Rabbi Mark Cooper of South Orange with his son, Yoni, on the Shvil Yisrael, Israel’s equivalent of the Appalachian Trail. The inaugural Heschel Hazon Hike was organized by Hazon and by Israel’s Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership. Photo courtesy Rabbi Mark Cooper
April 03, 2008
Six New Jerseyans were among the 29 participants in a three-day hike meant to raise awareness of Israel’s environmental challenges.
Turtles, swallows, goats, wadis, mountains, and an organic farmer were all part of the inaugural Heschel Hazon Hike, held March 27-29. It was organized by Hazon, the New York-based Jewish environmental group, and Israel’s Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership, which also provided educational opportunities for the participants.
Among the hikers were Rabbi Mark Cooper of Oheb Shalom Congregation in South Orange and his son Yoni.
“This has been my most unusual, and in many ways most memorable, visit to Israel in my life. I’ve learned about hiking, gained a new commitment to exercise and fitness, and seen my love of Israel enhanced and deepened,” wrote Rabbi Cooper in a travel journal he kept through the four days of the hike.
The trip, requiring fund-raising on behalf of the Heschel Center, became Yoni’s mitzva project. Yoni, whose birthday is the same day as Israel Independence Day, will celebrate his bar mitzva in May.
“When [Yoni] heard he would have the opportunity to do something for sustainability in Israel, he jumped at it,” said Cooper.
Cooper, who has visited Israel numerous times, commented on how different this experience was for him.
Shelley Levine and her husband, Larry Schwartz, of Montclair enjoy the first day of the hike.
Photo courtesy Shelley Levine
“I didn’t go for vacation, to indulge myself, to go out to restaurants and sit by the pool. I really went to concentrate on a particular idea, and that made it memorable. We went for such a short period of time and did so much, and confined ourselves to such a small area. Having this special task made me feel connected to the land,” he said.
Shelley Levine of Montclair hiked with her husband, Larry Schwartz.
“It was the perfect thing for us to do,” said Levine. “We’re big hikers. We love to hike and we love Israel. And this time of year, Israel is so green. There were meadows of wildflowers….”
Levine, a past president of what was formerly known as the Jewish Education Association of MetroWest NJ, said a highlight came late one afternoon.
“We were looking up after a long day of hiking, and we saw swallows teeming in the air — and the birdsongs,” she said.
Another memorable moment occurred when “one morning I woke up at four and heard an animal by my window. It was a wild boar rooting for wild mushrooms outside my window.”
Participants were required to raise $3,600, or $3,000 for a second family member. They hiked along a northern section of the Shvil Yisrael, Israel’s equivalent of the Appalachian Trail, in the upper Galilee region, from Dishon to Kibbutz Ginosar.
Organizers have set the next of what is planned as an annual hike for March 2009. They envision each year sending participants on different sections of the trail, which runs a total of 580 miles.
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