I’ve arrived to Arad with mixed emotion. On the one hand, I walked to Arad (from Eilat)! I can’t believe this. On the other hand, the walk to Arad today was the transition out of the midbar (the desert). As I walked the dry yellow mountains turned into green mountains as grass sprouted out from amongst the rocks. I took a moment on the trail and looked back to say good-bye to the desert. I kind of wanted to hug it and say thanks for caring for me and being a rocky road of love.
The Negev is a powerful part of Israel…55% of it! Ben Gurion was smart about a lot, including his love of and vision for the desert. Here a few shades of the desert from the past 3 1/2 weeks:
On Monday, I walked through the last of the craters in the Negev…Makhtesh Katan (the small crater. It definitely felt like the friendliest of all the craterim. It is the most symmetrical and had gorgeous sparkly red purplish sand. The past two days I’ve walked primarily on a Jeep road with mountains on either side.
Today I think I might have walked the fastest I have this whole trip with thanks to my Mom’s Spotify playlist that ranged from two versions of the song, “Thirsty Boots” to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.
As I left the desert I believe it was pretty beshert to hear the lyrics of the song, “Thirsty Boots,” particularly as we head towards the end of Pesach…”Across the planes from field to town/Marchin’ to be free…”
This evening as I walked to the night camp my friend Sonya and I embraced whole heartedly our new backdrop. She rightfully said it was quite nice to see so much color! I definitely felt all of a sudden the hills were alive with color and the sound of music. 🙂
Rabbi Molly G. Kane 