Goucher College President Sandy Ungar and his wife, Beth, joined the group for dinner at the hotel Sunday evening. Each party had the chance to compare notes from their respective trips. Ann Young, a Goucher alumna from the class of ’98, joined them as well. Following the meal, the Ungars and Bus 35 enjoyed an evening of cutting-edge Israeli culture. A new Israeli filmmaker, Yishai Goldflam, screened two fourteen-minute films and facilitated group-wide discussions about each. The film "Eruv" raised questions of boundaries and possibilities in romantic relationships between religious & secular Jews in Israel. The film “In Sight” (a possible play on the word “insight”) offered the audience a glimpse into the emotional inner lives and the moral quandaries facing four fictional snipers in the Israeli army.
On Monday morning, the group helped plant trees at a bird observatory. In the process, they learned about biodiversity and protecting local species. An expert at the observatory explained how to ring and tag birds in order to track their migratory patterns and study how human activity impacts the natural world. The group then set off on a long bus ride for the southern part of Israel. The drive offered everyone a chance to relax a little bit—to debrief their experiences in an unstructured way, joke around, and deepen their developing friendships with one another.
Following lunch, everyone in the group completed a fairly strenuous, "amazing" hike through the canyon at Ein Ovdat. It is part of the largest wadi (dry riverbed) in the Negev Desert, and the stunning vegetation there, in contrast to the surrounding areas, grows thanks to underground springs. The group learned a great deal about desert wildlife, and Hannah L. made a rare and exciting discovery: a fresh paw print, thought to have been left by one of the 5-10 leopards naturally populating the area. The group encountered a new kind of challenge, scaling cliffs and engaging their physical strength, and everyone seemed to appreciate the opportunity to experience nature in a way that had not been possible while in the city of Jerusalem.
The group paid a visit to Sde Boker, where Israel's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, had personally labored as well as galvanized others to "make the desert bloom." Ben Gurion spent his years after retiring from political office at Sde Boker, and he and his late wife are now buried there.
There, the group was briefed with a security update from Micha'el, the guide. His overview of Israel's territorial changes over time as well as the current geopolitical situations involving Palestinians and Iran impressed the students, as he was able to "teach politics without being too political." Given the students' training in critical thinking as Goucher students (and their natural curiosity as "global citizens"), this was high praise.
The group reached Kibbutz Mashabei Sadeh, their home for the evening, where they were joined for a second time by Sandy and Beth Ungar. Although there are close to forty students on the bus, representing several colleges in the Baltimore area, the Goucher group gathered for a separate conversation with Sandy and Beth. The thoughtfulness the students brought to the conversation shone: they are continuing to process the experiences they're having even after they board the bus to depart for a different destination. The Goucher group discussed the impact the trip is already having on their identities, on their bodies of knowledge, and on their willingness and desire to engage with issues they hadn't previously wanted to touch. The mifgash (encounter) in particular has been quite a powerful thing. Having eight Israeli peers from all sorts of backgrounds be a part of the group from day one has really impacted the Goucher students' conception of what it means to be Israeli and even Jewish. The students reported that evening that they are learning that Israel is a place where, no matter one's political orientation, engaging with complicated issues is imperative. The students spoke of their emerging struggles to define their connections to Israel, especially as those connections can be in constant flux. Perhaps, the students reflected, by virtue of being a Jew one has a connection to that place, and one's "birthright" is to engage critically and actively with that connection.
On Tuesday, the group woke up at 3:30 a.m. in order to climb Masada before sunrise. The view from the top as the sun rose to meet them was enthralling. Micha’el shared popular stories of Herod building the ancient fortress atop the mountain—the ruins of which Bus 35 had ample time to explore. Instead of focusing on the legendary zealots who are said to have taken their own lives when they thought they could not escape death at the hands of their enemies, Micha’el’s offered a different interpretation of the Israeli aphorism “Masada will not fall a second time.” He explained that the sentiment behind the saying can be a desire never to find oneself without a multiplicity of options. The feeling seemed to resonate with the students as they learn more and more about life today in Israel.
After descending from Masada, the group continued to head deeper and deeper below sea level until reaching the Dead Sea. They spent four hours there, floating and doing their best to keep the salt and minerals in the water out of their eyes.
The group paid a brief visit to a mall in the southern city of Arad, and when the day’s driving had concluded they were at the Bedouin tent that would afford them hospitality for the night. Immediately upon their arrival the students were herded, as it were, onto camels and donkeys for a ride around the area. One student's donkey decided it was going to be a bucking bronco, but everyone emerged from the experience unscathed.
That night the group enjoyed an outstanding hafla, a traditional Middle Eastern feast and celebration. Everyone was seated on cushions or mats around large circular trays of never-ending dishes of hummus, fresh pita bread, and other delicacies. Following the meal the group mingled with other Taglit-Birthright Israel participants enjoying Bedouin hospitality that night around a big bonfire.
After time to decompress, Bus 35 gathered in the darkness of the desert for a discussion about spirituality. Rabbi Josh and Alison led the group in singing "Hinei Ma Tov" before giving everyone several minutes of time dispersed on their own under the stars. The students were subsequently paired up to share their reflections with a partner, and then the group came back together as a whole. The sense of respect and community in the group allowed the students to deeply share what they had experienced in solitude as well as reflections on moments of spirituality throughout their lives.
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