Neot Kedumim is a Biblical reserve and our guide was hilarious! He was Jewish and it was really interesting to hear him describe the Old Testament customs and ways of life from the Jewish perspective. A highlight of the morning was a fulfillment of the clipart dream instilled by the sheep image above...
It was so fun! They divided us into two groups and asked us to gather the sheep and lead them to a designated area.
Jordan was yelling at the sheep the whole time and when his group got back our guide said, as he meandered over towards where Jordan was sitting,"Well, this group did pretty well except for the young man who YELLED AT THE SHEEP!!!" Those last four words our guide yelled right in Jordan's face. He startled Jordan and the two sitting on either side of him so bad. Then he grabbed Jordan by the front of his shirt and raised him slowly until he was standing. He said in an intensely quiet voice,"Never do that again. That is no way to be a shepherd!" It was all a show and we were cracking up. And Jordan loved it.
Something interesting our guide taught us is that each herd follows faithfully the alpha female, even to death. He told a story of an alpha female accidentally falling off a cliff and the entire herd (literally hundreds of sheep) falling to their death in suit. He warned us to not blindly follow someone if their actions may lead us astray.
Perhaps the greatest takeaway was how two of the greatest leaders in the Old Testament were shepherds - Moses and David. The attributes needed to be an effective shepherd are also needed to be a great leader. A shepherd needs to know his sheep, care for each one of them, and firmly guide them from behind.
He then shared Psalms 23.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
From there we went and learned about symbolic plants mentioned in the Old Testament. The plant I remember best was the hissop which was used by the children of Israel to put blood on their doorposts in Egypt so the angel of death would pass over them. It was also the plant used to put vinegar on Christ's wounds.
We got to see some Sukkot tabernacles in preparation for the holiday coming up this week.
Also there was a camel...
Then we went to a campground area and made lunch! We built fires and cooked soup and made pita bread :) We joked about how we'd been preparing our whole lives for this moment. Every merit badge, every girls camp led us to this moment of truth. Could we survive in the wilderness? Of course, we're Mormons.
We finished up the day learning about how the Torah has to be handwritten on scrolls to be read in the synagogue. It takes an entire year for one person to finish writing it!
Torah scroll. Can you imagine writing all of that?
I loved how interactive this field trip was. It was great to participate in things that those who lived in Old Testament times would have experienced.
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