Fri, Aug. 8

So now I am home. I came home yesterday but was too tired to do anything. Shabbat was fun, and kind of sad. Sunday, we went to the Golan Heights and learned about security in Israel. We also went on a nice hike up north. Another cool thing is the naot (sandal) factory that we went to. The trip was overnight so Monday, we went back to Tzuba. We had some time to relax, and prepare to go home. Tuesday we had our last tiyul to the old city and were there for the majority of the day. When we returned to Tzuba, it was time to pack big time. Most of the end of Tuesday was spent packing. Wednesday morning we had a tiyul to the city of David and finally got to wakl through Hezekiahs tunnel. That is a 533 meter long water tunnel used to bring water from outside the city walls intl the city thousands of years ago. After this, we went home to Tzuba, did the final packing, and began to clear out the rooms. We had a sort of final banquet which included a slideshow I made, skits made by the whole group to mimick the summer, and some thank yous to the people who helped on the trip. After this, we went out for our last dinner in Israel at a nice restaurant called the Sataf. It was a good meal, and then on o the airport. It was a very sad bus ride. It was our last bus ride in Israel and I'm going to miss it a lot. We go to the airport and checked in and such. It turns out one of my bags was left in Israel. It was never tagged so it didn't come to NY. After a long 12 hour flight, we arrived in NY, and then after a short layover, on to Boston. That was the trip. Overall, it was AMAZING and I will definitely miss it. The friends I made will last forever. I know I have found an additional home, and I would never hesitate to call Israel my home. Good night
Ben

Friday Aug. 1

Monday, we had classes in the morning as usual, and then went for an afternoon tiyul to Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust museum. Compared to the museum in Washington DC, this one is much more in depth. Yad Vashem has the most authentic pieces of evidence from the Holocaust of any museum. The only non authentic piece of evidence is the entrance gateway to Auschwitz, although they have an exact replica. It was so moving to be at Yad Vashem, because I learned much more about the Holocaust, and became that much closer to it. Tuesday, we went to Tel Aviv to learn about the war of independence. We visited Independence hall, and sat in the same room and place that people sat in when David Ben Gurion declared independence in 1948. We then went to a kibbutz which was used for secret bullet production during Israel's war of independence. They had an underground bullet factory, with the secret entrance under the washing machine in the laundry room above. They specially had a very large and extremely loud washing machine to mask the noise of the factory below. It was crazy how these people managed to hide it the whole time. Wednesday, we had the second part of our Hebrew final. After that, we had history, and then a tiyul to Ammunition Hill. This was a place used during the 6 day war and it was right near the Israel/Jordan split in Jerusalem. This used to be on the Jordan side. There were passageways in the ground which we were able to walk through which was pretty cool. The view was amazing. We also went to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and learned a little bit about the university and more about the 6 day war. We then returned to tzuba for dinner and studying. Thursday, we watched a movie in Hebrew class and then we had history. No tiyul because they wanted to give us time to study and rest. We went to the pool and got some well deserved relaxation. Today, we had our Jewish History final, consisting of 2 in class essays. They seemed like they would be pretty hard to write, but once I got started, it wasn't that bad. Later today, we have a pizza and pool party and Shabbat services tonight. This is our last Shabbat here in Israel. It is very sad to think that I will be going home in less than a week.
Thats all for now
Ben

Sunday, July 27

Thursday night was a lot of fun. We went to a beach and got to jump in the waves. Friday was interesting. We went to Tel Aviv to learn about Zionism and to realize that Tel Aviv today is not what the Zionists envisioned it to be. It was still a lot of fun though. We had really good pizza for lunch and I ate four slices. I've never felt so fat. After some free time shopping in the market area, I met up with the Yulevich family who I knew from camp. They picked me up in Tel Aviv and brought me to spend the night at their house in Kfar Yona, about 25 min north of Tel Aviv, near Netanya. That night, we went to a small Shabbat service at camp Kimama, an Israeli summer camp with kids from all around the world. Keren(the mother of the family) has a sister, Hila who works there as a counselor who I also knew from Eisner (my old camp). We picked up Hila and went back to Keren's house for dinner. At her house, we met her parents, brother, and nephew. Along with me and Keren and Uri's 3 kids, there were 11 people for dinner. It was very nice to sit down and eat dinner with an Israeli family. I am starting to understand more and more Hebrew. They all speak English although some more than others. We worked together and were able to communicate just fine with each other. The last time I saw the Yuleviches, they had 2 kids, Sagi and Yuval. Sagi is now 8, Yuval 6, and they had a new baby in February, Rotem. They made me feel like family when I stayed with them. On Saturday, I went with Keren, Uri and the kids to a beach in Netanya, where the waves were a lot of fun. I was able to go boogie boarding which was a lot of fun. We also built some sand castles. After the beach, we went to a pool on a kibbutz near their house. After the pool, we went back to their house and I had a sad goodbye with the children. They brought me back to Tzuba before continuing on to see family in Jerusalem. After I returned to Tzuba, we had Havdallah and then got ready for the Hadag Nachash concert. Hadag Nachash is one of the hottest if not the hottest music groups in Israel, definitely the best hip hop music. We went to a small club in Jerusalem and got to see them play. They are one of my favorite music groups even compared to American music. I listen to them all the time at home and being able to see them in concert was an experience I will never forget. We returned to Tzuba around 1:15 AM and immediately went to bed. This morning, we woke up and had classes as usual. After lunch, we went into Jerusalem to visit a jail used during the time of the British Mandate. It was interesting to see the way that Jews and Arabs had to live during the mandate. After this, we went to have dinner and free time at Emek Refaim, a shopping street downtown Jerusalem.
thats all for now

Ben

Thursday, July 24

Hey everyone,
Tuesday was fun. We had classes as usual in the morning, and then after lunch, we met with a Haredi (ultra orthodox) man and had a discussion with him here at Tzuba. We learned a lot about the Haredi way of life and we had good religious discussions. He grew up in Brooklyn and later moved to Israel. The way the Haredi community views things is obviously different than how the Reform community does. They are much more strict and their lives consist of mostly Torah education. They study Torah multiple hours every day. After speaking with him, we went to Nachlaot, which is an Orthodox community in Jerusalem. Their sense of togetherness is amazing. It is a small relatively closed community, and then children just run around from very young ages. This was also a special day. Earlier, there was another attack in Jerusalem, similar to before except that nobody died. It was again a resident from East Jerusalem on a bulldozer. This is a new type of attack that is a problem for Israel because although Israel generally destroys the house of a terrorist, with these two, they have not yet because they are Jerusalem residents and that has not been done before. It is quite the dilemma for the government. We then went to the mall for dinner and a very little bit of shopping before returning back to Tzuba for bed. Wednesday was a pretty relaxed day. We had classes as usual, and then a lot of time to study and relax in the afternoon. I went to the pool for a little while and worked on my History midterm essay. They also told us some of the most exciting news ever. We are going to see Hadag Nachash, an Israeli hiphop group, one of my FAVORITE groups in concert on Saturday night in Jerusalem. I'm so pumped for the concert, because they are so good. Everyone here knows them and is getting very excited. Today, we had classes in the morning, and in a little while, we are heading out on a tiyul to a Kibbutz about 40 min away to learn about rural zionism. Later tonight, we will be going to swim at Beach Palmachim, and to have a BBQ dinner there as well. Tomorrow, we go to Tel Aviv and I am staying the night with some friends near Netanya. I'll write sometime soon
Ben

Thursday, July 24

Hey everyone,
Tuesday was fun. We had classes as usual in the morning, and then after lunch, we met with a Haredi (ultra orthodox) man and had a discussion with him here at Tzuba. We learned a lot about the Haredi way of life and we had good religious discussions. He grew up in Brooklyn and later moved to Israel. The way the Haredi community views things is obviously different than how the Reform community does. They are much more strict and their lives consist of mostly Torah education. They study Torah multiple hours every day. After speaking with him, we went to Nachlaot, which is an Orthodox community in Jerusalem. Their sense of togetherness is amazing. It is a small relatively closed community, and then children just run around from very young ages. This was also a special day. Earlier, there was another attack in Jerusalem, similar to before except that nobody died. It was again a resident from East Jerusalem on a bulldozer. This is a new type of attack that is a problem for Israel because although Israel generally destroys the house of a terrorist, with these two, they have not yet because they are Jerusalem residents and that has not been done before. It is quite the dilemma for the government. We then went to the mall for dinner and a very little bit of shopping before returning back to Tzuba for bed. Wednesday was a pretty relaxed day. We had classes as usual, and then a lot of time to study and relax in the afternoon. I went to the pool for a little while and worked on my History midterm essay. They also told us some of the most exciting news ever. We are going to see Hadag Nachash, an Israeli hiphop group, one of my FAVORITE groups in concert on Saturday night in Jerusalem. I'm so pumped for the concert, because they are so good. Everyone here knows them and is getting very excited. Today, we had classes in the morning, and in a little while, we are heading out on a tiyul to a Kibbutz about 40 min away to learn about rural zionism. Later tonight, we will be going to swim at Beach Palmachim, and to have a BBQ dinner there as well. Tomorrow, we go to Tel Aviv and I am staying the night with some friends near Netanya. I'll write sometime soon
Ben

Mon. 7-21

So Wednesday, the group went up north to Beit Shearim and learned about Oral Law. I was unable to attend due to illness. Thursday, We had Hebrew in the morning and then left on our tiyul to Abu Gosh. We visited a church, and learned about the beginning of Christianity. The church has nuns from an order in France. The wear different clothing than nuns in the US. Here, they just wear modest clothing, regular shirts and skirts. The church had a beautiful statue of Mary and Baby Jesus on top and the architecture inside the church was very simple, but very pretty. After the church, we went to have lunch in Abu Gosh. Abu Gosh is a town famous for it's culinary talent. Supposedly, the best Hummus in Israel is in Abu Gosh. I sadly did not find that I like hummus...again. After lunch, we visited a small mosque and spoke with an Imam to learn about Islam. Many of the world's perceptions of Islam today are very false. Some of these such as the goal of Islam is to convert the whole world in any way possible. That is completely untrue. Islam is a very peaceful religion and one not involving terror at all. In fact, Muslims have a pretty good history with the Jews. After the Mosque, we went back to Tzuba and packed for a weekend trip. Friday morning, we had Jewish History, and then drove up north to Park HaYarden. This is a park on the Jordan River. The Jordan River is very anti-climactic when you get there. It is more like a wide stream, with flat water only about 1-2 feet deep in many places, some even shallower. We then prepared for Shabbat services and dinner. At Park HaYarden, there are all sorts of chickens, peacocks, roosters, and other animals roaming around while you eat food, or just relax. That was an experience I am not so used to. After dinner, we had some time to relax, and then were brought on a tour through the park at night without much light. We were able to hear the natural sounds of the park, and the wildlife around us. Saturday, we woke up, had services, and then went rafting on the Jordan. The rafts were like inflatable kayaks. It was kind of fun, but the water is so shallow in some places that you feel the rocks under you, or get stuck. After rafting, we went to Luna Gal, a local water park. The people at the park were somewhat inconsiderate by our standards, and a shock compared to other people we have met in Israel. People cut in lines, and just seem to have some grudge. It was still fun though. After the water park, we returned to the campground (oh right, I forgot before, Park HaYarden is a campground, like with tents) and had a little bit of free time before going to Tiberia for the night. There is some shopping there, and it is a good place to get things cheap. We ran into a bunch of the other NFTY groups there, so that was fun. We then returned back to the campground and went to sleep. Sunday morning, we woke up and went on a tiyul to Tzfat. We had history class there and also got to do some shopping. Tzfat is famous for being the main birthplace of Kabballah. They sell the red Kabballah bracelets everywhere. We then went to Belvoir crusader fortress. It is basically what it sounds like, a fortress used during the crusades. It was the last fortress to be defeated. We then had a long drive back down to Tzuba. Today, we had classes as usual, and now, I am about to head out to the pool. I'll try and update soon.

Ben

Tuesday, July 15

Hi everyone. Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I was without a computer/internet for a little while. We left off the night before the first Masada trip. Tuesday morning, we left and had a Jewish History tiyul in Jerusalem. We saw the model of Jerusalem in the second temple period. It was interesting to see the model of what the city used to look like. It was truly amazing to think that such a long time ago, they were able to accomplish so much architecturally. Some of the stones on the remaining retaining wall (Kotel) weigh an estimated 50 tons. The detail put into the design is also amazing. We then went to the southern wall excavations and saw more of what the city used to look like. I got to make the journey that many Jews thousands of years ago made going up the steps to בית המיקדש or the Second temple. The thought put into even the way the stairs were built is truly astounding. They were created to be slightly uneven to provoke more thought regarding the journey from the Jews making the pilgrimage. Even the walls of the temple and retaining wall were specially constructed to be not completely straight up, but slightly slanted, to make it more sturdy. We got to have lunch again in the Old City, and then started the long drive to Masada. We arrived at a hostel right next to Masada and got in some well deserved rest. At 3:30 AM, we woke up and had a quick breakfast before beginning the hike up the snake path. This is the harder of the two paths leading up the mountain. The hike took about 40 min, and as we were ascending the path, we saw it beginning to get light around us, but the sun hadn't actually shown itself. It was an absolutely amazing sight to be looking at the Dead Sea and mountains around us. I carried a guitar up with me the whole way, so that was an interesting experience and challenge. When we got to the top, we still had about half an hour before the sun showed itself. We had a nice time relaxing and recovering from the hike. Once the whole group was at the top, we had a morning service where I played guitar. Watching the sunrise on top of Masada was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. We saw the sun reflecting off of the water, and everything around us getting brighter. After services, we went off in our history groups and had a program on top of Masada learning about the history of Masada and how it was used. We saw a Roman bath from when King Herod occupied the area, and the detail put into it was astounding. There were colored geometric designs on the walls, and a black and white tile floor. There was even a steam room, from 2000+ years ago. We also got to yell from a certain point on the mountain שנית מצדה לא תיכול. Meaning Masada will not fall again. At this special point, the echo created is crazy. It echoes twice very loudly in two different places. That was definitely cool. We also got to see the guesthouses where people would stay. The detail put into the columns is unbelievable considering the time period in which it is from. After our program, we descended the snake path, and drove the short distance to the Dead Sea or ים המלך. We put on the mud from the Dead Sea, let it dry, and then went in. The Dead Sea is 30% salt, making it possible to float with no effort. More interestingly, it makes it near impossible to touch the bottom when the water is deeper than chest height. It is just impossible to push yourself down all the way. The water was also a very pretty shade of light blue. After the Dead Sea, we returned to Tzuba to begin packing our rooms up. Thursday we had classes as usual, and then left for Jerusalem to meet up with all of the other NFTY Israel groups at Hebrew Union College. I saw my friends from camp who are on another trip. After this, we all went to Masada and hung out at the bottom. I got to spend more time with camp friends who I hadn't seen in a long time. We had a concert with Dan Nichols, a popular Jewish songwriter. That was pretty cool, and he's really good at guitar. At 4:00, 624 kids from NFTY trips began the short 15 min climb up the Roman Ramp, the easy path up Masada. We again got to see the sun rise, but this time, we had a better view, and it was just as pretty. After sunrise, we had services again on top of Masada, but this time, we walked down right after services and went down to Eilat. Once we arrived in Eilat, we had the whole afternoon to get some real rest. We the had Shabbat services at the youth hostel, but we were all still exhausted so it was time for bed. Saturday, we had a great day. We all woke up late, got some breakfast, and then morning services at 11. After services, we had the afternoon on the tayellet or boardwalk. We swam in the Red Sea and a lot of people went shopping. Instead of shopping I went with some friends to the watersports area and we went on banana boats, little motor boats, and pedal boats. It was so much fun, and we had an amazing view of Jordan and a little bit of Egypt. We then had Havdallah services, and more free time on the tayellet. Sunday, we had a bus ride to a part of the Israeli version of the Appalachian trail. We did a short little hike to the top of a small mountain and arrived at a viewpoint where we could see Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. We could see the mountains all around and it was just gorgeous. We then went to a place on the Red Sea where we went snorkeling. We saw the coral reef and tons of beautiful fish. After snorkeling, we went to the tayellet for lunch and a little bit more shopping before our trip to the Bedouin tent. Once arriving at the Bedouin tent (tourist attraction Bedouins, not real ones), we dropped our bags and went on a camel ride. We rode through the hills around us in the Negev and then returned to the tent for dinner. We got to have the famous Bedouin tea which was delicious. They just use a few different types of herbs to make it. We had an early bedtime, and went to sleep. Monday morning, we got up, had a Bedouin breakfast, and departed for the sand dunes. The sand at the dunes was very small and had blown in all the way from the Sahara. We got to roll down the dunes which was really cool, but we had sand EVERYWHERE on our bodies, in places we didn't even know about. I still had sand in my hair today. After the dunes, we departed for Ein Gedi. At Ein Gedi, we went on a hike which was supposed to go to a waterfall, but because of the heat and the time we had, we didn't go all the way. We stopped at an area which has pools instead. These were all natural pools and it was really cool to swim in them. We finally left and headed back to Tzuba, where we all got a well deserved night's rest. Today, we had Hebrew class as usual, and then Jewish History. After lunch, we left for a tiyul to learn about the Bar Kochva revolt. We went to caves that had tunnels used during the time of the revolt to hide from the Romans. It was pretty interesting how well things have been preserved all this time. We returned to Tzuba, and had dinner, and are about to get another night's rest, also very much needed. The trip, while extremely fun is also very tiring. That's all for now, and I'll post soon.

Ben