Scout's Honor and the Cave of Courage

• The twins go on a trip with Israeli Scouts. There is a considerable amount of description of the landscape, plants, and animals of Israel, and explanation of the ancient Jewish history relating to the various caves they visit.
• Dana, one of the Israeli Scouts, likens Josh to his biblical namesake, explaining that Joshua led the army to scout out the land.
• Josh and Nate are in Israel over Hanukkah. Hanukkah candles feature in a cave rescue, and there is a Hanukkah celebration at the end of the expedition.

Josh takes Nate’s place in a dare and is punished for his actions. He accepts the punishment without resentment even though he was only trying to help his brother, who was afraid. Later, he rescues two children without thinking of the potential consequences for himself. Though he wants to be considered brave, Josh comes to realize that being selfless and kind, as his friends describe him, is just as important.

The children are accompanied on their trip by a guide who carries a gun. There is a scene in which Josh is afraid when he sees the gun, and his cousin explains that it’s the law and is in place to keep the children safe.

Josh goes into the cave instead of Nate because his brother was afraid. But afterwards, the other kids are annoyed with Josh, and Gabi punishes Josh and not the others, even though all the kids were playing the game. If you were Josh, and you knew how people would react, would you still have taken Nate’s place?

There are five Scouts organizations in Israel, all of them co-ed, and 90,000 kids belong. The Hebrew Scout Movement, Tzofim, was the first Zionist youth movement in Israel and is the largest youth movement in the country. It was founded in 1918, during Passover. Tzofim was the first egalitarian scouting movement in the world. The Israeli Scouts movement became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1951.