Green hills of the Golan missed

Former Kibbutz Dan volunteer writes:

Hi Mr. Ariel.

In 1989-90 I spent almost a year on Kibbutz Dan. I hadn't really researched it on the internet and decided to type it in and see what came up. Interestingly enough a reference to your web site, Life is a Trek. I can't tell you what a smile it brought to my face to look at those pictures twenty years later. I remember having meals in the dining room and working in the plastics factory. You even included a photo of one of the volunteer apartments my girlfriend lived in (darn near married her!) Those were great days and great memories for me. I still miss the green hills of the Golan and those clear spring brooks. Someday I'll return for a visit. I hope it affected you the same way.

My, you certainly are prolific in your blogging. From time to time I'll look in and see your take on things.

Nelson David Sack
Nevada

Memories of Kibbutz Dan and Operation Desert Storm

The rumors of war were intensifying when American friend John and I moved from Kibbutz Shoval in the Negev down south (not far from Gaza) to Kibbutz Dan in the far north, near the beautiful snow-covered Mount Hermon.

We had lived in the north earlier, on top of a mountain at Kibbutz Adamit on the border of Lebanon. At Kibbutz Dan we were next to Lebanon and Syria. We used to watch the military set off flares (see the picture with steps and the mountains in the background), on guard for terrorist incursions, and thought it would be beautiful, almost like fireworks in the United States, if it weren't so serious. Deja vue... seems like I wrote that somewhere, but who knows where, so I repeat it here.

Kibbutz Dan just before Gulf War

Kibbutz Dan during Operation Desert Storm

Here are some photos of Kibbutz Dan and surrounding areas, like Nimrod's Castle; the orange groves (notice the orange crates with my gas mask (mesuchot gaz) box sitting on top of it, since we were to go nowhere without it - it contained powder to put on any chemicals and brush with gauze so we wouldn't burn ourselves; a needle to punch through our pants into our leg in case of chemical attack, containing atropine, and our gas mask); Kibbutznik Etna Levy in the cheder ochel (dining room) and at work at Dan Sprinklers; some critters like goats and our camel; Tel Dan (mentioned in the Bible as a notorious site of idolatry - I purposely took a leak near it, in biblical fashion, to show disrespect for the idols that were popular there); Druze brothers we worked with; fish ponds (trout) - they had a bigger one where I lost a contact when they drained it to get the fish and they were splashing like mad); and one of my favorites pictures that shows Dan Springs, one of the 3 sources of the Jordan River.

Kibbutz Shoval, a rose in the Negev desert

John and I lived at Kibbutz Adamit, then Kibbutz Shoval in late 1990, and were living at Kibbutz Dan when Operation Desert Storm blew in.

A few honorable mentions of Kibbutz Shoval in my writings:

"I was living at Kibbutz Shoval in Israel’s Negev desert, beautifying the grounds, when I heard that [Meir Kahane] had been murdered in New York by another Arab terrorist. When his funeral took place in Jerusalem, I was honored to attend with tens of thousands of others to show solidarity with what he boldly taught— and as a blond, stood out in the Black Sea of Haredim on TV."
–excerpt from Beyond Babylon: Europe’s Rise and Fall - Chapter 3 - TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES

"Shoval, a rose in the Negev desert, just north of Be'er Sheva..."
- God-given love for Jews

I remember when we stayed at Shoval, how rumors of war with Iraq had us concerned, and how this older kibbutznik man said, "There won't be war. The Iraqis know we're not like the Americans," implying the Israelis would hit back hard and fast. I thought of him later when we lived at Kibbutz Dan and war did break out and we were all huddled in our "sealed rooms" whenever the sirens went off, warning about incoming Scud missiles, taking shelter until the "all clear" was sounded (which we usually heard on the radio from the BBC first!).

We mentioned our concerns to the volunteer leader at Shoval, and she said something like, "If you're really worried about it, we can get you a gas mask" - with the tone that we were bothering her. After all, there had been notices in The Jerusalem Post about the Israelis obtaining their gas masks in case of war.


Here are a few pictures of Kibbutz Shoval volunteers, John's birthday, kibbutzniks, new Russian immigrants (from Tashkent, who gave me a traditional hat worn there), Ashdod, museum/former mosque in Beersheva, couple of Jerusalem, our volunteer trip to Ein Gedi (with Arugot Nahal waterfalls and Ibex) and the Dead Sea. Enjoy!