Israel Teaching Fellows-Be'er Sheva/ישראל מלמדת את הבחורים - באר שבע: Shabbaton

Another great opportunity I got to have two months ago was going on a fun Shabbaton with Ben Gurion University, Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University, and IDC College and University. I ended up seeing some of my Canadian friends, whom we have our British friend, Alasatair as a mutual friend (the friend I knew while living in Montreal. Yes, this Jewish world is extremely small!).

If you are not familiar, Shabbaton's are usually low in cost weekend long trips to some place. Universities have them back in the States as well.

On this trip, we left very early in the morning on a Friday and met some of the other students in central Israel in a town called Beit Shemesh. There we went ATVing. I went ATVing while living in Tennessee, but not like this! I actually got to drive this time! It was probably one of the raddest experiences I have had! I went with my friend David, and we switched so he could have the chance to drive back to the ATV center.

Gettin' my game face on!

David and I ready to tear up some dirt!

Watch out Israel!

Our crazy leader who did mad tricks in front of us while we followed him!

When we arrived back at the ATV center, more students arrived, the second wave of students to go ATVing, since there aren't enough for all of us to do it at once. There, I ended up seeing my two Canadian friends that I didn't know were going to be on this trip!

Me and the Canadians Ashley and Michal!

We then went to a Kibbutz to see Samson's Brewery. Even though I don't really drink anymore, I had one sip of each specialized beer we got to try. They were quite tasty and are only sold on this Kibbutz so they are quite special!

We then headed down south, past Be'er Sheva to a place called Mitzpe Ramon. There we got ready for Shabbat, had services, a nice Shabbat dinner, and then for the rest of the night had snacks, drinks, chatted with new friends and while some people went on a walk to the crater (that I would see the next day) I stayed back and chatted with friends.

This was such a beautiful sight to see on our way south. How this doesn't symbolize something bigger than us, I don't know what else to think.

The next morning we had breakfast then had group talks, separated by boys and girls. My group's topic was whether or not following the Torah about the laws of how dating and marriage works and why is it a good idea to follow them in the 21st century. It was a really thought provoking discussion and made me really think out loud about questions I've had about how traditional Jewish marriages work.

After the talks all of us went on a 20 minute walk to the Mitzpe Ramon Crater. This is Israel's answer to the Grand Canyon, a large area that has eroded away over time due to volcanic and weather related activity. It was so beautiful and majestic to look at, that is until it started to rain! It was freezing! So, after a bit, we all headed back to our hostel we were staying at. Then, we had some food, Havdallah (prayers to end Shabbat and welcome the new week) packed up, and headed back to our respective schools/towns.