for the rugged climate of the Judean dessert. Nonetheless, there are some things you just can't plan for: after all this is Israel!
Our first mission on Friday morning was to meet at the Central Bus station to catch the ten o'clock bus to Ein Gedi. In Israel the weekend starts on Thursday night, and ends on Saturday night. This is to honor Shabbat, and in religious cities such as Jerusalem, the city comes to a stand still (which means very few cars are seen on the road). The Central Bus Station on Fridays is a busy scene, with students, soldiers, and families traveling or coming home for the weekend. Jacob, Danny, and I showed up on time with our sleeping bags, and massive backpacks filled with food, wine, challah, frisbees, and lots of other crap. It was 9:45 and we were all ready to go, we just needed Hershel. "Where is Hershman?" We called him. "I'm still in the Rova (old city)", says Hershel. "I won't be there for another half hour." Plans ruined and we hadn’t even left yet! I wanted to leave the lazy man behind, but the kind hearts of Lebowitz and Gilbert persuaded me to wait for the next bus.
After eating some decent falafel made by an angry Israeli man, we finally hopped the one o'clock bus. On the bus I spotted a young looking guy with a Red Sox hat, and immediately shouted "Go Sox!” It turned out this guy was actually an atheist from Canada, who had been traveling through the Middle East with his girlfriend for the past couple of weeks. He wasn't Jewish, and knew almost nothing about Judaism or Israel. This was a great opportunity for Danny and I to show our Jewish knowledge and pride. He asked us questions like "what are those funny hats you are wearing? Why are you (Danny) wearing one, but you (Alex) aren't? Does this mean that you (Alex) aren't Jewish? He told us that he had just gone to Mount Sinai in Egypt, and wanted to know why it was unsafe for us to travel there. These questions were simple, but really made us think on our feet. There are so many different people in Israel It's intriguing.
As we stepped off the bus in Ein Gedi, the heat slapped us in the face like an angry girlfriend. We grabbed our bags and assessed our new surroundings. Sand, rocks, a few buildings, and the beautiful mountains of the dessert were all that could be seen. We were certainly not in Jerusalem anymore. The egged bus zoomed off down the highway, leaving four bewildered teenagers standing on the side of the road.
Jacob: “Oh my god, no one knows where we are right now. This is the most free feeling ever.”
Hershel: “I feel like we are in the movie the hangover right now!”
Our first stop the stream of David, was only a ten-minute walk down the road. We’d been to the David pools before, except this time there was no tour guide. We splashed around in the cool refreshing springs, and climbed a huge boulder. At this point Danny realized he wanted the rest of his falafel, and climbed down the rock to retrieve it. Danny being Danny, he decided to throw the falafel up to us before climbing the boulder himself. His throw was a decent one, but had a little bit too much arc on it. Gilbert managed to grab it, but somehow it slipped out of the bag. The half eaten falafel bounced off the boulder and exploded in mid air, showering the Israeli family below us in hummus, chips, and soggy bead. Hilarious.
Next we met up with an Israeli guy from Kibbutz En Gedi, who told us there was a fight between two male Ibex’s just beyond the ridge. It was incredible to see these two beautiful animals compete for a mate, by smashing their massive shofar-like horns together.
After a nice afternoon in the pools, we walked to our “campsite”, which was actually just a dirty public park next to the Dead Sea. We went for a nice swim in the Yam Hamelach and attempted to float to Jordan, but eventually became to dehydrated to continue.
Finding a campsite for the night was a sure challenge. The campsite was one of the most ethnically diverse places I have ever seen, and was filled to the capacity with all types of people. Also, did I mention the campsite was free? We found a decent place to sleep, but were soon bombarded by a large Russian family who made camp three to five feet away from us. We moved our things across the park to some picnic benches, and finally brought in the Shabbas.
Our meal of my Grandma’s famous schnitzel, complimented by some challah and beans was simple yet satisfying. We sat around drinking wine, and had an intense emotional conversation about the importance of god, grandparents, balance and humbleness.
After our Shabbas meal, we decided to make the twenty-minute trek down highway 90 to Ein Gedi Kibbutz, where we heard there was a concert. We stashed our backpacks behind a rock circle, and headed off onto the darkness. A half our later we were trekking up a massive hill to the entrance of the kibbutz. We exited the sandy dessert and entered a raging tropical party. The kibbutz had a full bar, and a stage with colorfully lit trees surrounding it. The performer was a woman named Dania, who had a beautiful voice that echoed off the mountains. We grabbed a table on the patio, and opened our last bottle of wine.
After a long night of playing Shesh Besh with some local kibbutzniks, we headed back to our Dead Sea campground. We had to move our campsite once again, this time because of the loud Arabic music being blasted from the parking lot. At around 2 a.m., we finally laid out our sleeping bags on at the edge of the Dead Sea, and peacefully fell asleep under the stars.
Sir Gilbert checking out the Lenny Zakem-Golda Meir bridge at the central bus station.
The Lenny Zakem-Yitzchak Rabin bridge.
Danny in the zone energizing for the dessert.
The Crew
Howawe?
Some of the best lifeguards Yisrael has to offer.
The scene at Kibgutz Ein Gedi.
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