Month: May 2017

Hey this is Eva and Viola! Right now we are in the airport waiting for our plane while half of the grade is asleep on the floor. We just bought a ton of food to get us through the flight. If you know us, you know we love food 😉 Throughout these two weeks we’ve gone swimming, hiking, been to museums and to the other important landmarks that we’ve learned about in our many many years at Tehiyah. It was cool to see things like the Kotel which before this had only been in pictures and movies to us.  We got to eat a lot of delicious Mediterranean food which of course we had been looking forward to. So many memories were made we both know we’ll never forget this trip. t’was lit.

See everyone soonish,

Eva and Viola

This is Aaron, and I’m writing here from Ben Gurion Airport. All the kids are doing our last shopping before we board the plane, and the anxiety is starting. The teachers are, for the most part, focused on getting us onto the flight on time. The kids are focused on buying that one last bag of Bisli, Bamba, or other candies. As we prepare to board we’ve all been thinking back on our time in Israel. Our time in Israel truly has been a historical, and very emotional rollercoaster, taking us from the ancient history of Israel, through the Land of Israel’s establishment all the way up to modern times. We’ve gone through the saddest days in Israel, with Yom HaZikaron and Yad Va’Shem, and back up to the happiest moments with Yom Ha’atzmaut and Shabbat at the Kotel. The saying our guide told us, that stuck with me the most throughout in Israel, was that Israel is a bipolar society; mourning the loss of their loved ones one night, and celebrating their country in the streets the night after. For the last time, from Israel. -Aaron

 

Hi all,

Thanks to Roie, you got to hear a bit of the student’s voice in this blog about our very long day today. Yesterday we had no wifi at the Bedouin Tent, so we weren’t able to post. So today’s post will include more photos than words. We started in Sdeh Boker (group photos) and home of David Ben Gurion. We continued on to our jeep ride and then we hopped on camels a few hours later. We had a delicious “hafla” dinner and experienced Bedouin hospitality before falling asleep in the Bedouin tent for our nap. (We woke up at 4am!) Quick biscuits and tea, and then we hopped on the bus so that we could hike the Roman Ramp before the sun arose on Masada. We then continued to the Dead Sea for a spa treatment of floating and mud masks, before returning to Jerusalem. We are now on our 24 hour countdown before we head to the airport and will be home before you know it!

Surprise visit by Nirko!

 

Hey there. It’s the half sleeping Roie Arnold and the tired Ben Zell. At 4:30 AM we hurried to the bus to watch the sunrise on Masada. Masada’s history starts with King Herod’s huge palace and continues all the way to the terrible death of dozens of families. Today, Masada serves as a history sight, a tourist center, and a great place to watch a sunrise. After the sun was up, we continued with a tour of the mountain. The tour included a great T’efilah in the old synagogue. There are three ways to get to Masada: The Gondola, The Ramp (build by the Romans), and the Snake Trail (a very steep and windy trail). We went up through the ramp and went down on the Snake Trail. After being in Masada for three hours, we went to eat breakfast and continued our adventurous day. Our next stop was the Dead Sea! Rubbing mud on our bodies and floating was the best part. In fact, after that when we got into the pool it was quite disappointing that it actually took energy to float. Now we are heading out to Ben Yehuda shopping center!

My apologies…I have started this blog entry several times, but I am having problems uploading the photos. It seems to be fixed now!

So– where did we leave off? We spent Thursday morning meeting teens from an Arab town in the Lower Galilee called Deir el Asad. The teens were excited to practice their English and we spend several hours at the school getting to know them, and how we are all so similar in many ways. I was impressed with their ethics painted on the staircase, while Rabbi Tsipi is advocating for us to adopt their uniforms. Needless to say, we all had a nice morning connecting to these teens.

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Following the “mifgash”, we had lunch in a Druze Village and had a chance to learn more about the Druze religion and culture, plus their amazing food. We didn’t eat till 2pm, so needless to say, everyone’s plate was clean!!

After lunch, we got back on the bus and ascended the hills of Jerusalem. Everyone was excited as we entered this holy city. But before we got to enjoy the holy cites, we went to the Jerusalem “shuk”- Mahane Yehudah. There everyone got to taste different foods (we weren’t even hungry!) and to try our hand at bargaining. For anyone who has been to Mahane Yehudah in the past, you would be surprised to see how many nice restaurants there are no

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The next day was Friday and we got to tour the old city- first by walking the rampart walls and then by seeing the Jewish quarter up close. Here is our first FULL group photo in the Old City!

We went back to our hotel to get ready for Shabbat, and then returned to the Old City to welcome Shabbat at the Kotel. What an amazing feeling it was to connect with Jews from all over the world- to sing and dance together- united in welcoming Shabbat. It was a very emotional and powerful evening for many of us!

Saturday morning we attended the Conservative Center services (boy…who knew how quickly the service could be!) and by 11am, the services were over. We spent some time hanging out in the park in Jerusalem, with many of the locals. Lucky for us, one of them had a few frisbees so our group was easily entertained!

We returned to our hotel for lunch and some rest time, before heading off to the Israel Museum, where we got to see the Dead Sea Scrolls. After some more resting, we had dinner and havdallah then went out to see the Sound and Light Show at the Tower of David.

Sunday morning started in Jerusalem at Yad V’shem Museum in memory of the Holocaust. We had an incredible guide who shared stories and kept us all engaged. It was a very moving and important morning.

We then went south to Beit Guvrin, where we had the opportunity to dig in the caves there. We were lucky to make some exciting finds. Just look at this piece of jewelry that was discovered by several of our students!

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Upon completing our dig, we continued further south into the desert to Yerucham, where we are staying in a new and fabulous hotel! (who knew!?) We are getting some rest, for tomorrow we have jeep rides, camel rides and some hikes ahead as we explore the Negev!  Signing off from Yerucham….

We have had a busy few days! As you could see in yesterday’s post, we commemorated Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day) with students from the ORT School in Ma’alot. We did some ice breakers, played games, watched the Yom Hazikaron Ceremony and enjoyed lunch together. The students quickly connected with their colleagues from Israel and before we knew it, the roots of new friendships had been planted. After traveling north to see the grottos of Rosh Hanikra, we settled into Kibbutz Yehiyam for the evening. We had a celebratory Yom Ha’atzmaut dinner, and then went “to town” at the Ma’alot Yom Ha’atmzaut celebration, where most of the ORT students were to reunite with our students.

The next morning, May 2, we travelled north and enjoyed an incredible hike down the Arbel mountain. For some reason, I don’t have any pictures from this hike (perhaps because it was incredibly steep and I decided to hold on for dear life.) The kids were great and helped/cheered each other along the way. After the Arbel, we travelled to see the Hamat Tiveria Mosaic, a beautifully preserved mosaic near Tiberias, and then continued on to the Golan Heights. We checked into the Kibbutz Hotel Gonen, and were pleased to see a basketball court and large pool that we are able to use. (Basketball court was a must).

Today, we headed out at a more relaxed pace (7:30 wake up/9:00 departure) for the mystical city of Tzfat. We toured several synagogues and talked about the origins of Kabalah. After lunch in Tsfat, we got to rafting on the Jordan River, which is not nearly as fast and furious as the Rogue River is in Ashland!

Tomorrow afternoon we head to Jerusalem. In the words of Sammy Packer after hearing we are going to Jerusalem, “Hallelujah!”

Rosh Hanikrah- Monday afternoon      

 

Hi all,

We have been busy with commemorating Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut…with little time to share the stories on the blog. But, for right now, we are going to upload a lot of photos for you to enjoy.

More soon!