Shalom TJJ Bus 5 Family,

I am personally not with our group today and will be back tomorrow. My family and I are moving apartments- wish us luck!

Our morning started off with the famous Machteish Hagadol hike (The great crater). Everyone pushed and made it and were very exhausted by the end. Afterwards we went inside the crater and picked up various types of colored sand and concealed it in our own personal bottles that everyone will get to take home. We said goodbye to the Machtesh and went to visit the grave of David Ben Gurion the iconic Prime Minister of Israel.

We finished our drive for the day at Chan Hashayarot, a bedouin village where we would be spending the night in tents!

In Chan Hashayarot we had the chance to learn all about the bedouin people and experience how they live. We had a cultural dinner and heard from Ibrahim, one of the bedouins, about making tea! Sunday evening was also the ideal time and place to experience Jewish Meditation. Jeremy Scheachter, our assistant director, led us in several exercises to help us clear our minds and concentrate. Add on top of the exercises the still quiet darkness of the Negev Desert and it was truly an impactful experience! But then again- I am only sharing what I was told, ask your kids what they thought about it!

Best,

Michael Kahn (Rabbi Mike)

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