What do you like about Shabbat? What do you like about Shabbat?

If you've ever been to a Young Judaea camp on Friday night you may have heard the song/chant "What do you like about Shabbat?" to which each person in the circle replies with what they enjoy most about this day. This week I would have been hard pressed to choose one thing above all the others because it was one of the most satisfying Shabbatot I've had since I've been here.

As I said in a previous post, I made sufganiyot Friday night and schnitzel for the section wide pot luck dinner. Seventy-something Year Coursers crowded into a small classroom in the school to eat what resembled a Friday night meal. Though the dinner itself was very short and not very filling it was nice to see that most everyone had made a point to dress a little nicer. Without being given specific instructions, girls had put on skirts and dresses, guys were wearing collared shirts and kippot. It was also nice to see how most everyone had made an effort to cook something and make some contribution to the meal.

That night, in wanting to keep with the spirit of Shabbat, my friends and I bundled up and went for a Friday night walk through Arad. We ended up on the outskirts of town (not hard to do if you walk for longer than 15 minutes) and decided to be a little adventurous and go out a little ways into the desert. The view in front of us was straight out of a sci-fi movie. The sky had a few clouds in it but was otherwise very clear with more stars shining than I have ever seen back at home. There was a stretch of flat rocky land that ended in a slight incline. We couldn't decide whether we were walking on the moon or should be expecting an alien to jump out from the canyon to our left. Though only 40 yards in from the city, it was eerily quiet and mysterious, as if we had left our own world and ventured into the unknown.

Saturday morning I woke up late to the smell of something delicious cooking in the kitchen. Tal had woken up real early to make a big Chanukah breakfast for everyone. We were all treated to pancakes (including one that spelled out each of our initials), scrambled eggs, oranges and israeli salad. After a leisurely morning our apartment decided to continue exploring the surrounding area. We packed some snacks, water, put on our sneakers and hiked out of Arad. We ended up leaving via the industrial zone, though not especially scenic still very interesting. It was incredibly windy so after hiking up a particularly steep hill most of the girls decided to head back. Ilana and I decided to take the long way home by making a huge curve around the bottom of Arad and entering back into the city on the opposite side. It was so much fun just scrambling up rocks, strolling along and stopping when we found an interesting plant or rock and just enjoying what the Negev had to offer. Our "walk in the desert" ended up being over 3 hours long but it was such a pleasant afternoon, I can't wait for the opportunity to do it again.

After an apartment havdallah, I cooked a dinner of israeli couscous and sauteed vegetables (along with the latkes that Jess had made earlier that day). That night Garin Tzedek organized a big bonfire for any and all Year Coursers in the section (ironically it was in the same exact spot we had been the night before). Even though it was incredibly windy we eventually got a fire started and it was just nice to stand around the warm fire talking and joking with the others in our program.

It was a very good day.