At the airport

About to fall asleep. Met Shelley. #travellers prayer

Shavuah Tov!

Today (Shabbat) we began with a lazy morning and for the first time got to sleep in a little!  We left the hotel at 10:30am and headed first to Mt. Hertzl, the national military cemetery.  It was very moving, especially as we visited graves of two Philadelphians who died defending Israel, Yoni Netanyahu (Bibi’s brother and Cheltenham High grad) and Michael Levin.

Next, we headed for lunch at a traditional Yemenite restaurant – delicious!  We ate jachnun, malawach and kubeh soup.

After lunch, we did a scavenger hunt around the Yemin Moshe area of Jerusalem.  We were split into two teams, boys and girls.  The girls won as you can see from their certificates!

We ended Shabbat with Havdallah at Hebrew Union College (where Rabbis Freedman, Maderer and Kuhn all studies) which has an amazing view of the old city.

We’re now off to celebrate the New Year (or Sylvester as they call it in Israel) in a safe, alcohol free environment!

T

Shabbat Shalom!

We started our day bright and early and headed south.  The landscape quickly changed as we headed into the Judean Desert. Our first stop was the Ahava factory store where we learned about the rich minerals and healing properties of the dead sea and their products. We then arrived at Masada where we took a cable car up to learn about the amazing history of this sacred Jewish site. After this we headed to Ein Gedi (natural oasis in the middle of the desert) where we splashed around in a waterfall.  We finished our time in the south with a stop at the Dead Sea, muddied ourselves, soaked in the hot springs, and floated in the salty water. We made it back to Jerusalem just in time for an AMAZING Shabbat service at Kol Ha’Neshamah, a Reform synagogue.

 

Yad V’Shem, JNF and Digging!

This post is written by Carolyn:

Today we went to Yad V’shem, the Israeli National Holocaust Museum.  In my opinion, the experience was, of course, a very emotional one.  The first thing we did was go through the children’s Memorial, which hit me on a very emotional level, one reason being that I, and the rest of us, could relate to so many of those kids.

The whole museum was laid out very well, and there was so much to see but unfortunately, we didn’t have time to get to it all.  I think the whole experience had a large impact on all of us; we each had something to say about what we took from the whole thing. It is an experience that I will never forget, and I hope to go back some day.

After the museum we got to plant a tree. This was extremely special to me because I was adding to beauty of this country. Hopefully I will come back one and find my tree again.

After planting our trees we headed to an active archaeological dig where we uncovered pottery shards, animal bones, and building materials. We really dig Israel!

We ended the day with dinner back at the hotel and Matt’s uncle came and joined us and spoke to us about life in Israel, living in Jerusalem, his work at a think tank and NFTY EIE semester in Israel where he teaches part time.

Our First Full Day in Jerusalem

Today was a first full day in Jerusalem and it was amazing!  We began in the City of David.  Our guide, Ariel (the one with the dreds) explained the significance of this part of the city.

We then went to the Western  Wall – it was really moving for all of us.  We got to put our prayers in the wall, touch the wall and say some prayers together like the Sh’ma.

Not only did we go to the Wall in the picture above that everyone knows about but we also went to a brand new excavated section of the wall under the streets of the old city.

We finished the day in the Nachlo’at neighborhood where Eli and Laurel used to live.  We went to the shuk (bazaar) where some of us tried a special etrog spray said to have medicinal properties and also ate at a great restaurant where a few brave souls tried chicken hearts!

 

Tuesday – Our Last Day Up North

Today we started with a bike ride in the Hula Valley, a nature reserve used by many migratory birds and some rodents of unusual size (see next picture).  The non-bikers rode with Laurel on the golf cart!

We then headed to the Golan Heights where we visited an army base.  We got to climb inside the very tank that Gilad Shalit was kidnapped from – wow!

Next we visited Kibbutz Ortal where the cutest calf ever sucked on Eli’s fingers!  It was smelly, sticky and awesome.  We had quite a few other brave souls who served as human passifiers.

We ended the day in Jerusalem lighting our 8th candle.

 

Oh… almost forgot… on the way to Jerusalem we stopped at a rest are and Matt and Jenna rode camels for a few minutes – only 20 shekels ($5) – what a deal!

Monday in the North

 Our day began in S’fat with an impromptu bar mitzvah celebration. Right after we got off the bus, there was a community celebrating. We sang and danced with them. One of us said “we crashed a bar mitzvah!” We were told by Ariel, our guide, that what we did is a mitzvah, and that its very common in Israel to share a simcha (celebration/happy occasion).

We then visited some synagogues including the Caro and Ha’ari synagogues where we saw a very familiar line from Psalms…

We then took a beautiful hike atop Mt. Meron – the second highest peak in Israel

We ended the day with the most incredible sunset just a few meters from the Lebanon border (don’t worry we were VERY safe!)

A Day Along the Coast

We had a great day today traveling up the coast of Israel!

We began with a delicious Israeli breakfast filled with salads and humus.

We then went and saw the Roman ruins at Caesaria.

We then had a falafel lunch in Zichron Ya’akov.

We got a little more serious when we went to Atlit to see the British Mandate Detention Center.  But still had a little fun playing on the model boat.

Finally, back to the hostel for dinner, Hanukkah candle lighting and a great movie called, “Operation Grandma.”

Fun Guests Visit Us at the Hostel

Laurel with her aunt Susan and Alex with his cousin Michael

Tel Aviv Beach

The weather is a little chilly but the sea air is great!