My Psh Moment!

Dear families,

Everyone had an amazing first full day full of beautiful views, long hikes and lots of fun. Our morning started when we all woke up to breakfast at our host family's houses. From there we met again at the Alliance school for a tour and team building activities. After, a bus picked us up and brought us to Tzipori  where a guide taught us about how the ancient city had been occupied by all kinds of different people who contributed to the architecture and art of the ruins we saw. We got back on the bus and ventured to Mount Arbel. The bus ride was filled with laughing, chatting, and singing, along with our tour guide pointing out significant and historical sites along the way. We arrived to a beautiful view and got ready for our "easy hike" (we basically climbed down the side of a mountain). We stopped for a picnic with a beautiful view over looking smaller hills and mountains in the distance. Our journey continued with a tiring climb up and down many stairs until we arrived to caves with an interesting history. Our tour guide told us stories about the caves, and then we descended all the down the mountain to the psh ceremony (Israelis say psh instead of wow) going around and saying our favorite moments from the trip so far. My psh moment was see the beautiful view with great friends. We then got onto the bus once again and took a short ride to The boardwalk of Tiberias, having some free time for shopping. Then we got on the bus for the final time of the night to drive to our accommodations at the hostel tonight. After a night of socializing, playing soccer and other fun games, we are all very tired and ready for a good night of sleep before another busy, fun day tomorrow! 

  לילה טוב

-Isabel

Reunited!

As the bus pulled in at Terminal E of Logan Airport, most had not yet settled on the fact that they were on their way to the Holy Land. We stood in line to be interrogated and get bags checked, and then passed through security and sat down at the Vineyard Grille for dinner. Afterwards, we boarded our flight, and after rearranging out seats, we prepared for the ten hour flight. As the plane accelerated down the runway, we all looked at each other with excitement and felt the swooping sensation as the plane lifted into the air. On the flight, some dozed off, while some watched movies, and others conversed with their friends. Even as the plane touched down in Tel Aviv many hours later, most still could not fathom that they were in Israel. We then proceeded to exchange money and board the Puzzle Israel bus that would transport us through a traffic jam stretching from Tel Aviv to Haifa. As the bus pulled up to the curb, our Israeli friends crowded the door and we were reunited after a long five month wait. After some opening ceremonies, we were picked up by our host families and taken home for some rest and preparation for the next day.

-Josh K

And They're Off!

Today we sent our Israel travelers on their way!  Our late session of grades 3-5 heard about the trip from them, found out what year they would be going in 10^th grade, and blessed them before they got on the bus to go to the airport. Here are some thoughts from our 5^th graders…

Are you excited to go on this trip when you are in 10^th grade?

Of course I am excited to go to Israel, why would I not be?

What are you most looking forward to when you go on the trip?

I really want to see the Western Wall in person and not just in pictures like Rabbi Stern said.

I want to float on the Dead Sea.

I so want to do a donkey ride!

I’m excited about the adventure and new surroundings and seeing the sites.

I want to see how Israeli people live their everyday lives.

What do you want to ask the 10^th graders when they get back?

Did you get used to the time difference? Were you tired?

Did you like the food? What kind of food did you eat?

Did you visit any good tourist sites?

What were you most excited to see before the trip? What was the best part?

Was there anything that concerned you?

Was it a lot different than the U.S.?

Do you think you will go back?

We wish our group a nesiya tova – a safe, exciting, and meaningful journey and can’t wait to hear all about it in their blog posts and when they return.

Becky Oliver & Grade 5 late session students

Leaving tomorrow!

Need we say more? For our Grade 10 teens tomorrow can't come fast enough!  The group will be heading to the airport late in the afternoon.  We will update the blog at that time with a photo and new post.

Leaving on a Jet plane

I hate packing, especially for a long time away. All of those stupid little decisions: how much stuff should I bring? What if it gets cold? Do I pack flat or roll everything? Will they be tough at the counter and weigh my bag? What if my bag is too heavy? I'll need to do laundry at some point; but where? Laundromat or bundle service? And then all the electronics and the chargers... it's insane!

But as much as I detest packing, there's something special about packing for Israel. I love returning to Israel, a place that feels more like a second home than it does an overseas destination. This must be my 12th trip! But I am so excited to be bringing 9 of our 10th graders for their first time.

I look at Israel through their eyes. There's that first "Really? Everybody's Jewish?" moment, when the enormity of being in a Jewish state first sets in. Then there's the "Look at all of those cute Israeli soldiers" moment, which needs no clarification, other than "Be careful ladies!" (The boys tend not to be ready to flirt with the Israeli girls in their fatigues...).

There's more. There's the look in their eyes after exiting the Yad VaShem Children's Memorial, a look the defies any easy verbal description. It's a look that catches my breath because no matter if they've been to the Memorial in Washington - and many have - the experience is overwhelming. It is, in a sense, the beginning of the end of innocence for these 15-16-year-old children who have been so lovingly cushioned from the crushing pain of the world. I've been with many of these children from the beginning: held them at their baby namings and brises. I am proud to be their rabbi and at such moments feel the existential weight of responsibility that comes with helping them transition towards adulthood as Jews.

There's the look when they see the Western Wall for the first time. We've seen a thousand pictures, built it out of sugar cubes and cardboard boxes, written notes to put between the simulated stones. But when it's right there, well, it makes an impression. "So this is the Wall?" Yes, this is it. And yes, despite the hype, it is a special place to just stand and feel the stones and listen to the prayers.

It's vitally important to me that our kids see Israel through my eyes, too. I want them to see the miraculous nature of a nation established in 1948, as poor as many other post-WWII Third World nations, that is now a tremendous international presence.

I want them to see that the original Israeli Declaration of Independence speaks of the earnest desire to create and nurture a democratic Jewish State. As it says, in part:

THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

I also want them to see the part of Israel that is striving to fulfill these ideals, just as Americans struggle to enable all American citizens to obtain the freedom that is theirs by law but not always in practice. It does our kids no good to get a sanitized Israel, devoid of internal conflict or challenges. Israel is real, they say. Our kids need to see that.

In addition to looking at Israel through the eyes of my students and hoping they will see Israel through mine, I'll be doing my own looking around, for you and for me. I'll be looking for hopeful signs of creative Israeli-Palestinian connections. I'll be hoping to see a greater openness to Reform Judaism and Reform institutions. I'll be looking for the possibility of thoughtful engagement between Jews of different opinions but who are all believers in this crazy place called Israel.

Ok. I gotta go pack. Ugh. Roll or pack flat?

Shabbat Shalom

rebhayim

Anticipation...

As I am writing this there are 14 days, 0 hours, 6 minutes, and 27 seconds until we leave for Israel. I am so excited to go and see all of my Israeli friends, as well as to explore my Jewish heritage with my fellow 10th graders. Today we learned which Haifa students will be hosting us. I can't wait to see what their daily lives are like.

 

I am dreading the packing and worried that we will get snowed out of Jerusalem like they did last year. But, I know that whatever happens we are all going to have an amazing experience.

Joci

19 Days

With 19 days to go until we leave for Israel, everyone is starting to get excited. Of course, as with any big trip away from home, nerves are in the air, but after our first meeting with the 10th graders and their parents, it's obvious the kids are ready to go. They've been in touch with their Israeli friends almost nonstop since they left and getting to see them again is a huge deal. We covered a lot in our initial meeting: safety, expectations, flights and itinerary and most importantly, the packing list. Though Heidi and Rabbi Stern (who have been on the trip numerous times) encouraged the teens to take only a small suitcase so it's less to lug around in Israel, I'm sure the 10th graders will take that advice with a grain of salt. Take it from them though, the less you have to carry the better!

As in past years, we will be communicating to the congregation via our Israel Blog! We will have at least one reflection posted by a student before we leave. While in Israel, we'll have different 10th graders update the blog, so they can voice their opinions on the situation in Israel, seeing their friends again, their travel experience, and getting to take the trip of a lifetime. A link to the blog can be found on the TBA homepage and in the TBA Thursday email. We will also post photos on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to follow along on our adventure!

In the words of our 10th graders and their Israeli counterparts, yalla bye!

Francie Weinberg

TBA Youth Educator