http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1185893697457

The above address (copy into your browser) is a Jerusalem Post article that a friend sent to me. It's a really fascinating article about how religious kids in Israel want to go out and hit the trail, but because hiking is frowned upon by religious leaders, they die for lack of skills.

One story in the article describes a couple of kids who were going to leave from the Kinneret and hike via Nahal Amud to Meron. Makes sense, as Meron is a religious community. That's the route the Shvil Israel takes; we walked that very path during summer, and had a great time. Unfortunately, these kids died.

Strangley, when we were just beginning that stretch of the trail, we camped out one night with a gang of Orthodox kids from a yeshiva in Petach Tikva. But their school was actually encouraging them to go out on the trail, and they did so with catered meals and armed guards. Clearly they were an exception to the rule; their leaders were doing things right.

I think this quote from the JPOST article has sound wisdom:

"Zionist thinker Micah Joseph Berdichevski was put off by second-century Rabbi Ya'akov's warning, in Tractate Avot, not to interrupt Torah study even to praise a tree's beauty. To be redeemed, said Berdichevski, the Jews should rediscover beauty, nature and the entire universe of which they had been deprived by centuries of exile."

Reading David's writings, it's hard to imagine he felt a disconnect between enjoying nature and worshipping God. I'm particularly thinking about Psalm 19 - "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; their expanse declares the work of His hand. Day to day pours forth speech and night to night reveals knowledge..."

Although I said that hiking in summer can be dangerous, in the north too, but it's still doable. You must follow a very simple rule: "Carry enough water"

Ultra ordox kids are encouraged to hike the land, and summer is the only time they can do it. But they are not getting proper training about simple rules of hiking.

The section from Kinneret to Meron is in the north but those kids are not aware of the dangers going in Nahal (wadi)  Amud.

It's a relatively long stretch with a short hike above a gorge, some 30 meters high. If one is dehydrated and loses concentration for a second, slips

and end of hike.... that's why kids die hiking the INT.

We have every summer at least 2-3 fatalities of ultra ortodox kids and occasionally tourists too, who don't follow basic rules.