Today we got to wake up a half hour late and I think since we had an early night before, everyone was refreshed and ready for the day. Today we went to Yossi’s farm. Yossi is an Israeli who owns a farm in the desert. He has a few ducks, a couple of horses, and a few dogs. The main part of his farm is the olives and grapes that he grows. Our job today was pulling out weeds from the vineyard. These were some of the biggest weeds I’ve ever seen and every single row in the vineyard was full of them. We used clippers to cut them out, being careful not to cut the baby grape vines. It was a great group building project because we were all working together. We had an amazing lunch and then Yossi told us his story and the story of his farm.
This afternoon, we went on the hike in the desert. I love hiking so I had a lot of fun. It was really nice to just walk with my new friends and have a good time together. We ended up at the grave of David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel. He was the one who had the vision of building up the desert so that is where he wanted to be buried. When we got back, Ariel Kotler spoke to us about the importance of remembering Israel wherever we are. Israel is our homeland and it will always be there for us so we have to be there to help the land as much as possible.
Sara Jacobovitch, Alternative Break Participant, Binghamton University
