For any of you who know me, you know that although usually organized and scheduled, when the opportunity presents itself, I’m up for an adventure.

I signed up to take Hebrew lessons again. This time from Citizen Cafe Tel Aviv. Totally different approach, this time it’s just conversation. No books. No conjugations and inflections. Just street talk on Zoom classes with unlimited cafe time (chat room in Hebrew). And fun. Bimonthly they offer interesting talks in English on random subjects like cooking (fermentation anyone?), music, recent film reviews, livestream urban tours, technological developments in Israel, agricultural innovations and geology.

I took a class last Thursday night on the Ramon Makhtesh, a hugely expansive erosion crater out in the middle of the Negev Desert. So so interesting. Only 8 in the world, all in Israel, they are not impact craters (from meteors), but erosion craters.

Along the Syrio-African rift that runs along the length of Israel are tectonic plates. Millennia ago, they shifted. The present desert was flooded with water, grinding down the rock. Eventually leaving behind various strata of sandstone, limestone, marine fossils. There are tar mountains of basalt, deep red iron ore and yellow sulfur deposits as well as white chalk. In other words: gorgeousness!

I got this wild hair…. I turned and yelled at John in the next room,”Honey, can you Google when the Leonides Meteor Shower is?” They usually come around Thanksgiving. “They peak Monday night,” was the response. Mitzpe Ramon, the town at the very edge of the crater is a world-designated dark spot for astronomical observation.

Monday morning we packed our blankets and lawn chairs, thermos, and dog into the car and we were off on an adventure! BeerSheva, where our patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sojourned. I wonder what they’d think of the place now?

Past the Bedouin encampments:

And into the heart of the barren, windswept desert!

We had to get there by sunset… it’s all of 3 1/2 hours, but we kept stopping along the way-

We made a big stop at Sde Boker, the kibbutz founded by first Israeli president, David Ben Gurion. Ben Gurion and his wife, Paula, lived the desert and thought it was the safe spot and key to future Israeli development. He foresaw the day when the Jewish people would learn to irrigate and farm the desert and make it bloom. He wasn’t wrong.

Today his home is a national landmark, open to the public. When we visited, there were only about a million school kids on tour. I was surprised that his home was so modest!!!! And tiny!!!! Like a summer camp bunkhouse. it had a living/reception room, his personal study, teeny tiny rudimentary kitchen and two sparse and small bedrooms- one for BG and one for Paula. He only slept 2-4 hours a night: was always up working, listening to radio news, studying – so Paula had her own quarters so she could get some shut eye. When there was a visiting dignitary, she’d go to a friend’s cabin and the important guest would take her room.

Hurry!!! We need to check in to our hostel!

We found a really remote spot on the edge of the crater. It was much darker than anywhere else (when we first moved to Israel the sky above our home was pitch black and filled with stars. Now, with all the new construction and light pollution, we see very little). John and I – and Haggis, our yappy little long-haired dachshund, sat and waited. We looked up for over 4 hours. The sky was beautiful and the stars many. We named the constellations. We waited. It grew colder. John saw 2 shooting stars. Another hour. I saw 1. So much for the Leonides, although it was a fun adventure.

The next morning we got up early to actually see the Makhtesh. Spectacular!!!!

From Mitzpe Ramon, we made our way back to Beersheva. We kept seeing this bright flaming tower/beam in the distance – both coming and going. So we decided to check it out-

How cool!!! The Eye of Sauron overlooking the wasteland of Mordor from Lord of the Rings!!!! We found it!!!!! In Israel!!! Actually it turned out to be the Ashalim Power Station. Decades ago, Elon Musk that you could take 10 square kilometers in the desert, put in solar plates and generate most of the electricity in Israel.

Ranking as one of the world’s premiere and few thermal solar stations, Ashalim is composed of 55,000 heliostats or solar panels that reflect the sun onto a huge mirror-like “Eye of Sauron” at the top of the tower which absorbs the heat and turns it into electric power.

The Ashalim Power Station used to be the tallest solar plant in the world standing at 240 meters (about 790 feet), the size of a skyscraper. However, it was surpassed by Dubai’s Noor Energy 1, with a height of 260 meters (circa 850 ft). There is another (Israeli built) solar power farm in the California Mojave Desert. The reflector on the tower generates concentrated heat which reaches up to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit (over 500 °C) to spin turbines and generate electricity in high quantity. It generates enough power to keep 120,000 homes (5% of all Israeli homes) for a year fully lit. It’s green, renewable and sustainable. I hope to do a more detailed post on this and other amazing Israeli innovations shortly. All in all, it was an illuminating trip!

Now onto a completely different subject!!! Each year, when the Jewish people read the Torah story of Jacob and Esau, I get creative. Esau, a big burly, hairy, red-headed hunter and the favorite son of his father, Isaac, sells his entire inheritance to his younger brother. Jacob has cooked this amazingly tasty and great smelling lentil stew. Esau comes into the desert tent, after a long day of hunting (ibex???). He tells his brother “I’m dying. Just pour some of that red stuff down my throat!!!” Seriously. It’s what he said. I love it!!!!! Anyhoo- Esau winds up giving away the birthright to Jacob for a bowl full. It must have been delicious!!!

So, last week I worked out my own version: I wanted it MiddleEastern in flavor. With Israeli products. It had to have lentils. It had to be red. And it had to be prepared in a crockpot so I could keep it warm/hot through Shabbat. It turned out AMAZING!!!!!!! So here’s this year’s Red Stuff-

Jacob’s Lentil Stew

Ingredients:

• 2 large carrots
• 2 large onions
• 6 long, thin Merguez beef sausages
• 1 butternut squash
• 2 1/2 cups green or brown lentils
• 10 Medjool dates
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 2 large orange sweet potatoes
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 1 can large chopped tomatoes and juice
• 1 small packet tomato paste (2-3 TBSP)
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 TBSP baharat spice (cinnamon, cloves, allspice, cumin, black pepper, cardamom)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
• Pinch cayenne (to taste)
• 1/3 cup Silan (date syrup) OR 1/4 cup honey
• Fresh dill
• 2 tsp salt

In a large skillet cook the sausages, removing outer casing if necessary. Reserve to plate to cool. In same pan, sauté the cubes of onions and peeled carrots – cubed to bite sized chunks. Chop the sausage into 1” thick coins. Add to crock pot. Chop bell peppers into small cubes. Put into crockpot. Peel and remove seeds from squash. Cut into bite sized cubes. Place in crockpot. Peel and cube sweet potatoes. Into the crockpot. Rinse the lentils well, removing any stones or “dry stalks” and dump in crockpot. Pour in the veg stock (can use all natural bullion cubes) and dump in can to tomatoes with juice. Stir well with a big spoon. Remove the pits from the dates and chop coarsely. Scatter around crockpot. Add the spices and tomato paste. Add the Silan or honey. Stir well. Chop about 1/2 cup fresh fennel and add to crockpot last. Mix well and cover. Set the power to low and let cook for hours (overnight). Can add more water if needed. Freezes beautifully.