Out Of The Wilderness

So we got back from the Negev this afternoon. I'm alive and in one piece, which is good I guess. For those of you who don't know, the Negev is the southern part of Israel extending down to the Red Sea and into the Sinai Peninsula. It is the orange part on the map here:






























For the most part, it is an arid land of rocks, hills, and dirt with rivers being few and far between. I'll elaborate later this weekend and put up some pictures, but we did a lot of things. Some of the highlights that are immediately brought to mind are spending an evening at Mactesh Ramon (which is a giant crater 5 miles by 20 miles), snorkeling among the fish and coral reefs at Eilat on the Red Sea, and taking a strenuous hike up to the top of the mountain fortress of Masada at 5:00 AM to see the sunset.

By the time I got back this afternoon, I felt a lot like this...

Sukkot

Today is the first day of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. Everyone builds tents and booths out of palm branches and live in them during this week to commemorate the time when the Israelites lived in tents in the Wilderness after the Lord took them out of Egypt. First, we built our own. Then we went into the Jewish quarter of the city and observed the fair which was going on. It was pretty much a really busy street of shops and outdoor markets selling goods and things in preparation for the most festive holiday in the Jewish calendar. I guess you could compare it to the preparations for Memorial Day weekend or the 4th of July.

Also, I'm going to be gone all week out in the Negev. We're leaving tomorrow morning, and we won't be back until Friday. Don't get worried when I don't write anything for a while. In the words of Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China, "OK, you stay here, hold the fort, and keep the home fires burning. And if we're not back by dawn...call the president."