In this blog post I share with you another view of Israel's varied terrain and what you can see once you get away from the usual places people visit when sight seeing here. 

We took a tour with the One Israel Fund to the Jordon River Valley. One Israel is committed to the safety and well being of the nearly 500,000 residents of Judea and Samaria . I'll attach the blurb from their website at the conclusion of my story.

We left Jerusalem and went down to the Jordan Valley via Route 449 instead of the usual Route 1. The terrain was different than what you'd see going  down via Route 1. It was spectacular, but I don't have any pictures.  I wasn't about to ask a fast driving bus driver going around a windy downhill road to stop for a moment so that I could take a picture-- as tempted as I was to do so!

Our first stop was at Einot Kedem.  The one picture I took there is of the farm's Mango Orchard. The explanation of  the farm is written on the picture.  It is amazing to see how a young couple-who aren't so young now-took a barren piece of land and made it bloom!

Our second stop was at  Machane Gadi/Mechinat Liel . This young village  of 10 years has 29 families and 80! children. These families are building a community out in the middle of nowhere. In addition to farming and other jobs - some travel to Tel Aviv for work- their special project is to take in teens who are eager to join the IDF but were rejected  because of their drug addiction and other issues. It is the teens who  seek out this community. The community helps these boys "clean up" , teaching them life skills and showing them by example what a healthy family and family interactions, etc. look like.  I didn't think of taking pictures here, but their story is important to know.

Our next stop was at a restricted nature reserve that is along the Jordan River.  Note the picture of the swarming birds at the top of a white-ish mountain.

The next two pictures are taken at an overlook at Mitzpeh Jericho neighborhood. At the forefront is an Israeli farm and across the way is the Jordanian mountains in Jordan! One picture is the overall view and the second picture points out what you are seeing.

The last set of pictures were taken on a very high point at Mitzpeh Jerico near  sunset. The rolling hills are the Judean and Binyamin Hills/mountains.    Again, I took a picture to show you what the place looks like and then cropped into that picture  and put explanations of what you are seeing: The Jordan Valley, Dead Sea, Jordan, and housing and business lights in Jordan.

Note that I spell Yericho, Jerico, Jericho and Jordan has some Jordon spellings... 

One Israel Fund:

Since its inception in 1994, One Israel Fund has remained committed to the safety and well being of the nearly 500,000 residents of Judea and Samaria – our Biblical Heartland. As the premier organization supporting these regions, One Israel Fund works tirelessly to facilitate, on average, over 200 unique projects annually, filling gaps in medical, educational, recreational, preventative security and all other forms of communal and social welfare. By working in tandem with community and regional leadership as well as government officials, One Israel Fund enables Jewish life to flourish in all areas of our Biblical Heartland.

Helping to make available a broad spectrum of communal needs, One Israel Fund is a recognized 501(c)(3) not for profit charitable organization, ID# 11-3195338.