Our Final Hike in Switzerland

Hello All,

Thursday’s hike: Grindelwald-Pfinstegg-Baregg-Pfinstegg-Grindelwald

We arrived in Geneva well before Shabbos and settled down quickly. We had crossed from Germany into France, well it felt that way. It was only an internal train ride from the German to French region. Our editor had identified shuls in the area when selecting a hotel, so we were set. During our years of innocence and ignorance, we would have thought the mitzvah from this week’s portion : “Choose life and good rather than death and evil” would be superfluous. Now we realize how completely Hashem understood the ramifications of freewill, especially on the soul and spirit.

We davened at the Chabad shul somewhere in Geneva. It was wonderful to find an Artscroll Siddur and Chumash waiting for us as we entered. It always fascinates and comforts us to realize that no matter where one is in the world, the shul services are similar, if not identical. There was little difference from our experiences in Bellevue, Salt Lake City and La Jolla. The Rabbi spoke beautifully. We captured words like Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Selichot, Shabbat and Hashem. For the rest, we were clueless. The beauty was in the whispered words of a romance language, very easy on the ear. At times like this, one realizes that ignorance is a terrible thing rather than bliss.
Window to the Heavens
We left our door jammed with tape as usual upon leaving for shul because we may not use the electronic keycard on Shabbos nor carry it. When we returned, we found the door locked. As we turned around to seek assistance and offer a tortured explanation, a hotel employee appeared immediately and opened the door after understanding our arm gesticulations. Later, we walked along Lake Geneva and stood to cross a road at a traffic light. A female cyclist some thirty feet away beckoned us to press the pedestrian button. How were we to express our inability to do this, in a foreign language? She became irate. We win some, we lose very few in this manner. Reminds us of our visit to Rome some years ago. On Shabbos, the security guard stopped us from entering. After a minute of discussion, he decided: ‘No passports, no entry’. We answered: “On Shabbos, we cannot carry.” He immediately showed us to seats in the shul. We had uttered the keywords.





Our last hike, an elevation gain of a little less than 3000 feet was nine miles in length, grueling in places but always exciting, breathtaking and challenging. One of us thought that it might have been the best hike of all. We climbed a tough trail through a forest to arrive at a gondola station and then headed to Finsteraarhorn and Fiescherhorner, along an open-ledge mountain trail. The latter is the snow-covered mountain that looks like a drive-in theater screen with two horns, the western neighbor of the great Eiger. All week we viewed this stunning slab of rock covered in snow, with admiration—on Thursday, we were stunned by its dramatic facade at close quarters.


The views of the villages from the top were outstanding; sometimes one questions whether we had really climbed to those heights. Given time and constant movement, the result is that the miles accumulate.
We reached a summit and sat outside the restaurant to enjoy the views into the valley, the mountains, waterfalls, canyon and glacier—so much beauty in one place. In the Alps of Switzerland, one can usually find a place to eat, even in the seemingly impossible situations. For this particular establishment, we believe provisions need to be flown in by helicopter.


It was difficult leaving this incredible area—G-d willing, we will return. It has been another period filled with incredible blessings—B’H.

Bye for now,
Jenni and Jeffrey