Food and Flowers from Yam L’Yam

By Zach Snyder, Ben Levithan, and Josh Rueben

The 160km trek, cut down into four days of action-packed hiking, biking, and swimming. The yam l’yam adventure began at the Sea of Galilee, or Keneret, as the locals know it. With choppy waves, the opening ceremony commenced and the four-day journey was officially on. As we stood amid the crashing waves and drifting debris, we centered ourselves spiritually. Gathered together as one community, we blessed the sacred Keneret water and collected it to join us for the remainder of the pilgrimage. After we swam in the breathtaking waters, we prepared for our bus ride to our home base for the first night. Once established within our cozy campsite, we embraced our well-travelled navigator, Ofer. What he lacked in physical size, he more than made up for ten-fold with his infectious, jubilant personality.

Initially, we were skeptical of the three-and-a-half-day journey ahead, but with the presence of Ofer, our worries melted away in the heat of the blistering sun. Once our negative premonitions disintegrated from our souls, we charged straight through our first endeavor: the night walk. One by one, Ofer led all 27 of us into the mysteries of the sprawling woods. We were each left alone to experience the serenity of nature. Time stood still as our thoughts wandered with the wild boars surrounding us and the darkness enveloped our corporeal bodies. Left utterly defenseless, we were forced to experience life as Adam and Eve once did at the dawn of time. After this spiritually moving experience, we re-gathered as a whole to rest for the night.

Devastation emerged when we woke at 5:00 to begin what we thought would be a brutal hike. After our quick assembly of the camp ground along with some tea and biscuits, we were off for the day. A few kilometers in, we were welcomed to breakfast by a majestic herd of cows. The cows shared their space with us quite politely but got slightly offended when we did not invite them to eat with us so they dispersed into the forest. Breakfast was a little rough to say the least. The creative culinary juices were not flowing, yet there was still hope.

Resuming our hike, we journeyed further into the unknowns of the trees. 5km through, the 5:00 am wake up was catching up on us. Our legs were weakening, our stomachs were rumbling, and our souls were flustered. Ofer had a plan through. We reached the most spectacular shaded area with a splendid view of a tree covered hill. In less than 30 minutes, our collective community devoured rice, salami, tuna, and veggies, then fell fast asleep for our two-hour shnotz (nap). The consensus confirmed that this shnotz was, most definitely, the best in history. Fully recharged but not quite ready to go, we assembled into our navigation squadrons to finish the last 3km independently from adult interference (except when Diego went slightly off the path and Barack had to guide us back). Reaching the last rock was an experience like no other. Each member in our yam’l yam adventure let out a hefty sigh of relief until they realized it was 15:00 o’clock and the sun was at its peak. Arrival at the camp site was relatively smooth and it only got better with the splendid, crunchy, crispy schnitzel. We passed out early in our dewy covered musty sleeping bags.

It sounds unbelievable but it’s true – we got to wake up at 5:45 on our third day. Not only were we better rested, we were elated to have a chance to swim in a natural spring and get relatively clean. With a steep decline to start us off on a slippery day, we reached the stream, and by then the creative culinary juices were on full blast. We scarfed down two loafs of bread and were fully fueled to take spectacular flower photos. With a few kilometers of trekking and many laughs from Ofer about our lackluster hiking skills, we made it to the magnificent natural spring. Though quite chilly, the water was exactly what we wanted. Refreshing and clear, we felt blessed by the water as if it was holy. Our second attempt at making lunch in the great outdoors was far better than the previous day. With a full understanding of our ingredients, we harnessed our inner Gordon Ramsey and created masterpieces. Back on the trail, we powered through our last few kilometers crossing, hopping, and slipping through creeks and over rocks. With a tedious 30 minute incline to finish our hiking endeavors, we summited the mountains that sheltered us for the past 12 hours.

After a brief intermission for the night consisting of about 7 hours of decent sleep, we were up and ready for our last day. Now, Ofer thought our hiking was all over the place, but once he saw our biking, we looked like avid hikers comparatively. Nevertheless, the biking was an incredibly fun and funny experience filled with downhill gliding and uphill struggles. Once at the mediterranean, we rejoiced as Miriam did after crossing the Red Sea. Just as we had began, we gathered at the shore of the Mediterranean and together returned the water we collected at the Keneret into the ocean completing the Yam L’yam extravaganza.

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