Neot Kedumim

We went on a field trip to Neot Kedumim today. Neot Kedumim is a Biblical Landscape Reserve. It was very interesting. (Left - here is half of my class herding the sheep and goats). We had a wonderful guide who led us through the reserve helping us to better understand many things that have to do with the Bible. We began our day by herding sheep and goats. That was very interesting and instructive. One thing that we noticed is that when sheep and goats are together, there is always one goat that leads. If we wanted the entire group to move, we needed to get that goat to move. But how do you get a goat to move? Well, in our case it took prodding and bribery, but we managed to get the hang of it. Our guide informed us that when there is a shepherd, he gets to know that goat very well. (Right - me at the well. It worked for the Rachel in the Bible, but not for me, I didn't meet my husband at the well. Too bad, I guess I'm not going to get married!) The goat will lead the herd while the shepherd is behind watching out for the stragglers. The goat will keep looking back to make sure that it is ok to keep going. The shepherd will throw his staff to let the herd know where to stop. (Left - eating my homemade pita). It is quite amazing and I wish we could have seen that in practice.
I don't really remember the rest of the order, but along the way we stopped to try several kinds of plants. We tasted a salt tree. The salt tree acts as a natural air conditioner in the desert. We tried almonds, though those were not fully formed into nuts. In the earlier stage, you can eat the entire fruit, furry covering and all. I didn't like it. We also ate salt plant, tried a berry from a thorn tree, and picked marjoram and mustard. We also had some major stops. We stopped at a well (which is really a cistern, but for our purposes, we pretended it was a well). (Right - inside the tent where we had lunch). There we reenacted the story of Eliazer meeting Rebekah at the well. We all got to try drawing water and that was definitely enlightening. For Rebekah to have drawn the water for Eliazer and his 10 camels, she would have drawn water some 300+ times! And pulling it up once is no easy business. It is possible, but I can't imagine choosing to draw for a stranger and his animals when it would take so much time and strength, especially in hot weather.
We stopped at a Bedouin tent where we ate lunch and then made pitas over a fire. After lunch, we learned about scribal work. It takes an entire year to copy a Torah scroll. Then two people have to check it to make sure there are no errors. There is a traditional ink made out of pomegranate skin, almonds, oak gall nuts, a little water, and copper sulfate which is then cooked over a low heat to thicken it. (Left - our Torah scribe. He read from this 200 year old scroll, handwritten on deer skin). Smaller scrolls are written for the door posts. If an error is made, the entire scroll must be redone. For the Torah scroll, there is a way to correct mistakes. The man demonstrating also chanted the Torah for us. It was very interesting and sounded similar to Koranic chanting. That man is from Yemen and they are considered to be the ones to chant the Torah most correctly.
We also went on a train ride. There we saw how the landscape changed as the Israelites moved in. They went from shepherds to farmers. It was very interesting. I think my trip today will be very helpful in my understanding of the scriptures as I continue to study throughout the rest of my life.