The Golan Excursion

On June 18th and 19th Derech Etz Chaim headed up to the Golan to finish the zman. The students were accompanied by rebbaim R' Aharon Katz, R' Sheftel Weinberg and Betzalel Gersten.

On Wednesday we headed to Nachal El Al, a leisurely hike with a waterfall at the center. Here we have Eli Mirlis at the edge of the waterfall looking for a barrel to take the fast way down the gorge.

Below we have Dani Meisels who was snapped posing with some bovines who seem to have no problem handling the terrain on hikes like these.

You really feel in touch with the land, walking the paths of the ancients -- that is until you arrive at the makolet conveniently placed at the end of the long, hot, exhausting hike, stocked with Dora the Explorer ice cream, Fruitie ices and a variety of soft drinks

Following that we had rafting and kayaking at Kfar Blum. For some reason the yeshiva boys were not content with staying in their rafts for to long.

Thanks to Mordechai Birnbaum, Zac Eisner, Daniel Sokol, Sam Ash and Daniel Robbins for making sure that everyone, including R' Sheftel and Betzalel were tossed out of their boats and into the water.

We slept over at a campground for a barbeque. Thanks to Danny Aronovski, Josh Gersten and Akiva Keningsberg for setting up the barbeque and cooking all the food. The were properly rewarded by R' Sheftel for preparing his steaks with steaks of their own.


Thursday was Nachel Yehudiah. A scary moment in the beginning when as we were coming in a rescue team was carrying out a man who had fallen. The rescue team formed a human chain to carry the stretcher out of the steep canyon.

After applauding the rescue workers, we descended to the first water spot and enjoyed jumping from the cliff into the deep water below. Betzalel demonstrated a textbook dive off the cliff for the yeshiva boys in preparation for the Beijing Summer Olympics.

The second cliff jump was closed so we all had to take the ladder down. R' Sheftel and his "magical powers" allowed him and his children to float over the deep water on an inflatable raft.

Our final stop was some swimming in the Kineret beachside on our own private beach. One could see how far the water was from the beach, indicating the massive beach erosion and low level of the Kinneret over the years.

The Trees and The Forest: Lag B'Omer

At Derech Etz Chaim, we constantly instill in our students the need to find a proper balance in their life between Torah and Derech Eretz; between Mitzvos Bein Adam L'Makom and Bein Adam L'Chaveiru; between "Im Ain Ani Lee -- Me Lee" and "K'sheani L'Atzmi -- Mah Ani" (Avos 1:14)

As you can see, sometimes the boys take us a little too literally.

Usually the boys gaze into the Jerusalem forest from their dorm rooms and balconies. Once a year we take them into the forest on Lag B'Omer to our special secret spot in the woods. Thanks to alum Zac Eisner (Year 6) who led the brigade into the forest to search for firewood and erect the bonfire. Thanks to Eli Mirlis, Daniel Aronovski and Mordechai Birnbaum for manning the barbecues. Thanks to Shifra and Yoni Katz for bringing enough marshmallows for everyone.

After Maariv and the Rosh Yeshiva counting the 33rd day of the Omer we lit up the night. Within minutes, the intense heat pushed the boys back to gaze at the flames from afar. Alum Yaakov Rose (Year 8 & 9) serenaded us with tunes on his guitar (obviously, he has been practicing since he left yeshiva) and the voices of the yeshiva boys carried through the night.

Here is a shot of the bonfire. The boys found some sort of chair-bed nearby and tossed it into the fire. As shana alef student Ari Leskowitz quipped, "It looks like a roller coaster ride gone haywire"