Shabbat at Keturah

After snorkeling we traveled back to Kibbutz Keturah to get ready for Shabbat. It was so much fun dressing up with my Kellman family and new friends from Perelman. The Friday services were so nice. The members of the Kibbutz all gathered in the synagogue and were happy to be together. We got to see how prayers are done on the kibbutz. We concluded our amazing day with Kibbutz Keturah jeopardy.

Shabbat was pure fun. We woke up to go to tefillah with the lovely members of Kibbutz Keturah. Services were great. I even got to open the Ark with Carly! The members were all very welcoming and included us as much as possible in their service. After services and Kiddush we met with member to discuss the way the Kibbutz works. After we learned about the different committees we were split up into three groups. Each group was a different committee with a different dilemma. We got to discuss and attempt to resolve the issues like the members of the kibbutz committee would. It was cool to hear how the other groups resolved their issues and what really happened. Most of the groups got the same results as the Kibbutz.

After lunch we got to either play sports or relax. While walking to go play soccer, I played with a local kibbutz dog who was just wandering around. I was inspired when I noticed the dog only had three legs, but was still able to run and play with the other dogs. I did not get his name because there was no owner with him, but he reminded me a lot of my dogs Lulu and Waldo. Little did I know that by befriending this dog I would have a new shadow for the rest of the day. After playing with the dog I went and played soccer with the Perelman kids until Kellman kids started to arrive. It was so much fun playing with everyone. After soccer I went with the others to get ready for dinner and Havdallah.

We ended our day with a night hike through the rock village, where people built structures with the big and small rocks. During the hike we stopped to reflect on our trip and were asked to think of our favorite, most meaningful part of the trip.   It was altogether an unforgettable day.

--Olivia Deutsch