Day 8: Jerusalem

We had such a great and meaningful day today in Jerusalem.

We started our day with a visit to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem. The museum took us back through time and immersed us in the history leading up to, during, and after the Holocaust. It was particularly powerful to learn about this event while in Israel. After we finished the museum tour, our museum guide took us to the memorial for the children who lost their lives during the holocaust. This memorial was jarring and made this catastrophic event a little bit more tangible.

After we left Yad Vashem, we got a quick snack and then headed up to Har Herzl, the national cemetery of Israel. Some of the most important figures of Jewish and Israeli history are buried here like Yitzhak Rabin, Golda Meir, and of course Theodor Herzl. We visited the graves of specific well-known people and also spent time visiting the graves of victims of terror attacks and fallen soldiers.

We went straight to Machane Yehuda Market from Har Herzl. This shuk has every item imaginable and we had such a great time picking out gifts for our friends (and ourselves.) We also split up into teams and each bought a different component of a meal in preparation for Shabbat. We'll be eating this food at a picnic lunch tomorrow afternoon.

After we left the shuk, we went to our hotel to prepare for Shabbat. We got dressed and headed to the orthodox synagogue Shira Chadasha to have services. While this was a fairly progressive orthodox synagogue, the experience was very different from what we are used to. It was very interesting and special to be pushed outside of our comfort zones and experience something new.

When we finished services we hopped right on the bus and headed back to the hotel for a Shabbat dinner. After we finished a delicious dinner, we had an "Oneg Shabbat" in which we all performed different talents. This was incredibly fun and made us all wish that this trip wasn't coming to a close already.

We are excited for what we have planned for tomorrow but are sad to be leaving this beautiful place.

While we did not take any pictures from our activities today, here are some of the pictures that we couldn't post yesterday! Enjoy...

Day 7: We Enter Jerusalem

What a day we have had together!!

We woke up in the north and after a quick breakfast headed to Neot Kedumim. Neot Kedumim is a living museum of biblical times. We got a chance to shepherd sheep (our students learned quickly that you have to be calm around them), grind spices, and draw water from the well. It was interactive and fun and we think our students learned a lot. The weather was beautiful and the almond trees were in bloom!

After lunch together we traveled up to Jerusalem. We started the visit on a lookout where we pointed the key features of the old city and said a few prayers together. Then we entered the city itself. We started off speaking about the history of the place and spending time at the southern wall. We learned about King Herod (the builder of the city).

Then we engaged in two spiritual experiences and compared the two. We first went to the egalitarian section of the wall, tucked away in the corner. Students got a chance to pray together as a group. Then we wrote notes to stick in the wall and we walked over to the gender segregated area. Students placed their notes in the wall and prayed again. Interestingly, our students were split in what they liked. Some liked praying together but many felt the hustle and bustle of the orthodox side made it feel more exciting.

We then toured more of the city, stopping at other sites in the old city including a 2700 wall and a replica of the menorah used during the second temple period.

For dinner we had a free night on Ben Yehudah street. Some of our students met up with family while others did shopping and tried the restaurants on the street. They are a little tired of hummus and pita so many chose waffles and burgers. It was interesting to hear them compare these foods to what they taste like at home!

Now they are in the hotel safe and sound. We have a busy day tomorrow including Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Museum).

Note: I'm having a little trouble uploading pictures on my computer. Hopefully we will be able to upload them sometime tomorrow AM our time

Day 6: Tel Dan, Northern Nature Preserve, & Tzfat

Today was a full day in the north!

We woke up this morning at Kibbutz Degania Bet, part of the very first kibbutz complex in Israel's early history. It's been awesome to see how the kibbutz system has evolved from its beginnings until the present day. And we started our day with a signature of kibbutz life: a communal breakfast in the meal hall with guests and kibbutzniks alike.

After breakfast, we headed to Tel Dan -- a nature walk set atop the ruins of an ancient Canaanite city. It gets its name from the ancient Israelite tribe of Dan, which laid claim to this part of the land. Our tour guide, Zvi, showed us naturally growing vegetables to nosh on, and taught us about the culture and legal system of the early Canaanites.

 

A twenty-minute drive from Tel Dan is the Hula Valley nature preserve, the landing spot for hundreds of thousands of birds as they migrate from Africa to Europe and vice versa. We arrived there after a quick lunch of some amazing pizza, and we set off to bike around the preserve. It was a terrific opportunity to see more wildlife from around Israel -- different here from the other regions in which we'd traveled -- and we heard a little more about the Israeli government's efforts at environmental protection.

Our final stop of the day was Tzfat, the mystical northern city famous for being the birthplace of Kabbalah. We ascended the mountains and finally arrived in the ancient city of narrow limestone streets, just before sunset. Once we arrived, we stopped at the studio of local artist, David Friedman, who taught us about Jewish mysticism and the numerical significance of Hebrew letters -- all in the context of showing us his art. It was hands down one of the group's favorite moments of the trip. We learned a little more about Kabbalah and the history of the city, and we stopped by a famous Israeli candle shop before heading home.

Day 5: Masada, Dead Sea, and Degania

Shalom!

We have arrived at our hotel in Degania! We had such a fun and jam-packed day today.

We started our day with a hike up Masada. We had beautiful weather and the hike up was tough but quick. Thanks to Zvi, we learned so much about the historical significance of this momentous site. We visited ancient baths, bathrooms, and living quarters.  After we finished our tour, we took the cable car down to the bottom of Masada, had lunch, and shopped for Ahava products (made of mud and salt from the Dead Sea.)





From Masada we drove to a beach along the Dead Sea. We had so much fun covering ourselves with mud and experiencing the buoyancy of the water. We treated ourselves to some ice cream at the beach and then got right back on the bus for our next activity.









We were on the bus for a bit longer as we drove to the Galilee in the north. This is where we visited the circus at B'ana. This was an organization in which Arab and Jewish children work together to train and perform a circus act. The performance was impressive and showed how these two groups can work together to coexist peacefully and successfully. After the show, we got the chance to learn some of our own circus tricks! We were also so excited that Rabbi Marc met up with us here after a long day of travel.















We went to grab some more authentic Israeli cuisine after the circus. We then hopped back on the bus and drove to the Kibbutz that we'll be staying on for our next two nights; Degania Bet Country Lodging. We're all exhausted from a long day but cannot wait for our activities tomorrow.

Day 4: Archeological Dig, Camels, and a Bedouin Tent

Yesterday was an action-packed day outdoors, traveling to and through the Negev desert.

After waking up for the last time in our Tel Aviv hotel, we made our way south to the archeological site at Beit Guvrin. We got our hands dirty as we helped archeologists sift through 2,300 year-old caves, last inhabited by Jews who lived in the time of Judah Maccabee. And almost all of us dug up pieces of ancient pottery!

 

From there we headed to Yerucham, a city in the Negev famously populated with Jewish immigrants from Morocco, Tunisia, and elsewhere in the Arab world. We had lunch on the patio of a Moroccan family who told us their story of immigration and confrontation with the predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish culture of mid-century Israel. The lunch was an awesome mix of North African foods, and the conversation was both thought-provoking and serious. We continued further south after lunch, making a pitstop at the kibbutz Sde Boker, to pay homage at the gravesite of David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel.

Just before sunset, we arrived at our final destination: the Kfar HaNokdim bedouin village in the middle of the Negev. We each hopped on a camel and made our way through a small canyon before heading back to the main camp. Once we got back, we listened to a bedouin woman share what it's like to have lived all her life in Israel's bedouin community. We enjoyed an authentic dinner and sipped amazing bedouin tea. After that, we walked just outside the camp to stargaze and meditate on our trip thus far. Finally, we made our way to a giant bedouin tent where we set up camp for the night, where we tried to get in as much sleep as possible before our morning hike!

Day 3 in Tel Aviv!

We had such a great third day exploring Tel Aviv!

We began our day with a graffiti tour of South Tel Aviv led by a local graffiti artist. We learned so much about the culture of this neighborhood through the lens of public art. It was such a great way to explore the city. We even got a chance to (legally) spray a small piece of our own graffiti!

After we finished the tour, we headed to Shuk HaCarmel for some lunch and gift shopping. The students had so much fun experiencing this local spot and bought all kinds of Israeli souvenirs.

From the Shuk we headed straight to the Palmach Museum. This was an interactive "War Museum" which gave us a peek into the experience of the Zionist movement prior to the establishment of the State of Israel. The students were impressed and captivated with the amazing special effects of this great museum.

We went back to the hotel and had a little time to rest before we headed out for a walking tour of Yaffo. Zvi taught us about the rich history of this city and helped us appreciate how lucky we are to be visiting a place as special as this. We had a wonderful time exploring a place that looks and feels so different from where we are from and were lucky to catch the sunset overlooking the Mediterranean sea.

After we finished the walking tour, we went to the Maganda restaurant in the Yemenite Quarter of Tel Aviv. We ate authentic Israeli food until we were absolutely stuffed.

Now we are back at the hotel getting ready to leave for the desert tomorrow. Even though we're sad to leave Tel Aviv, we're excited to enter the desert and ride camels, go on an archeological dig, and camp out in the tents tomorrow night!

Here are some of the best pictures from today...

Hadi enjoying the graffiti tour

Chloe posing during the graffiti tour

Kate and Leah matching in the alley! This is where graffiti artists practice their tags 

The group after we sprayed our own graffiti!

Matthew on the walking tour celebrating Tel Aviv!

Will trying freshly-squeezed orange juice at the Shuk!

Sophia and Jake enjoying the walking tour

Matthew and Jared on the graffiti walking tour

Will, Jared, Matthew, Max, and Benji having fun on the tour

Day 2 in Tel Aviv!

What a day we had!

After a much-needed full night sleep and a delicious authentic hotel breakfast, we started the day with a bicycle tour of Tel Aviv in beautiful warm weather. Zvi led us on the tour and pointed out interesting landmarks along the way. We got back to the hotel hungry and ready for lunch.

After lunch, we got on the bus and went to Dialogue in the Dark at the Holon Children's Museum. This was an simulation in which participants get the opportunity to experience what it is like to be blind. We were led by guides with visual impairments who taught us a lot about their personal experiences. This was a truly meaningful experience and we left with a greater appreciation of our ability to see.

We left the museum with just enough time to play on a nearby playground! This spot was special because the structures were all modeled after major children's storybooks. We had a great time exploring the park and even met some local Israeli 8th graders!

When we got back from the hotel, we got ready for dinner and celebrated Havdallah together. Some people met up with friends and family in Tel Aviv while the rest of us went out for dinner in an indoor market. We enjoyed some delicious Israeli treats and now are all back safe and sound in the hotel!

Here are some pictures from today...