Yam L'yam

These past four days I, and my whole group, have been on yam l'yam, a four day hike from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee. The hike, done with other Habonim Dror groups, was extremely grueling, though rewarding.

We started our hike off not far from Nahariya and did a short four hour walk, most of which was uphill. Much of the time was spent talking to kids from the other sects of the movement. They had a lot of interesting things to share. For example, the movements in South Africa and Australia aren't Socialist, so they have no kupa system in place (kupa is basically a shared bank account of money we all contribute at the beginning of the year used for spending money). Since they don't have Socialism in their movements, they seem to have less of an emphasis on equality, which is a priority in Habonim Dror North America (or HDNA for short).

The second day of Yam L'yam was the most difficult day. We spent about eight hours on the trail and climbed the second largest mountain in Israel, Mount Meron. From the top of the mountain we could see into Lebanon which looked so different from Israel in that it was barren and treeless. Apparently Lebanon doesn't have strict grazing laws so there are very few trees. The view was spectacular and made the steep ascent completely worth it. That night we camped out on the mountain all together, watching the stars and singing camp songs around a guitar.

The third day we had to hike down the mountain. Personally, I find hiking down harder than up so it was more difficult for me, but the hike was shorter (only around six hours) so it wasn't that bad. Surprisingly enough, the whole hike wasn't too difficult for me and while other kids got hurt or sick, I had none of that misfortune. The third day on the trail was our last full day, so it was the most fun and full of banter. That night we camped out at Kibbutz Ravid, which looked out on the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and Tiberias. It was really beautiful and reminded us of our goal.

Before the sun even rose on the last day we were all up in our sleeping bags watching the sky. The madrichim (counselors) weren't yet awake as we gathered our belongings and prepared ourselves for the last leg of the trail. The path led us through a grapefruit orchard and a banana plantation, eventually opening up to reveal the great Kinneret. Barely containing our excitement, we quickly hiked straight to the kinneret where many of us jumped into the water still wearing our clothes.

Our four days of hiking, of no showering, of waking up at the crack of dawn had finally paid off. The whole experience was overwhelmingly fulfilling as many of us, for the first time in our lives, had achieved an immense physical accomplishment.

The bus ride home was quiet. Upon return to Ein Dor we unpacked a little, threw our dirty clothing into the laundry, and fell fast asleep.

                                                                                (the view from Mount Meron)