I came to my sister’s house in Ashkelon with my friend who is on GIVE. We spent time together eating, sleeping, and going to the beach.

Over Shabbat, I went to kfar pines, a small moshav near Haifa. I stayed with my aunt and uncle, who rent a small house on a farm. Shabbat itself was mostly uneventful, but I took my cousins swimming in a small maayan on Friday, and fed an injured kitten Saturday night.

So on Shabbat after finally getting an adequate amount of sleep and waking up at 10! I went on a nature walk around the whole city of Binyamina which was beautiful.  After that we got ready for a bar mitzvah in the evening for a child with autism which was amazing and so special.

Hello, I’m Yaakov Miller. This weekend I had the pleasure of staying with family friends in Efrat. They moved from my New Jersey hometown in 2004, so that made my stay all the more comfortable. On Friday, I visited the Magen David in Jerusalem, where I was able to help out at the blood bank. After that, I got my first view of the shook. The sight of  masses of people shopping and looking around was overwhelming yet fascinating.

On Friday night, the son of the family I was staying with brought me to a B’nei Akiva discussion about stigmas in the different Jewish communities of Israel. Granted, most of the talk was in hebrew, but I enjoyed  and generally understood it anyways. Shabbos day was unique for me as well. One of the lunch guests was an American who had been inducted into the Israeli Army two days prior. He answered my questions about the aliya process, gave me advice about yeshiva, and cleared up misconceptions about the language barrier. To cap it off, I took a nice walk around the community of Efrat- a walk that ubdoubtedly solidified my desire to return next time I’m in Israel.

Over my free weekend, I stayed with relatives in Jerusalem. It wasn’t your typical visit, because my relatives only spoke Russian and Hebrew, and I’m not the best at either. Although it was difficult, I managed to communicate with them and speaking a different language turned out to be really interesting. On Friday, I went to Ben Yehudah Street with two friends of mine whom I hadn’t seen in almost three years. Reuniting with them was so amazing and I had been waiting for that moment for a very long time. On Shabbat, I caught up on my sleep and over the course of the day, I stayed home with my relatives and they told me what living in Jerusalem is like. Overall, it was an amazing experience and I enjoyed it very much.

– Rachelle Guy

For my free weekend, I spent my shabbos at my uncles in Bet Shemesh. It wasn’t so hard to fit in, they all spoke English with a mix of Hebrew aka they spoke Hebrish. What really stood out to me was whenever Tzvi told us that ICE was a family, I never believed it. I kinda would laugh because I never really thought of the people on my program as my family. After spending a shabbos away, I realized how much I missed this family I grew accustomed to, this family I learnt to love. ICE Israel became my family. Anyway, even though I deeply missed ICE, I enjoyed my shabbos. I liked sleeping in, I liked having a long shower without worrying about another person, and I loved having a home cooked meal. Lastly, I liked spending a shabbos in a house in Israel because it taught me what it is like, it gave me a lovely view on how I would live if I lived in Israel, it seems amazing.

Our messy hair, morning breath, and drool covered pillows did not get in our way as we woke up at four in the morning to get ready for a jam-packed and eventful day. Early wakeups usually meet with cranky and irritable kids but instead all of us campers were enthusiastic and excited about the activities we had ahead of us. All dressed up in our goofy-looking hiking gear carrying gallons of water, we made our way to breakfast where we were treated to a delicious cake and coffee meal. We soon after began our journey on what seemed to be a never-ending mountain. Although the task of climbing the tall and steep mountain of Masada seemed daunting and challenging, we all knew that together we would make it a fun and meaningful experience.  As we joined together to recite Shacharit at the top of the mountain we felt the heat from the morning sun on our faces and the refreshing desert wind blowing through our hair. Being able to pray together on a beautiful mountain overlooking the Holy Land truly gave us a sense of meaning and unity. We then were given an interesting and informative tour about Masada’s history and meaning to the Jewish People. After a few hours we finally finished our hike from the mountain and felt extremely accomplished and delighted that we all shared that experience together. The fun did not end there because we then went to Jerusalem where we walked on the beautiful Tayelet. We all conversed and had a great time as we appreciated the gorgeous scenery in the holy city. After that we made a pit stop at a delicious Pizza place for a filling lunch to get us energized for the tour of the Hezkiyahu water tunnels at Ir David. We learned about the ancient architecture that traces back to our ancestors as we made our way through the dark and interesting tunnels. We all discussed the fun and unbelievable experience we had throughout the day over a delicious dinner at a new hotel. To conclude the night, we had a spirited tye-dying activity that we will surely never forget. It is truly unbelievable that in only 24 hours we had such a meaningful and fun-filled experience. Throughout the day, one amazing activity after the other we gained a stronger sense of unity as a group and a greater connection to our beautiful Homeland. Although this all happened in a span of one day, the memories will certainly last a lifetime!

-Nechama

Yesterday on ICE Israel was our last day in the north, so we had to make sure it counted. We started off the day by going to a synagogue which portrayed all the different stories of the Tanach through mosaics. For example in the woman’s section of the synagogue there were mosaics of the different important women in Jewish history, such as Sarah, Rivka, Rachel, Leah. Later during the day we toured the ancient port city of Akko, where we visited the unique shul of the Ramchal. Although it wasn’t the biggest or the most grand synagogue we could still feel the intense spirituality that strongly impacted us. Following Akko we visited the Rosh Hanikrah water caves, where we watched a short documentary on the history of the caves and explored the exotic scenery. Our last stop… A beautiful beach in Teveria where we camped out over night. This served as a great bonding experience for us all. We sat around the campfire, sang songs, ate s’mores and told stories. I couldn’t think of a better way to end such a magnificent day.

– Ariel Levitis and Gabbi Benjamin

On ice Israel yesterday was Shabbat. Shabbat is amazing because we get to take a break from our work and everything  we have in our mind, and just take the chance to speak and connect with God without having any worries. Shabbat in Tzfat was such a special experience. The atmosphere in Tzfat on Shabbat is so exciting; everyone is dancing and jumping up and down and having an amazing time. There is something in Tzfat that makes Shabbat unique: it’s the air. The air there is so pure and special because it’s not like any place in Israel, it has a special scent to it that makes the place an amazing place to live in. First, as a group we all ate food, sang songs for Shabbat, and we danced around and we all had an amazing time. After we all finished our foods and finished singing and dancing we had some free time to get reenergized from our crazy and amazing Yom NCSY and from all the amazing and tiring activities that we had that week. After we got reenergized, we all went on a walking tour of Tzfat and we learned the background story about it and the battle that took place there in 1948. After walking around Tzfat and learning about it we went back to the hotel and ate our 3rd meal and we wrapped up this amazing Shabbat. After we ate, we prayed arvit and we made a sefaradic havdallah. Then we all had to get ready in literally 10 minutes to go on a bus to go on a party boat! As a group we went on a party boat and we danced and had a blast dancing to the music and seeing the amazing views around us. After we came off the boat we saw this group of Jewish people singing in a circle so we decided to join in and we started singing and dancing with people we didn’t even know. This comes to show it doesn’t matter where you are and who you are, all Jews always come together to form a family all around the world. All in all Shabbat was a remarkable experienced in Tzfat.

-Daniel Latai

Dear Ima,

Today was such a meaningful and fun day! First, we visited the kvarim of Rambam and Rabbi Akiva. Having the opportunity to daven, recite tehilim and privately reflect at these great rabbi’s  kvarim was very powerful and seeing everyone connect to these holy sites was very moving. Next, we enjoyed a delicious falafel lunch accompanied by Teveria’s gorgeous ocean views. After lunch, we went on a really exciting water hike in the Majrassa River. Besides from the hike being a great way to connect to the land of Israel, this was my favorite part of the day because I got to have fun with my friends and advisors and in addition bond and grow as a family. Today, we will move to a hotel in Tzfat for Shabbat and I can’t wait to enjoy another incredible weekend on ICE Israel. Love and miss you!

Shabbat Shalom,

Orly