Gadna

This past week, we were are Gadna. Personally, I found this experience to be particularly difficult because I was not used to such strict rules. It also made me appreciate and respect Israeli kids our age, because kids are not planning for college like kids in America would be.

From the moment we got off the bus, we learned to stand in Akshev, with out water bottles touching our left foot, our hands behind our backs, and feet in a V shape. Although it was incredibly hard to understand because they were yelling at us in Hebrew. From there, we were split up into our different groups - Tzevet for the week. We changed out of our normal clothes and into the exact same uniform, and began to look somewhat like soldiers. We were taught to stand in a Chet shape, but it needed much help, the lines were uneven, there wasn’t enough space between people, and we didn’t do in the time given to us, which was 10 seconds. We then had a ceremony welcoming us to the Gadna program, which was also in Hebrew, and many of us did not understand it so it was translated to English. (Thank you to our wonderful translator Gali)  By the end of the first night everyone was exhausted from standing on their feet and running around while being yelled at in a different language, and when we went to bed, it was freezing. Many of us were upset, some scared, and others just uncomfortable because they were so far from their comfort zones.

The second day, my group was on kitchen duty, we woke up earlier than everyone else to serve, clean and organize breakfast and lunch. We cleaned for about 3 hours. This was one of the most fun parts for me, because although we were doing disgusting jobs, like cleaning the trash outside the dumpsters, and washing dishes, we had music playing and we bonded as a group and made it fun! We then learned about the gun, and how to shoot it. I personally was not afraid of the gun, but rather conflicted because I do not support guns, but was debating whether or not to shoot that week or not. It was a hard decision for me, and everyone else to make, even if we were just going to be shooting targets.

On field day, we painted our faces with mud, crawled around in the sand, and ran and took cover from fake bombs, making us feel like we were soldiers that were actually in combat. Additionally, we learned how to shoot in which directions depending on where the enemy is coming from. My group learned to work together, and protect ourselves from the fake enemies that were coming to attack us.

By wednesday, my group was doing extremely well with the 2 lines, and standing correctly, making proportional Chets, and doing it all within the 10 seconds given to us. It was amazing to see how far we’d come, because at the beginning we were quite dysfunctional. On this day, we got to go to the gun range and shoot, I decided to shoot after all, because I figure I wouldn’t have another chance to in life. For me, shooting was very powerful, I felt very in control, and empowered.

On the last day we had our closing ceremony, where we “graduated” from Gadna. We watched as our friends won awards for being the best soldiers of their groups this week, and congratulated them. Later, our commander finally took off her hat, and talked with us casually so we could get to know her. It was interesting, she did not know much English. She was not just not translating to English during the week because she wanted to be tough, she just didn’t know enough English to translate. She told us she was 19 years old, so not much older than any of us. I found that to be so interesting, as I plan to be in college when I’m 19, but she is a commander in Gadna, as her service in the army. It allowed me to see how real going to the IDF is, because I was pretending to be in it for 5 days, and I do not think that I could do it for 2-3 years like kids our age in Israel have to do. It was an overall rewarding, and interesting experience, but I know that I would not choose to make Aliyah and go into the IDF, I personally do not think I could do it. How did Gadna change your outlook on Israeli teens our age, and their differences from Americans? Do you think you would be able to make Aliyah and go into the IDF instead of going to college after high school? Why or why not?

Showing off their uniforms!

Shooting the gun

Tzevet 2 standing in Akshev

Continuing the Intermarriage Discussion

Shalom כיתת דוב Kitat Dov!

Thank you for your insightful and thoughtful class discussion this morning. To continue the conversation, please share your thoughts about one (or more) of the following:

1. The articles we read:

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, Outreach to interfaith families strengthens the Jewish future:
http://www.jta.org/2014/02/03/news-opinion/opinion/op-ed-outreach-to-interfaith-families-strengthens-the-jewish-future

A Jewish Father's Plea: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/A-Jewish-fathers-plea

2. Respond to the topic of intermarriage. In your opinion, does it influence the future of the Jewish people?

3. How do you see עם ישראל (the Jewish People) sustaining our identity as Jews living in the diaspora?

Your response should be a minimum of three sentences.

City of David - Jerusalem

Today, we went on a tiyul to the City of David. We learned a lot about the past kings and their successes and failures. King Saul, though having good intentions, had many failures. First, Saul gives an offering to god without his prophet, Samuel, present, and in doing so god is no longer on his side. Next, Saul does not kill the king of Amalekites and takes the best spoils of his conquest, which goes against god’s will. All that Saul did was with good intentions. Saul also had a huge victory against the Amalek kingdom and united all twelve tribes of Israel. King David was also a very important king, though unlike Saul, we mostly focus on David’s accomplishments. David had many significant military victories, such as his capture of Jerusalem and reclaiming of the Ark of the Covenant. David was also admired and followed by many in general. But, he wasn’t as great as most perceive him to be. He slept with his faithful soldier Uriah’s wife and killed him off in battle.

Modern day city

The next important aspect of our tiyul was the geographical significance. David was very strategic in choosing his new kingdom. When he first saw the city of Jebus, he noticed the two deep valleys on either side of where the city lay, on Mt. Moriah. These two valleys are called the Kidron and the Hagai. The city was also surrounded by a large wall, giving it ample defense. The Gihon spring located just outside of the city was an adequate water source as well. The natural spring and open area surrounding would also make for good agricultural land. Two cities lay on either side of the Kingdom of David as well, which would make for good trading. There are a multitude of other reasons David chose this location, but these few stood out most to me during our Tiyul.

Kidron Valley

We also learned about some artifacts and sites excavated in this city. The discovery of the large water channels was very important because it gave historicity to the story of David capturing Jebus through the water channels. In my opinion, the most compelling artifact mentioned was the tablet found in a water channel in the city. This tablet references David and his kingdom. This gives the biblical story of David at least some historicity. Stamps with the name of a documented biblical character were also recovered. These stamps were found in the place the Bible story indicated their owner to be.

Water channels

When the stories we hear in the tanakh and torah align with historical artifacts and real places it makes me believe more unproven stories may very well be true. This also puts our history into perspective for me. To walk in the places our ancestors walked makes reading their stories more interesting and relevant. It also gives you a new perspective on their struggles, and lets you come to your own conclusion on what is or isn’t true. How did the tiyul to the City of David make you feel more connected to the biblical characters we read about? How did it affect your opinion on the 

stories in the Torah and Tanakh

Sataf Tiyul

On Thursday, February 9, we hiked all the way to Sataf. In the beginning of the tiyul it was really foggy, but kind of gave off a majestic look. As we got there, Evan started explaining about the different types of trees that are found at Sataf. We learned about the seven species that are found in the Torah and are still here today: pomegranate, figs, wheat, barley, dates, grapes and olives. These were the foods that fed the Israelites as we settled the land. It was really interesting to learn about how our ancient ancestors survived.

The Israelites faced many challenges when entering Eretz Yisrael. One of the biggest challenges we faced was warfare, specifically with local Canaanite tribes such as the Philistines and others in Eretz Yisrael. The Israelites dealt with these challenges by following the lead of Joshua, who became leader after Moses died.

Before we could enter Eretz Yisrael, we needed to correct some of the ways we had gone astray while wandering in the desert for 40 years. For instance, we needed to have a mass Brit Milah as they had stopped this while in the desert. Another example of dealing with the challenges of entering Eretz Yisrael is when Am Yisrael or (the people of Israel) had to conquer the town of Jericho. We learned that we were able to do this with God’s help by marching around the wall and making the wall fall down. Joshua led the Israelites into the land with the help of God. It seems that Joshua was an expert military strategist.

Joshua was an amazing leader after serving Moses for 40 years. God ordered Joshua to take possession of the Promise Land and he obeyed. He was was humble, obedient, faithful, courageous, and always followed God’s instructions.

We were able to find water sources within the mountains, which helped with the terrace farming. This was a big transition for the people of Israel because before we had relied on manna from heaven and now had to become farmers. We also learned about Ba’al farming, which was agriculture that depends on rain. However, we also learned that sometimes the Jews would go astray and practice Avodah Zara and worship the Canaanite god.

The cave we went into at the end

Notable sites that we saw on this trip were the terraces where we grew our crops and the ancient water source. It was completely surreal to see the cave where our ancestors got their water from and actually drink it! I really enjoyed this tiyul. Two questions: What was your favorite part of the trip!? Do you think the stories that we learned about could also have actually happened?

Tel Gezer

Yesterday, we went to the ancient ruins, Tel Gezer, for a tiyul. Tel Gezer  is located on the “Derech Hayam” or road of the sea, due to its central location in the Fertile Crescent. Like in the game ‘Risk’, the Middle East is a perfect place to trade as it is a pathway to three continents. Of the 5 geographical areas in Israel, Gezer is strategically located next to the coastal plain, in the foothills. Even though the city itself is not large, its location makes it incredibly important to trade around the world.

My impressions of the Canaanite people who lived in this area are extremely mixed. Intelligently, the Canaanites made the walls surrounding the city over 30 meters thick. These casemate walls made it virtually impossible for anyone to penetrate the village. Secondly, even without the use of modern power tools, they were able to tap into the water table by manually digging over 40 meters through bedrock. While there is no doubt these people were nifty (not to use a play on words), some may say they were also inhumane. The Canaanites had many slaves working inside the walls of the city. Also, many of the “lesser” beings of the town, such as prostitutes, were given homes inside of the defensive wall where the rooms could be more easily destroyed.

In the Torah portion Lekh Lekha, God tells Avram to go to the land that he will show him, all in exchange for a brit, or covenant. Avram (who later becomes Avraham) packs his bags and travels place to place looking for this land and a place to settle. Along this journey, Avraham looks for the five D’s that stand for what you need for a well-established civilization. The five D’s are Drink, Diet, Defense, Deals and Deity. In a place such as Gezer, Avraham would find Drink, a big well. He also would find lots of food (Diet), a great security wall (Defense) and lots of opportunity for trade outside of the city entrance (Deals). However, Avraham failed to find Deity. In the city, Avraham found a series of altars where sacrifices were held. Unfortunately for Avraham, these people were polytheistic. Avraham, though, would only pray to one god.

In Tel Gezer, archaeologists found many artifacts that gave historicity to the site. In the area, archaeologists found a large shard with writing on it, an ostracon, with a calendar on it. This calendar showed all of the harvest festivals which were extremely important to the Jews. On the same tablet, a few stray marks can be seen indicating that perhaps a child was practicing writing. This may show that this ancient Jewish civilization valued education (the calendar was anachronistic, as it was found from the time of King Solomon, about 1,000 years after the Canaanites). Archaeologists also found an Arab village nearby called Charab Jazal, which sounds very similar to Gezer. Lastly, as mentioned earlier, archaeologists found huge idols where people made sacrifices to the gods. This is extremely similar to the story in the Tanakh when God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. This connection leads me and others to believe that it may have been a tradition to sacrifice children. In conclusion, how do you think that the attempted sacrifice of Isaac affected the relationship between Avraham and his son? Also, was this attempted sacrifice justified because god sent Avraham to do it?

Welcome to the Kitat Dov Blog!

שלום and welcome to the Kitat Dov Blog. Here we will share the experiences of our טיולים tiyulim as well as periodic homework assignments. I'm very excited that our adventure together has begun and look forward to reading your posts. תודה רבה!