Licensed tour guide David Schoneveld

About David:

I was born in the Netherlands in 1964, and came to Israel when I was three years old with my family of seven brothers and sisters. I grew up in Jerusalem until age 16, and moved to Germany to finish my high school education. I returned to Jerusalem to study at the Hebrew University, and majored in Jewish History and International Relations. After completing my degree in 1988, I continued on to Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, OH, USA and received my MA in Jewish History in 1991.

In 1997, my wife and I moved to Kibbutz Lotan with two small boys at the time, and three years later we had a daughter. I came to Lotan because of my wife who had lived on the kibbutz previously, but immediately fell in love with the place and the desert.

In 2002, I completed the Tour Guiding course offered by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, and became licensed by the Israel Ministry of Tourism. I have been specializing in desert tours since then, and have discovered even more beauty in the desert than I had imagined existed. Between the stories of the cultures that made their mark here, from the geologic history writ large in the mountains and valleys and through particular attention to the interdependence of native flora and fauna I have learned the “Torah of the Wilderness”. Let me share this learning with you and help you discover your connection to sand, mountain and sky in the Arava.

Recommenders:

URJ -The Anita Saltz International Education Center :
Wandering in the desert
RJ youth workers
Students - south America

AACI -The Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel
Beer Tuvia - regional council

Congregation Beth Shalom of Carmichael CA

MJLF - youth summer program
BBYO - youth summer program

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