Tiyul with a Tanach (II)

I get the impression that a "rant" implies a strongly worded, oft-repeated, negative post. So consider this a "positive rant." I know I've said this before but since it's my blog and since I feel very strongly about it, I thought I'd say it again...

Over Chanuka, my family and I took a tiyul to the Dead Sea. We stayed with my cousins in a very small yishuv overlooking the Dead Sea. (To get a sense of how small it is, when I got there, I made the minyan... together with another guest!)That in itself was an incredible experience.

We walked where Avraham and his nephew Lot split (Bereishit 13), where the battle of the 5 kings against the 4 took place (Bereishit 14), where Avraham argued with Hashem to save S'dom (Bereishit 18), where the angels stay with Lot (Bereishit 19), where the tribe of Yehuda lived (Yehoshua 15), where David hid from Shaul (Shmuel I, 23), etc. etc. etc. (not to mention where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947).

It was a great, fun trip for a lot of reasons. But I simply cannot say enough how special it is to take a vacation - with a Tanach - where every step has religious and spiritual connotations.