Derech Hateva ( he, דרך הטבע, lit. ''Path of Nature'') is an educational organization in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

that integrates nature hikes and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

learning.

History

Derech Hateva was founded in 2002 by Yael Ukeles, a New York native and outdoor educator. The program was created connect Jews with Israel and to stress the connection that exists between Judaism and nature. The organization began as an outgrowth of Ukeles' earlier program Teva Adventure and was incubated by SPNI (

Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel ( he, החברה להגנת הטבע, ''HaHevra LeHaganat HaTeva''), or SPNI, is an Israeli non-profit environmental organization working to preserve plants, animals, and natural environments that repr ...

) for its first years. Derech Hateva is modeled after environmental programs in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

National Outdoor Leadership School NOLS is a non-profit outdoor education school based in the United States dedicated to teaching environmental ethics, technical outdoor skills, wilderness medicine, risk management and judgment, and leadership on extended wilderness expeditions an ...

and

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organizations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt and Kurt Hahn in 1941. Today there are organizations, called schools, in over 35 countries which are att ...

. The idea is to create educational opportunities by placing participants out in nature without modern conveniences, creating self and group reliance. The first two summers were only open to

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

Jewish teenagers. In 2007, it opened to young people from multi-denominational backgrounds in multiple sessions.Program Lets Teens Find 'Way of Nature'
Michelle Mostovy-Eisenberg, May 15, 2008, Jewish Exponent

Programs

The main program is the Israel Trail Teen Adventure (ITTA), a month-long hiking program covering some 215 kilometers in northern and southern Israel. The program is divided into gender-segregated groups with each group operating independently. Elements of the program include hiking and biking in areas mentioned in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

along with development of outdoor living and leadership skills. Participants are taught map-reading, setting up camp and preparing meals, combined with swimming, rock-climbing and other outdoor pursuits. The participants keep

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

and observe

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

, exploring

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

through relevant biblical texts on topics relating to nature. Other programs include smaller trips and educational programming covering topics such as

water conservation Water conservation includes all the policies, strategies and activities to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, to protect the hydrosphere, and to meet the current and future human demand (thus avoiding water scarcity). Populati ...

education and wilderness

halacha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

(Jewish law). The Derech Hateva program goals are to integrate teaching of outdoor skills, ecology, Leave No Trace ethics and Jewish learning.Derech Hateva website
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derech Hateva Jewish education in Israel Judaism and nature Jewish educational organizations Judaism and environmentalism Organizations established in 2002 2002 establishments in Israel Environmental education Education in Israel Outdoor education organizations Hiking organizations Words and phrases in Modern Hebrew

History

Programs

See also

References