Our training at Teva is coming to a close and the children are arriving on Monday! I can't wait.

These 3 weeks have been unusually for me in terms of journeys - I have barely left these few square miles, have met few people outside this small community - and yet, intellectually, the journey has been immeasurable. So many of the events and moments that I want to share are spiritual epiphinies - hard and a bit hokey to express in this format. So I will start with more concrete recollections and perhaps continue on to the ephemeral ones.

This community is small - a bubble smaller than that of Kibbutz Ketura or Vassar - but I don't feel closed in. True, we are particularly undiverse from a first glimpse - but in spite of all this, and the lack of phone, television, newspaper or regular internet access, I do not feel antsy.
To underscore just how surprising this is, let me try and describe the communtiy here.
The staff has three parts - teva - those of us who work in education, Adamah - the peple who work the grounds and the farm - and Eyylat Chayyim - a group that runs spiritual, reconstructionist Jewish retreats.
In short - everyone here is a practicing Jew, an environmentalist and an activist. We are all people who have chosen occupations that we hope will make the world a bit better - and hope to practice and spread socially aware lives. (I am one of the least "hippy" people here, to give you an idea.) Most of the people have some background in music or the arts, certainly we all love to sing and dance. We're all in our 20s = mostly between 23 and 27. I would venture to say that we are all vote Democrat or green and that most of us hav eplans to go to Israel in the near future.

So - not diverse, right?
In a lot of ways, it's true. It's so weird for me to realize that i have left the "real world" and been almost exclusively with Jews since June. And yet, I have no real complaints either. I find there is so much to learn from the people here, and they challenge me and push my identity as much as anywhere else.

Teva...

I am here at Camp Isabella Freedman, typing from a computer with a view of rhodedendrons, a grove of evergreens and beyond that a lake. Just finished some icebreakers and postermaking with a group of teens from Western Mass. ANd now, the Hazon bike ride Shabbat is about to began. About 250 riders and crewmembers are gathered at the camp. On Sunday, we will leave for Surprise Lake Camp for the first half of the bike ride. Each rider has been asked to raise at least $1000 and I think many of them raised more. The cause? Jewish environmental organizations. On Monday afternoon, we will arrive at the 92nd Street Y in NYC. I'll be cheering and excited to see some friends and family at the finish line too! (hi dad.)

THis week...
As you can imagine, the transition from Tsfat to Brooklyn to Camping was an abrupt one. I had a very difficult last weekend in Tsfat, but felt supported and safe with the Livnot community. After a 26 hour return trip home, I napped, hung out with mom and headed for freedman.
Monday afternoon, we headed for the Appalachain Trail, right in the corner of CT where Mass, NY and CT meet. We hiked in to a base camp about a mile and set up our home base for the week. Each day, we awoke to the sound of our director, Nili, singing Modeh Ani. We held shacharit in our "makom kodesh" -- holy place - - and then had a warm breakfast. THe rest of the day, we hiked and learned about the plants and animals of this region.

Teva, clearly, is going to be a challange - but in the best possible way. I know so little about nature and the environment, yet in a few short weeks I'll be teaching it to children... I've been studying plant species and asking lots of questions. I've also spent a lot of time thinking about how this interest in the natural world is new to me, but also very natural. My brother works for The NAture Conservancy, and I have many childhood memories of my mother recycling, bird watching and shopping at Bread and Circus.

The weather is hard too! It's very very cold here and I have no appropriate clothing. Israeli desert is somehow different from the Appalachain Trail in the almost-fall. (spekaing of which, we say the first few leaves changing! ) Above all, I think that nature reminds us to appreciate the absence of annoyances - how good it feels to not have a headache, to not be cold, to have comfortable feet and a warm bed. So muich is taken for granted in our modern society and I appreciate these things that much more now.

How "hard core" is Teva? It's hard to say. On one hand, it's really nice to be around a large group of people who like to sing, dance and be crazy even more than me. WEe all have headlamps, don't mind being dirty and enjoy using leaves instead of Toilet paper. Still, many of my coworkers are far more hard core than I! (and it's humbling!) When we returned, I wanted so badly shower... everyone else went to bed, and some still hadn't showered 12 hours later. wow. What's more, we are sleeping in bunks about 1/3 f a mile from the showers in the pool house. This ain't the ritz baby, and even for youth hostel bum, me, it will take getting used to.

Still, am happy to be here and have no stress on my mind! ISrael in 07 stilll in the plan... But that's the future. For nwo, it's shabbat, and while I miss the people I collected this summer, I am excited about the new ones I'll meet this weekend.

B'shalom