Highest Torah Reading in History

By Rabbi Dovi Rabin
Director of Chabad of Fourways, South Africa

Yoni Helper, of Johannesburg, South Africa, brings together an incredible team of 13 guys for the culmination of a long-standing dream to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. The mountain stands at 5,895 meters (19,341 feet) above sea level. Africa’s highest peak – the highest freestanding mountain in the world.

This was the third kosher tour of Kili and obviously that within itself was an incredible challenge. Once the idea came up to put a group together we had to start finding people. Our main goal was to get to 10 and that way we knew we were guaranteed a minyan. Our dream was to take a Torah with us and read from the Torah on the mountain. Life is about dreaming. Who thought in the first place we would be climbing up Killi and to put the cherry on the cake who ever thought that there would be a Torah reading on Kili.

So we set out from Oliver Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg (South Africa), via Nairobi (Kenya) and Arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport, northern Tanzania. Pumped and excited, our bags packed, we were ready to begin our initial climb. At this stage, we still had fresh legs, nervous minds, big hearts and willing souls.

The camp and camaraderie on the mountain was one of a kind. I can’t begin to compare this to any experience I’ve ever been through. The friendships we made, the journey of learning about your real self and the incredible time spent in Hashem’s wondrous creation was very unique.

As we started going higher up the mountain the air began thinning and the climb became more and more treacherous. Firm friendships were already beginning to form. Our Team “Helper” certainly lived up to its name – every man looked after the other like a brother. Every man equal, humbled before Hashem and before this great mountain. This was certainly one of the key factors to a successful climb – “Your Group”. Along the way we had numerous difficult moments where we felt like throwing in the towel, Dizzy spells ,vomiting (symtems of altitude sickness), exhausted, drained, filthy and often wanting to be back at the hotel. Thank G-d for our awesome group of guys, we kept pushing each other along to ensure success of reaching “Uhuru Peak” the summit.

When we got to Barranco camp on Friday afternoon, the second day on the mountain, we faced a number of challenges. Setting up an Eiruv! Everyone thought we were Meshuga!

Sending 2 team members to leave food about 1km up the mountain as we could not carry food on the Saturday when we hiked.

Davening Maariv on Friday night was awesome. Through the first 2 days of the climb we were not able to see the top of the mountain in all its glory. On Friday when we arrived at camp we were in the clouds and could not see the mountain. As we start singing the Lecha Dodi (welcome in the Shabbos Queen) all of a sudden out of nowhere the cloud split and we got to see the mountain in all its glory. The snow on the top was shining from a combination of the moon and star light. It was just awesome…After seeing that we had yet another great opportunity to really appreciate our privilege of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

Shabbos was a day of rest, a day of relief. It was a time to reflect on the past few days, a time of introspection and spiritual growth. We were more than 4000 metres up. It felt as though we could have been experiencing the same Shabbos serenity our ancestors first knew in the wilderness. We truly had special peace and tranquillity that could only be felt in this wonderful enviroment – what an inspiration! What an honour for every one of us to get an Aliyah or an honour at the Torah on Shabbos morning on the mountain.

Sunday morning the climb resumes. Stiff legs. Resolute minds. Strong hearts, Energised souls. The summit nears. BUT boy did we have a challenge ahead of us. I’m still not sure if it’s a good thing or not to know what is coming your way. “The Barranco Wall” – a steep rocky ridge rising about 900 feet above Barranco camp. The climb was extremely tough as we had to navigate our way through the rocks and scramble up some points. According to Chassidic though there is a concept “Every descent requires an ascent” When one goes down it’s in order to come back up (but a lot higher than before the descent). The view from the top of Barranco Wall was beyond exquisite. Once we got there we completely forgot about the difficulty of getting up. This was a life lesson.

Monday morning was a special moment for all of us. The highest known Torah reading ever read. We certainly believe so. We were at 4105M above sea level. It was freezing cold outside as we all made our way to the main tent for Shachris. What an honour and privilege to have been part of such a historic moment.

The rest of that day was filled with a trek to Barafu camp 4600 meters at 15,357 feet it was important to reach camp as early as possible. Barafu camp is the final base camp below the summit.The weather conditions were windy, cold and dry,. The rangers walked around registering everyone who entered the camp.

The rest of the day was filled with some sleep, eating well, hydrating ourselves as we prepare to head for the Summit and watch sunrise from the top of Kili.

On Monday afternoon whilst getting our sleep two Swedish climbers approached our mesh tent. ‘Are you guys Jewish’ they ask. ‘Are you Jewish?’ We ask. This was certainly not an opportunity to be missed, in no time at all these 2 guys were putting on Teffilin! What a moment. We had to climb up to Barafu camp to find these guys and put on teffilin with them. Laying tefillin at 15,000 feet was just special. Blessings around amid the miracles of Hashem’s majestic creation.

A 10pm wake up call and a 11PM start. The final stretch. Shortage of breath, nausea, freezing cold, surrounded by darkness, stars overhead, slow steps and we were on our way to the summit. It was the hardest walk of my life, an endless climb and finally we reached Uhuru Peak just in time for sunrise. Vistas of breathless beauty. 5,895 meters. We made it. Finally at 7-15AM. It was a LONG night but well worth the wait! Photos. Flag planting and a phenomenal spirit. What a sight. The view was breath taking, it just went on for miles and miles.

The way down was a lot easier thank G-d. High spirits, reflections, singing and gratitude to Hashem!

It was finally all over! Weary legs. Enlightened minds. Proud hearts. Exhilarated souls. An amazing, once in a lifetime experience. A dream attempted, a dream achieved and history had been made.

Killi will be in my heart and soul forever. The lessons I learnt on the mountain are carved into my heart and mind. My appreciation for food, water, warmth and love takes on a whole new meaning. On the mountain I truly learnt about how great Hashem is and how small we are. All the titles of CEO, MD and FD are left at the bottom of the mountain. We climbed together as Kili Brothers.

I am eternally grateful to Hashem for giving me this opportunity to see the world through a different pair of glasses and gain a new perspective on life. The trip would not have been the same without my Kili brothers. Thanks guys for the most amazing experience of a lifetime. We came as individuals Kili Boys” and we ended of as brothers and the best of friends.

Thanks to -Yoni Helper, Rob Soicher, Alan Soicher, Mason Schneider, Aubery Schneider, Yehuda Stein, Real Kalmeyer, Simcha Solarsh, Daniel Benjamin, Shaul Rabin, Aaron Popack and Levi Chitrik as we all worked together as a unit, no one greater than the other, to achieve the daunting task of summiting Mount Kilimanjaro.