Winding Down

The end of our sojourn here in the desert is soon coming to an end.

A couple of weeks ago, Margalit's class held a ceremony celebrating receipt of their first Bible (actually just the book of Genesis) in preparation for the start of their formal Bible studies next year in second grade. Here's a photo of the school rabbi (speaking) and the principal (standing behind him).

Here are Margalit and her friend Ma'ayan with their new Bibles.

After the ceremony, all of the children sat with a parent to officially begin their study to the book of Genesis.

Asher also had a graduation ceremony from preschool.

Visit to the Dead Sea

We also had a chance to visit the Dead Sea. Here are Medad and I floating together. We were both overjoyed to find a place where we could swim and talk simultaneously!

Here's the view of the mountains on the Israeli side of the sea.

Ein Avdat

Shimi, Daniel, and Tali are visiting us for a couple of days. We took them to Ein Avdat, one of our favorite places in the area. (We started at 8 AM to get in and out before the 100 degree noontime heat of July.) The trail follows the riverbed along the bottom of a canyon.

Here you can see the caves along the canyon wall.

Here you can see the water from the spring.

At one point, the trail climbs up steps carved into the canyon wall.

At the top of the stairs, we walked along the canyon walls.

Here is the whole crew.

At the end of the trail, we relaxed in the shade of a poplar grove and looked back at the trail.