Israel

Well, I wish I was posting under better conditions. An Arab left a construction site on a bulldozer today in downtown Jerusalem and overturned cars and tried to crush civilians. He was shot and killed, but not until after there were at least 2 civilian deaths and unknown number hurt.

The mood on the bus was tense. Many of these participants have never closely followed Israeli news and thus, don't know what happens or what kind of reaction to expect. The Israeli soldiers joined us yesterday for the remainder of the trip. I think this was good so the Americans could see their reactions and discuss with them after the attack.

The trip so far has been quiet and nothing major to write about. Tiberius was neat and due to schedule changes we could only spend a few hours in Safed. Eilat today was beautiful and the beaches and snorkleing were great, but damn it's hot!! The guys from Brooklyn are melting. :) We also hiked Masada pre-dawn to see the sunrise over the Dead Sea, swam in it and in Eilat swam in the Red Sea. It was weird to swim were you could easily cross over into Jordan with a small fishing boat.

We are heading to Tel Aviv tomorrow and then on to Jerusalem. Shabbos at the Kotel should be amazing and I'm really looking forward to it.

Ok, I've got carpel tunnel from tapping this out on my blackberry so I'm signing off.

From your favorite Jewish Redneck, smack dab in the middle of the Negev desert.