Summer 2014

Tuesday began as a normal day for us. We woke up early (maybe a little too early, as usual, if you ask the icicles), davened, ate a nice breakfast, and boarded the bus.

But today we were not about to go on one of our usual water hikes or sight seeing. We were on our way too volunteer to help victims of terror. We broke up into smaller groups and went with our advisors and staff to individual families, helping them with whatever they needed and getting to know them a little. Though I wouldn’t necessarily call it fun, it was a very good experience and we felt like we connected to and were able to help our fellow Jews living in Israel.

We then got a chance to do some shopping and have some fun at Ben Yehuda street, which was a lot of fun, and made our purses a bit lighter… but you know… the mommies and daddies deserve their gifts. 🙂

After that we had to “shift gears” into serious mode for Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum and Har Hertzel Military Cemetery. While at Har Hertzel, we paid our respects to those who fell to protect us so we could live safely in the land of Israel. We found out that the funeral of one of the soldiers killed yesterday fighting for us in Gaza was going on while we were at the cemetery, so we decided to attend and pay our respect and show our support. As we stood there and cried together, we recited some Tehillim for our soldiers and wondered how we go on in our trip and have fun after a day like that. The answer is that those who sacrificed and lost their lives, whether in the holocaust or in attacks on Israel would want exactly that, for us to live our lives as Jews and have a good time in our home land. By going on and having the best summer ever here in Israel, we validate their sacrifice.

After, we had dinner and some free time at the hotel, then welcomed Rabbi Eitan Katz, Director of New Jersey NCSY, who spoke to us about his 20 years in the Israeli Army.

We are SO, SO, SO excited to be in our holy city of Yerushalayim!!  We got here a couple of days ago, and the already AMAZING experience that has been ICE Israel has been a changed and even more awesome experience ever since… you’ll here more about that in the following blog posts!

In all of the excitement of getting to Jerusalem, there were a couple of things that we did that the blog posts missed out on, so we figured we’ll give y’all an update – earlier this week, we went to Caeserea and got to see what was once the Roman capital of their occupation of the Land of Israel.  It was very interesting, and we learned about their way of life, how they interacted with the Jews and vice versa, and about King Herod.

We also had a chance to learn about T’chelet, the mitzvah to add a blue string to our tzit tzit!  We got to learn about the snail that we believe was used to make the beautiful indigo blue dye, where it comes from, and then we even got to make our own t’chelet, and go snorkeling in the Mediterranean to find our own snails!

It was a really fun and also interesting day at the same time!

In our chabura, we learn about finding meaning and discovering our purpose for ourselves by connecting to others. We start by understanding on a basic level why Hashem created us and what our goals are as individuals and as Jews. We then follow to practical applications of how to improve our relationships with others, based on Torah sources… you could call it the “How To Win Friends and Influence People,” that Hashem wrote before Carnegie. 🙂

After a long and amazing two weeks in Israel, we finally made it to Yerushalaim!!  

We started the day off by going to the Old City.

We began with a complete overlook of the Old City which was absolutely beautiful.  We basically had a full out photo shoot courtesy of Josh G and many of our fellow NCSYers. Then, we walked on top of the city walls.  We walked from the Jaffa Gate to the Gate of Zion. From the top, we were able to see all of the Old City, including the Kotel, the Dome of the Rock and the Jewish Quarter, as Josh G helpfully pointed out.

We then entered the Jewish Quarter and had the privilege of visiting Hurva Shul.  The shul’s interesting history and unique design is what made it so memorable!  It was destroyed and rebuilt three times throughout the course of its history and its ruins are incorporated into its walls.  We also climbed onto the balcony and were able to see the shul from a topical view.  Josh G showed us that because of the dome shape, echoes from certain places travel to certain spots and we were able to communicate with our voice barely louder than a whisper.

Then, finally, we got to see The Kotel.  As for me, it was not my first time to see the Western Wall, but for many of my friends it was, and the experience was very meaningful for all of us.  We even got to have our chaburot in the Kotel plaza with our amazing advisors Meira, Yael, Emma, Josh G, Josh M, and Frankie.

I think I speak for everyone when I say we couldn’t have asked for a better first day in Yerushalaim.

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!