LAST CALL AT THE OASIS presents a powerful argument for why the global water crisis will be the central issue facing our world this century.
Tag Archives | water
Riding for Peace and the Environment
by Misha Zinkow, Israel Rider, November 2010 On October 25, after bicycling from Jerusalem some 300 miles into the Negev and Sinai Deserts, 120 Hazon riders were rewarded with a stunning descent into Eilat, Israel’s southernmost point. Although the ride, the preparatory day and debriefing day spanned only 8 days, my journey in Israel included three Torah portions, Lech-lecha, Vayera and Chaye Sarah, and each parsha offered me a gift and an insight for the ride. Lech-lecha is the story of God’s challenge to Abraham to leave his hometown in Mesopotamia, embrace the radical theological notion that God is one, and to take that message west, all the way to the shores of the Mediterranean. The Torah portion begins with the words “Lech-lecha,” an unusual alliterative phraseology. (more…)
Ba Midbar – In the Wilderness…
Leviticus 26:3-27:34 A few years ago I went hiking with friends and with a Bedouin guide in the area around and behind Santa Katerina, in southern Sinai. Sinai is an extraordinary place, raw and grand. The peaks are majestic and whistling cold. The wadis are full of hidden crevices, shade and light, little crawly things, small shrubs and unlikely greennesses. On a hot day, moving slowly, we rounded a corner and came upon a pool, translucent blue, still in the windless day, ice-cold despite the heat. As we read parashat Be-Midbar, and begin the book of Be-Midbar, that hike and that natural pool provide insights into two important questions: why was it necessary for the children of Israel to spend so long in the wilderness? And what message should we learn from that today? (more…)
