1985-1986 Rothberg Yearbook

Summer Tiyulim
Over Ulpan there were many Tiyulim around the
country. From Masada to the Golan, the O.S.A. sponsored
Tiyulim to enlighten the OYPers on the subject of Israel.
Many memories were made through these trips that will
last a lifetim e. Who can forget the candlelit snakepath up
Masada or the sunrise we saw once on top. Our first visit
to Ein Gedi witnessed the charred remains of the fire that
destroyed the nature preserve, while our second visit
showed us how nature rejuvenates itself, as the flora and
fauna came to life once again. Climbing up Nahal Arugot
in the middle of the summer was an experience which
brought us the reality of dehydration. Yet we all survived
to enjoy the natural springs and go swimming. These were
all important Tiyulim which helped us learn about the
land of Israel.
In addition to these trips, the OSA sponsored an
“Israeli Society Seminar” . A large group of us went up to
Har Gilo field school, to hear various lectures on Israeli
Society. Som e were on the conflict between the secular
and the religious Jews, some were about the different
tunes of settlem ents in Israel, some were even about
different types of Israeli music. After a day and a half of
listening to lectures we got to spend Shabbat in different
settlem ents around Israel. On the West Bank Jewish
settlem ent of Tekoa, we heard views on why such
settlem ents should exist and remain there. In the
development town o f Yerucham we heard about the
plight of the Sephardic community that lives there. On
the Moshav Kfar Saba we were treated to the good life.
And on the religious Kibbutz we saw how the kibbutzniks
lived communally, in a religious atmosphere. All in all, we
learned a great deal about how different aspects o f Israeli
society live. We shared our knowledge with all the people
on the seminar and continued to talk about our
experiences afterwards. In retrospect it was a Tiyul that
was not to be missed.
Stephanie Zimmer