Where the Spirit Soars
It didn’t take many nights of guard duty and nightly feedings for Eli to realize that being a shepherd is demanding work. That said, what does a shepherd do with the hours spent in pasture? Well, some of the time is spent davening. “Davening as the sun rises is certainly an elevating experience,” says Eli. And there’s always some time to learn. Eli hopes to finish Maseches Megilla in time for Purim.
Today
When the Beis HaMikdash is rebuilt, there’ll be a great demand for sheep to bring to Jerusalem as korbanos. “Perhaps we’ll be able to meet that demand,” says Eli. “Sheep designated for korbanos must be unblemished. Although our sheep are tagged so that we can track them, and tagging invalidates the sheep for korbanos, we always have a number of lambs that are untagged. Perhaps we’ll use these.”
Today, Eli, who was married in October, lives in Ramat Eshkol, in northern Jerusalem, with his new bride, Esti (nee Tenenbaum), originally from Chicago. He divides his time between learning in kollel in Jerusalem and shepherding. “I didn’t believe Eli was a shepherd until I saw the photos,” says Esti, who is studying for her master’s degree in social work. “I fully support him,” she adds. But she admits that she has yet to join him in the early morning hours to watch the sun rise over the their flock in the Shomron.