So, we spent our second ICE Israel Shabbat in the holy city of Tzfat! (Or “Safed” for the Hebraically challenged) 😉 We were at the Hotel Ron, a true bastion of luxurious living…well, sort of…

We davened Kabbalat Shabbat at the hesder Carlebach minyan in one of the outdoor squares in the old city of Tzfat, which was a CRAZY awesome balagan! There were all types of Jews there, from chassidim in tights, to hippies in jeans and sandals, to us! It was really cool to see so many different kinds of Jews all together in one place, Davening as one!

Dinner was really good, and after we had an oneg, followed by a “post oneg tisch.” Then, we were treated to a very special 9AM wake up! Wohoo!

Shabbat afternoon, we got to explore the city for a bit in walking groups, then we had one of the BEST. ICE EBBING AND HAVDALAH. EVER!!

Now, we are looking forward to FINALLY making our way to Yerushalayim!!

Ice Israel spent the better part of the day Friday doing team building – we went to the Kineret and did raft building!  It was very challenging – we had to first tie together big bamboo sticks with professional knots, then flip them over onto metal barrels.  We then put wooden planks over them and tied them down.  Once everything was secure, we grabbed life vests and paddles, ran our rafts into the Kineret, and jumped aboard, rafting and paddling through the water.

This was a great activity for us to do, because, in addition to being a lot of fun, we were forced to work together.  Each raft would have taken a very, very long time to put together if one or two people tried to do it on their own, but since some people cut rope, some tied, some held things in the right place… and… well… some kinda just splashed around in the water, but we won’t talk about them… so, everyone did something, and working together, we accomplished our mission and had a lot of fun!

We then checked into our hotel in Tzfat and got ready for another AMAZING Shabbat!

I’d like to tell you about a great day that we had yesterday. We began the day with a great breakfast at the Hotel Lavi to nourish our appetites for food, then headed to Tel Dan on a gorgeous hike by the Dan River, Israel’s most powerful river. That was fun. Then, our amazing tour guide, Rafi, pulled out a Tanach, and we learned some Torah – the story of how the kingdom of Shlomo HaMelech split into two kingdoms, Israel in the north, and Judea in the south. We learned about these things here because they happened here, in the area surrounding our hike! That really brought the story alive in a way it never had when we learned it in America because we were learning our history where it happened!

After that, we went to Tel Chai, the site of the first time the Jews defended themselves in the land of Israel since times of old!

Finally, we ended the day at the Maimonides Heritage Center and the actual kever of the Rambam. There were also Tannaim and Ammoraim from the Mishna and Gemarrah buried there, too! Even though an activity like this might seem boring at first, it let us connect to our past in a way like never before!

So, we went to Akko, which is an old city from the time of the Crusades. I’ve been to Akko before, three years ago with my father and sister, but it was still interesting. Since Akko is a fort, both the Muslims and Crusaders tried to remain in control of Akko. I really love history, so learning about the struggle for control that lasted until the British Mandate was really interesting to me.

Afterwards, we went through the city, which is mostly Arab, and ended up at the synagogue of the Rachmal. Again, I really enjoy history, so I liked this part of the tour.

Next, we finished up our day with a trip to the beach – it was the perfect way to end the day!

Yes, we hiked the Jilaboun, a three mile hike that took three hours to finish. We climbed up and down rocks, and almost reaching heights of 70 to 80 feet in the air. After the first two and a half hours we had finally reached a gigantic waterfall that we all got to swim in. All of us took in the moment and could not believe that we were able to hike so far and to arrive at this incredable site.

If you think it stopped there, you’re wrong. We still had another 30 minutes of hiking to go. Baruch Hashem we all made it through the hike. At the end all of us were able to buy ice cream and celebrate our achievement. This hike was difficult, but fun at the same time.

After the hike, we had a pizza lunch and ran over to a chocolate factory to learn how chocolate is made… and then we got to make some hand made chocolate ourselves!  We’d bring some home for our families and friends… but… we kind of ate it all!  🙂  I could not be happier on NCSY ICE ISRAEL.

Today started like any other day – wake up for davening, connect with The Holy One, eat a ten course breakfast in ten minutes, and have some great chaburas!  Then, we got on the bus, and, of course, started the day with a hike!

Today, however, we did something special – we visited the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the holy rabbi who delivered to us the Zohar, the holy book of Kabballah!  This was the second tomb that we have visited of a Rabbi from the time of the Mishnah or Gemarrah, and it was great connecting to our religious heritage in addition to our connection to the land and the country.

Then, off to lunch in Tzfat!  We had a “pizur” lunch, where NCSYers were able to walk around (somewhat) on their own and have lunch at restaurants with money the program gives them, then it was off on a great walking tour of the city.  We learned about an important battle that took place in the 1948 War of Independence, we got to visit the shuls of two VERY important rabbis – Rabbi Yosef Caro, who wrote the Shulchan Aruch, and the Arizal, who explained the Kabballah to us, AND, we got to do some shopping in the Artist’s District!

Things, however, do not always go as planned, and as we were ready to leave Tzfat, our bus wouldn’t start!  Just when it looked like we were going to be stranded waiting in the heat for a new bus, our head staff put together more activities in Tzfat, and we got to see how glass blowing is done in a glass artist’s studio!  After the demonstration, NCSY decided that we’d had a busy afternoon and took us all out for ice cream while the bus issues were finished up.

We then headed for a cool dinner in a Druze villiage, got back to the hotel fairly early, and had a birthday party for Julian!

After that, everyone was pretty ready for some sleep after a long, fun, and inspiring day!

Awesome day with advisors, activities, and the great state of Israel!

It was such a blast having the opportunity of riding on a donkey… I never felt so connected to my heritage.  The water hike was superb fun, the whole group broke into a water fight which was exhilarating!  The pita baking was so interesting because I never actually knew how to make pita… NOW I DO!

And, at the end of the day, we switched to a new hotel – The Kibbutz Lavi Hotel – which had awesome food, an awesome basketball court and really nice rooms.

Safe to say its was an incredible day worth every moment.

This weekend we had a great Shabbat experience at Savyonei HaGalil!

Shabbat began with kabbalat Shabbat outside, overlooking the mountains, then we headed over to the dining room for a great Shabbat dinner.  Then we had an outdoor oneg with snacks, some singing, and a lot of chilling.

Shabbat morning was a really unique experience – one that you could only get in Israel!  A big Sephardi family from Ashdod was staying at our hotel for their son’s Bar Mitzvah.  They invited us to take part in their simcha and sing, dance, and even throw candy with them!  It was very nice to be able to connect to our fellow Jews in a way that most of our teens have not been able to before!

As Shabbat came to a close, we once again sat outside in a circle and ebbed Shabbat away with songs and inspiration, then had a great havdalah, overlooking the mountains, with Hal on guitar.  We sang, we danced, then we topped off our day with some motzei Shabbos ice skating at the Canada Center!

Wow! What an amazing start to the BEST. SUMMER. EVER.!

Today we went to Schytopolis, the ancient ruins in Beit She’an National Park, and saw how they lived back then. I must say, it was much different than how we live today – props to them for making it work. #notechnology #whaaaat?!

Afterwards, we went on the COOLEST. WATER HIKE. EVER. Being 5 feet tall it was a struggle, but that’s what swimming lessons as a child were for! With the help of Hal and my new friends, I conquered my fear and went down the water slide. Lastly we finished the day with a refreshing canoe trip down the Jordan River. That was awesome. My friends and I were flipped out of our canoe, so we did what all teenage girls would do, started screaming… #iknowyoujustlaughed

When we got back to our hotel we had dinner and an awesome night activity. I cant wait for all the exciting things to come!

Another amazing day!!

Tons of exciting activities happened, like we hiked and splashed though the Majarassa River and had a blast! It was a great, wet time – can’t get better! Actually, it did!

We went repelling down a 50 foot tall cliff… BUT it wasn’t too scary. Then, to make the day even better, we went horse back riding. The thrill of our rides were crazy crazy, I say!

Yes, and after, the food was crazy delicious – a BBQ at the horse ranch! An amazing tasting thing – can’t wait for what may happen next time!