Yom Tov and the Dead Sea

Today was one of the most amazing days of my life. Yesterday morning I found out that me and a few other newly arrived students here at Aish HaTorah would be going on a field trip with Yom Tov Glazer. Yom Tov is the kind of guy who could make me give up my entire life back at home and spend the next ten years studying at the Yeshiva. He grew up secular, toured the world surfing, until one day when he happened upon Jerusalem and sixteen years later he’s still here. He exudes spirituality, he doesn’t even have to try to, he just is. So last night we were sitting around the Rova square which is one of the main centers of the Jewish Quarter here in Jerusalem, smoking hookah, Benyomin and others were rapping (Ben was in a fairly successful band back in California before he got tired of his physically fulfilling but spirituality empty life) this place is crazy. It’s a mix between a college campus and the holiest place you could ever imagine. It’s an amazing mix of energy that I doubt I’ll tire of quickly. With an adventure planned for the morning I called it a night and went to bed. I awoke full of verve. I grabbed my Teffilin and Siddur and headed to the Kotel. With my morning prayer done I headed for breakfast and our adventure soon began. We headed out of the Old City, through East Jerusalem, it’s bizarre because the Israelis recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem and yet the city is in no way complete. No Jew’s exist in the East and to go there is not just foolhardy but very unsafe. We passed the Mount of Olives (religious Jews believe that when the messiah comes, those buried in the Mount will get to walk with the messiah into the gates of heaven) and through the tunnel. With Jerusalem behind us we drove, as the scenery passed by, I was struck (not for the first time) with the unbelievable beauty of this place, it’s indescribable. We drove down, down past sea level until we arrived. We hiked though the brush, until we arrived at the spot Yom Tov had in mind. The first order of business was a through rub down with the mud on the flats; it’s incredibly smooth and great for the skin. Now that we all looked like swamp people we headed off. There was a cliff and a deep pool and after a little convincing (and watching, one crazy Aussie and one crazy Rabbi do it first) I took the plunge. It’s an amazing feeling running as fast as you can off a cliff into the salty waters, I quickly scrambled up the cliff ready for more. Then it was off to the hot springs, the Rabbi quickly engaged us in conversation (not the first or last of the day for sure) talking about life, the pursuit of wisdom and about our own person journeys to Israel, it was special. It’s in many ways a completely selfish pursuit; most of our usual energies are focused outwards, changing the world in various ways. The word Israel is derived from the story of Jacob, Jacob on his way home to the land of his father Isaac, knowing he is about to be confronted by his older brother Esav. Esav has raised an army in order to prevent Jacob from returning. The night before the encounter Jacob spends the night alone in his tent, when an angel enters, Jacob struggles all throughout the night with this angel, until as day is dawning the angel blesses him and gives him a new name, Israel the word literally means spiritual struggle. And much like Jacob all of us here are engaged in our own spiritual battles. We then proceeded to our second to last activity of the day: sensory deprivation. With ear plugs firmly in our ears we wadded out into the Dead Sea, relaxing our entire bodies and closing our eyes the only thing to focus on was the sound of our own breathing. It is an experience I will never forget. After a satisfying lunch it was time to head back to the city of light. With my skin feeling wonderful, and tired out from the days activities here I am again. I often wondered why exactly I decided to pick up a life I loved to come to a foreign land, in moments like this I know exactly why. Eretz Israel.