Israel, Succos 2006, Part 2

Friday night was also the start of Succos, with lots of delicious food in the Succah, and Saturday gave me a good chance to rest and talk with the children. The quiet ended with sundown and a rousing concert in the Succah. Howie and Yosef played guitars, Nechama, the oboe, Yehuda, the clarinet, Binyomin Dovid the drums, all to the accompaniment of Moshe on his electronic piano. The less musical chimed in with tambourines and a variety of simpler instruments.

During the intermediate days of the holiday, lots of Israelis go on various trips, and we were no exception. First, we went down to Tifrach, in the Negev, where Shoshana's fiance Dovy and his family live on a moshav. They're not farmers – they rent out their land to those who are –but unlike Jerusalem, there's lots and lots of space down there. Dovy's family is warm and welcoming, and it was clear their intention was to merge the two families, and the matching ages of many of their children with my daughter's children made that much easier.
After lunch we all changed shoes and set off for the Dead Sea. While I'd swum in its strange waters before, this trip introduced me to something new: walking, sometimes up to my knees, in the streams that feed the sea. The cool water felt delicious on such a hot day as I splashed along, chatting first with this and then with that member of Dovy's family. We left only when it started to get dark, and drove to a rest area, waiting for the moon to rise. At last it did, and our little caravan set off climbing up into the canyons at the side of the Dead Sea.

We'd originally intended to visit some caves, but they'd collapsed, so instead we walked up the canyon by moonlight, the sand white beneath our feet, the rocks rising high above us. We were interrupted only once, by a group of bicyclists riding along, also without lights, wishing us a good holiday as they flew past. At last we reached our destination, a natural amphitheater carved out of the rock. We climbed to the top (well, the little ones kept sliding down and climbing up again, just for fun), broke out the guitars, and had a wonderful songfest, complete with harmony, solos (even BD had one), and much laughter. Finally we clambered down, walked a bit more down the canyon, chatting in twos and threes, and then, realizing how late it was, turned back to the cars and headed for home, arrived in time for a midnight dinner.