By Noam Spira
As a visual learner I am someone who appreciates informal or experiential education. The Nachshon Project’s shabbaton at Alon Shvut was just that. Many of the fellows had never been to that region of the country and had many images in their heads as to what they thought Gush Etzion might look like. Much like people I know who have never been to Israel in general, some expected to see a war zone. Instead of taking us straight to Alon Shvut, Rabbi Zeff and Rabbi Cohen took our group to one of Gush Etzion’s various attractions: Eretz Ha’ayalim, or Deer Land. Eretz Ha’ayalim is a park right near Kibbutz Kfar Etzion which has a petting zoo, a rock wall, ATV tracks, and much more. Our group went on the zip line.
The zip line was said to be the second longest of its kind in the world. It traveled from one mountain peak to the next one, 1312 feet away. I had been on it before when I was 16 but as I looked at it 5 years later, the length and height still felt intimidating. I did however remember that the last time I was there, the zip line went by so quickly and had such a great view that at the time, I didn’t even have time to think about being scared. I waited on line, unafraid, knowing I would be on that zip line for only seconds.
I got harnessed in and hooked up to the zip line. The zip line instructor had to confirm over radio that it was safe for me to begin because he was unable to see the other mountain peak. After that I lifted my legs 90 degrees and was pushed. I sped up to over 30 miles per hour overlooking the Judean hills. I tried to appreciate every moment of the view while it zoomed passed me in an instant. As I approached the end of the zip line I began to slow down. The instructor at the end of the line was worried that I would not make it to the end, so he threw me a rope. Unfortunately, his throw was not as accurate as he would have liked and I came to a complete stop too early and zoomed back to the center of the zip line, dangling around 400 feet above the valley. While I waited for quite some time wondering how I was going to get down, I got some more time to myself to admire the beautiful landscape.
I thought about why we were here. Not Gush Etzion, but specifically Eretz Ha’ayalim. It could be that The Nachshon Project was just giving us a little fun so that we could take a break and wind down from all the intense political talk, but I realized that it was something much more than that. This was not a break, but arguably a crucial part of the lesson. There was so much talk about settlements and politics that it is easy to forget that we were talking about real people with real lives. People have needs such as food, water, and shelter all of which are provided in Gush Etzion. They also have recreational needs, and Eretz Ha’ayalim is one of the many places in Gush Etzion that provides that. It would be one thing to tell everyone that, but the lesson is so much more powerful and memorable when there is an experience to go along with it and the students come to the conclusion themselves. I think that because of this trip, the fellows not only walked away with more knowledge of the “west bank settlements”, but also memories of having fun there.
