A hike in the wilderness of Judah.

I was on an educational trip for tour guides yesterday in the Judean Desert. ( I am a licensed tour guide: see www.elinelkouby.com ) We can choose between several educational trips and this one was for “people who enjoy hiking”.

The Judean Desert has its own reasons from being counted as one. It is a special and isolated small local desert bordering to the highlands of Judah to the east, Wadi Kelt to the north, the Dead Sea to the west and to the south by the Zin river. It is 100 km long and 20 km wide and the reason why it has become a desert has to do with topography. It is located “in the shadow of the rains” as it starts from a height of 800m. above sea level and descends to 400m below.
Many wadis (dry riverbeds during the summer ) cut deep into the landscape from east to west. When it is raining in the highlands of Judah water rushes through them and creates numerous waterfalls as it flows towards the Dead Sea. Some wadis have many small waterfalls while others have a few tall. The tallest one is 350m high.
There are plenty natural caves which have been used for different purposes by man throughout history. Sometimes they have been dwelling places by choice while other times they have served as hideouts.

Wherever we travel in this country the Bible is an obvious source for knowledge and understanding. I enjoy very much the fact that this book is a key not only to the insight of spiritual matters but just as much to the comprehension of a country and its peoples. Therefore it does not belong only to church and synagogue services but has a natural place in any hikers backpack sharing room with maps, sunscreen crème, water bottles and sandwiches.
Having a greater understanding of the land and its peoples will again add life to the spiritual “secrets”. It is as if this knowledge covers the “spiritual skeleton” with "flesh".

Hiking in the Judean Desert is a test to ones physical abilities. My muscles keep reminding me of just that today.
We were a group of about forty hikers and we were sweating our way climbing down and up the steep sides of a wadi. Our guide told us numerous, tragic stories about people who had ended their lives by falling off cliffs or by being washed away by sudden floods. He reminded us that most of them had been trained hikers and that all it takes is one moment of not being concentrated. It seems like the desert demands a certain number of sacrifices every year.

No wonder we had an extra portion of gratitude as we finished the last descent and were standing by the bus as the sun was about to go down. One of the participants was a religious Jew. He asked if there were volunteers in the group to form a “minyan”. (the minimum number of a Jewish prayer group). Soon after there was a group of men with covered heads facing Jerusalem as they prayed the evening prayer.

Elin Elkouby.