Beth Zion Congregation
Bar/Bat Mitzva Israel Trip Day 8
As I mentioned yesterday, Mitzpe Ramon is the largest crater in Israel. This morning, we had another opportunity to explore it. The young adults set out bright and early on a jeep tour of the bottom of the crater while the older folk had a mountain bike experience into the canyon. It was spectacular.
Then we were off. Our first stop, was to visit the Kibbutz Sde Boker, where David Ben-Gurion is buried. We had a lesson on Israel’s history and took a few moments to appreciate the early Zionist leaders whose vision created the modern day State that we appreciate.
Our next stop, was at Montreal’s sister city, Beersheva. One goal of our trip was to be involved in a Chessed (community service) project. We visited the Beit Halochem centre. The centre offers services to Israeli Army veterans who have been wounded in service. We played a very exciting game of wheelchair basketball with the veterans and had a glimpse into the life of a person with disabilities. The veterans as we say, wiped the floor with us. They manoeuvred their wheel chairs with so much agility it was impossible to keep up. We then had the opportunity to hear from an Israeli soldier who was a victim of Arab terror. He told us his story and shared with us his long road to recovery. We all left with a deep sense of appreciation for the Israel Army (IDF) and with a new understanding of the heroic efforts these men and women go through before and after injury.
We arrived in Tel Aviv as the sun was beginning to set and look forward to a full day tomorrow.
Laila Tov,
Rabbi Perton
