Tashlich by the Dead Sea

Since we live in the desert, Tashlich is a little hard to come by. People will say Tashlich by a sewer drain, a sink, or by nothing at all. So even though the widespread custom is to do Tashlich on Rosh Hashana, Abba usually waits until Aseres Yimah Teshuva so he can drive to a body of water, relying on the commentaries that hold Tashlich is meaningful until Hoshana Rabbah

I actually thought I would go with the boys up to the shore of the Dead Sea, but entrance to the beach was 50 NIS ($12.50) a person. So we may do with this view from the parking lot.

On the way there we stopped off in Almog on the way to get gas. The boys wanted to go on the live camel that just sits at the rest stop 24/7 with its Arab owner. Thankfully, the camel was sitting on his legs with his eyes close, so I told the kids, "the camel needs his rest - we shouldn't wake him", but I let the kids get a good close up look from inside the car

Thankfully, there was a playground by the reststop with a cafe, and bunch of tourist traps. Noam was thrilled to "drive the car" and "fly the helicopter". That's what I love. Kids with imagination.



But Elazar at 4 years old seemed to lack 'imagination'. Instead, he exerted his 'intelligence'. After playing for a little while happily, Elazar explained to Abba that he thinks if we put money in the rocket it will work. I suggested that maybe the rocketship was just broken, but Elazar repeated that he was pretty certain if I would put a coin in the slot, the whole thing would start to move. I showed Elazar that I only had bills and no coins. So Elazar said I should get change from the man at the kiosk nearby.



That was when I looked at the clock on my cell phone and said, "It's getting late, we should get back in the car and continue on our trip..."