THE DESERT -- Why the Negev?

Negev, Road 40

First, a little information on the Negev Desert. Compared to the typical desert (i.e. Sahara) where you see sand dune after sand dune, the Negev consists of more dirt, rocks, and canyons. According to Virtual Israel Experience, the Negev is "highlighted by remarkable landscapes, waterfalls, caves, archaeological sites, cities, craters and a rich history." The desert encompasses more than half the landmass of Israel (roughly 60%), and yet it is only home to about 8% of the population.

The Negev Desert is framed at its borders by Jordan and Egypt, with its southernmost tip being Eilat (port and resort town of roughly 50,000). Beersheva is the larges city in the South, and prides itself on being perhaps the most diverse city in Israel. It has about 210,000 residents, and serves roughly 600,000 citizens in its entire metropolitan region. 

You may say, "Well, all that sounds great, but why choose to live there? Especially as new immigrants?" Here are some of the reasons why we've chosen the south:
                     
Expenses / Employment
Housing and living expenses are significantly less compared to Jerusalem and central Israel (and for those of you who know Jeremy (Kalev) this is for sure a deciding factor :)). Also, there is a lot of development and this makes for thriving employment opportunities -- especially in Jeremy's skilled areas.

Purpose
"The South is Israel's new frontier"
There is an opportunity to make an impact; help develop a community; dedicate yourself to the South and it's continued growth. Some of these reasons are intertwined with a more Zionistic perspective. If you are interested and would like to read more on this point, you can start by visiting this blog post, The Importance of the Negev.

Community
The reasons for choosing to leave the Jewish community we are currently an active part of is not a reflection of the community itself. It is a fantastic community, with great friends, teachers, and educational opportunities for our young children. However, we desire a different physical/tangible environment for our children. First and foremost, we want our children to have to opportunity to experience Israel firsthand, and at a young age. We want them to be able to learn Hebrew, and interact with Israeli culture, without the problems that my husband and I will face that are inherent in moving to a different country at an older age. We want to give them the opportunity to thrive without the hangups of adult immigrants. We also don't want to raise our children in the city -- and yes, to us our small Jewish community in Indiana is still too much city! We want them to be able to in interact with the ground, with the earth, and L-rd willing see things grow from their own efforts. We want them to be able to run around, play, and explore the world around them. We want them to see and touch animals (chickens, goats, etc.) on a regular basis. (And yes, we know this is also all possible in the North, but our reasons for specifically choosing the South over the North is for another post -- this one is already getting long :).)

This is obviously a very basic explanation. We have spent a lot of time researching, networking and speaking with people in Israel, as well as here in the States, to help up determine the best landing spot for our family upon arrive.

Pins on a Map - LOCATION in 3, 2, 1

Merchav Am

We have narrowed our community list down to one! Merchav Am is our first choice. The community is located between Sde Boker and Yeruham, approximately 35 minutes' drive from Be'er Sheva (the largest city in the South), in the Negev (a part of the Ramat HaNegev Regional Council). I'm planning to write a separate post on why we chose the Negev Desert - so if you're interested stay tuned.

Merchav Am is currently home to 71 families and over 270 children! I think there will be plenty of friends for our kids. Actually, our kids played a very important role in choosing this community. We wanted a place that our little ones could run around and play freely with others. I want to be able to open my door and let me kids out to run around and not have to be worried about them constantly. At least I know no cars will be zooming by on a main highway :) Here is a picture of the newly built playground:

It looks pretty awesome to me -- and I'm not even a kid! I know Jeremy (Kalev) will love it -- and I'm sure the kids will too :)

But yes, there is more to Merchav Am then just some sand and a playground. There is also a Synagogue, Beit Midrash(1), mikvah, a makolet (small grocery store), community center, library, day care, nursery and kindergarten. What more could a girl as for? How about evening activities/classes? Those include (as of right now but will probably be different once we arrive) men's night, women's night, zumba, yoga, krav maga, pilates, and more.

Another reason we choose this community was because of its emphasis on wanting to make the desert grow and prosper. They are very "backyard animal" friendly -- goats, sheep, chickens, etc. This is just up our alley. We want the kids to grow up around (and help care for) "farm" animals. We are also excited about beginning some agricultural work in the desert. The community is working on beginning an agricultural initiative and we could potentially be on the front end of this "make the desert grow" opportunity!

Here's a Goggle Map so you can get a better overall geographical idea of where we are thinking of going:


If you are interested in a what a typical day at Merchav Am look like, check out "A Day in Merchav Am" from the Day in the Life Of series by GoSouth NBN.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

(1) Beit Midrash - study hall or "house of study"