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| A Nubian Ibex on the background of the Great Crater in the Negev |
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| The Tzin ravine in the Negev |
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| A large rock in the Timnah Valley in the Negev |
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Cantor - Boaz Pnini |
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Israel Ramble letters
March 30th 2012
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 Dear friend,
The Negev is 13,000 square kilometers desert in the south of Israel, constitute about 60 percent of Israel area. I can remember a trip, quite few years ago, when we drove in a large bus through the night, reaching the Negev desert before sun rise, and then the intense quiet of the desert, it was very evocative. We climbed in a long line, on a chilly early morning, before the desert begun heating up, helping each other to overcome steep curves on the ascending twisted narrow path.
Photos featuring small parts of a great and splendorous desert, the Negev.
Have a peaceful Shabbat,
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| Some more Kibbutz madness, or is it?! |
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A drawing of Degania 1934 by Ludwig Blum
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So... they have been honing their agriculture, ideological, singing and dancing skills in that legendary farm, the kinerert agricultural farm, the nursery of ideological disputes. One of the most famous of Israeli songs was written about that place, "v'ulai" (and perhaps), it was not written
(only) about the lake as many think.
Finally they, the Romni Commune, agreed to accept a permanent placed, somewhat reluctantly for they were apprehensive lest they will become "kulaks" themselves, "Kulaks" where the Russian land owners, possessing the means of production, the fat satisfied men who care only about their own, and thus the archetype for all these pioneers detested. They wanted to be the path finders of a new way of life for Jews and human beings
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Degania Alef is on the top left corner
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at large.
Finally they relent to receive the land on the condition that the land will not belong to them but will be national land. They wanted to see if they can actually make the second and third steps of that pioneering dream and not only a start, could they stop being "The Wondering Jews"?!
The irony is that nowadays when many kibbutzim would like to privatize their land, they are not allowed to do so because in their early days they gave their land away to the JNF (Jewish National Fund) for ideological reasons.
Thus on October 29 1910, Degania, the first Kibbutz was founded, with 10 young men and 2 women, right on the south of Lake Kineret, where lake kineret in pouring out into the Jordan River.
They lived together, ate together, worked together, grew cage free chickens, attended their cows, ate lentils with this and lentil with that, and above all discussed the minutia of life until the small hours of the night, like who is going to use which mule tomorrow, apparently it was exhausting, but the mission was above all.
The first Kibbutz wedding took place 1912 by the lake. After the wedding dancing, at 1:00 am in the morning, the bride is going to work with the cows, what else?! The 1st child was born soon, they had no idea how children are going to fit into this new way of life, so they simply decided to stop that nonsense and stop having children, they will simply not allow marriages for 5 years, until they will get clearer on the matter. Of cause the very person who initiated that decision, Simon Dayan was the first to break it, when he fell in love with a young woman (Devorah), married and then left the Kibbutz to establish a new form of settlement, the communal village, but that is another story.
Of course Simon and Devorah Dayan where the parents of the famous Moshe Dayan.
More on that early starts and (seemingly) madness, on a future ramble, stay tuned.
Boaz Pnini
Bridges 2 Israel
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Hitchhiking in the holy land
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The Winery
my favorite place in Gush Etzion, it is a family owned business with their own vineyards around and a restaurant inside the building |
So you think that taking hitchhikers is optional? Not so fast. When visiting Israel I stay at my parent home in the mountains of Judea near Beth Lechem, in what is called Gush Ezion (Ezion Conglomerate of settlements) and giving rides is almost an imperative. For many people that is their way of transportation.
2 months ago I stopped in a bus stop to take some hitchhikers, I thought I took 2 only to realize few miles down the road that when I was not looking a 3rd one snuck in, it is a dodgy business, pan intended.
On a different day I stopped for a woman in her twenties and thought it is going to be just one more of this quiet rides with a passive passenger not really wanting to engage, still waking up from a night sleep maybe. But it was not. We had a very vivid conversation. She told me about her challenges being the only orthodox women in B'tzalel, the famous liberal art school in Jerusalem, and how she had to keep her principles and observances among people who are so different to her. They even went to Daramsala in India, which for her was a whole new world she found fascinating and so different from her world. So you never know what you will get when you give rides.
On a different occasion I gave a ride to an 18 year old who actually was born in Hebron, for her it was simply home, the most natural place to be, and did not have for her much political meaning.
The queen of all hitchhikers is my mom. She is trying to convert the whole industry, if you like, to a more considerate one, where hitchhikers hold a sign telling the drivers where they need to go. She developed the art of hitchhiking to a new level. She always holds a sign in her hands telling drivers what her destination is.
If you want to show the hitchhiker that you just drive locally then you point your finger downwards, it is happening so fast that sometimes until you get a response you have already past the hitchhiker.
In one of my trips my mom took me to a small place in the middle of the Gush called " The Warm Corner", where middle age matronitas are volunteering around the clock to provide cakes, coffee and a resting station to young soldiers who serves in the area. It is quite homish. I told them I was a soldier many years ago, so I was qualified for a piece of cake and coffee, always use your cards, whatever they may be.
Boaz Pnini
Bridges 2 Israel
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Lake kineret corner
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The Kineret lake is 141 centimeter above the red line and keep rising. There is some rain forecasted for Sunday. So all is well.. The person who measures the level must be back to work as the reports are more regular now. Maybe he was a bit sick last week.
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Philosophically speaking
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Whats the point in always reading books supporting our views, watching movies we already agree with, reading newspapers that coraborate our opinions, talking only with people who thinks like us, we already know all that. The point is from time to time to try getting into the head, feelings, perceptions that are not like ours.
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