Summer 2016

Todays exploits can only be described as indelible. This morning we headed out of Eilat for a three hour journey towards Tel Aviv. First, we stopped at the Sh’vil HaSalat (Salad Trail); a vegetable farm 45 minutes out of Sderot. There we ate cherry tomatoes and cucumbers right off the vine. After that, we participated in a maze running competition, made fresh Pita, and enjoyed a nice lunch in the midst of the exotic vineyards. When we arrived in Sderot, we stopped at a playground as a symbolic gesture towards the fact that the children within the city -which neighbors Gaza- have witnessed thousands of rockets lobbed at their homes and recreational facilities. At the Blind Museum in Cholon, we got a chance to experience complete and utter darkness. With the help of our other senses, we discovered our true surroundings. More importantly, we were finally able to empathize with those  not born with the simple yet vital ability to see. Perhaps this will be a lesson for those of us who can see, and how we unfortunately use that power to judge one another. As writer Charles Caleb Colton once said, “Men are born with two eyes, but with one tongue, in order that they should see twice as much as they say.” Hopefully, after todays fufilling activities, we will all begin to take these words to heart.

-Yaakov Miller

Yesterday was one of my favorite days from the whole trip. The day consisted of water sports and a night out on the Eilat Boardwalk. For me, the highlight of the day was banana boating. We got into the banana boats and were pulled by a motor boat. We felt the wind in our faces and tried our hardest not to fall out. I really liked it because although it was over 100 degrees outside, the wind cooled us down and made it a great experience. Afterwards, we had time to go kayaking and I jumped out of the boat and into the water. The water was so blue and it was beautiful. Later, we went snorkeling and visited an underwater observatory. That night, we were given free time out on the Eilat Boardwalk. Overall, it was an amazing day and I had so much fun.

– Rachelle Guy

We woke up at 4 for our second and final sunrise hike. If I got just 7 more hours of sleep, I might not be sick. By 5 in the morning it was already in the upper 90s. The hike to the top of the mountain was a bit hard but totally worth it, especially since the cold medicine Malkie gave me started working as soon as we got to the top. After eating breakfast, the boys went snorkeling and the girls did water sports. Then we switched. It was really amazing to see the types of creatures that live under the water. It’s a whole other world that humans don’t usually get to see. The animals that Hashem has created are truly amazing. We learned from the banana boats not to trust angry old people who aren’t wearing shirts. It was also terrifying. Oh, I almost died and Tzvi saved me. Sort of. Well, most of my blood was coming out of my nose, and Tzvi helped me not bleed to death. Thanks again! Afterwards we went to the boardwalk where people spent too much money on anything and everything. This included Bob Marley pants and a giant slingshot. After this, we davened maariv and laughed at people stuck in the elevators. Also, I’ve been paid to say red bull gives you wings.

#skokieforlife

-Joseph

My free Shabbat was quite unexciting at most times. I was up really late the first night because my shampoo exploded in my bag and I had to wash everything in the sink and hang them all over the place to dry. Them I slept until about 11 or so the next couple of days. I went to the shook with 4 people and helped make Shabbat dinner. I watched a lot of Netflix over the past couple days and Have developed an addiction to Ice Coffee. I also read a good portion of Me Before You on Shabbat. My iPod Touch crashed and Will be completely useless until I get back to America unless I use it as a paper weight. And that is pretty much it. Yay.

Before I begin, you may wonder why I was prompted to write an ncsy blog post. Now I could lie and say that I wrote the post by my own want, but this would be very untrue.  Around 5 minutes ago I was woken up by the sound my my director blabbering on the bus’s sound system.  He claimed with absolute certainty that anyone who fails to write a blog post will not be participating in the next activity, which he claimed to be camel riding and Jeeping (I assume that two activities are separate, although it would be cool to race jeeps and camels.) Anyway, fear of calling my directors bluff led me to this point in the so called “blog”.  I spent my free weekend at my cousins house in Yerushalim.  I have four cousins all under the age of 7, and another one on the way (yes, they are religious.)  So I had to prep for when they asked if I had any games on my phone, candy, and NyQuil (dont worry the nyquil was mostly  for me.)  In addition to my cousins, their cousins decided to come – also my aunts apartment became a makeshift Chucky Cheeses, and I was in the middle of all the chaos. As the shabbos progressed I consumed enormous amounts of Sephardi food.  It was my Ashkenaz stomach against 3 meals a day of Moroccan food.  As you may have guessed my Ashkenaz stomach lost.  Besides that my weekend gave me perspective on how calm Ice Israel actually is.  It also gave me perspective on how easy Ashkenazi davening is.  At the end of the day (or weekend) I had an amazing weekend with my family, and their family, and their family.  It was good to experience Shabbat from a different point of view, even if it means sacrificing my ears, privacy, and abdomen.

Akiva Levy and I spent our free weekend in a small Jewish community near Kfar Adumim. We slept through most of Shabbat, but we would make sure to wake up for shul whenever services were beginning. The shul itself was beautiful, but the A.C. was broken so the experience was obviously not as great as it could have been. Also, the walk to shul was really cool because there was an incredible view of the desert. After Shabbat, we took the bus to Ben Yehuda street and met up with some friends from the program. A couple hours later, we headed to the bus station and waited for twenty minutes just to see our bus speed by the bus stop without hesitation. We spent 150 shekel to take a cab back to the house at 1:00am. As you can see, my free weekend had its ups and downs but overall I had a great time.

My weekend was interesting to say the least. I was with people I never met before Which was pretty awkward. They ended up being pretty nice though and cooked great food. The people I stayed With did not speak much English but I made it work. Overall it was an interesting experience and maybe I can see them again.

On my free weekend i went to my aunts and uncles house – before we got to their house we had to take the bus then a light rail train and then another bus. Once we got to the house we had spaghetti with meat sauce then i went up to my room to watch netflix, went to bed, got back up on Friday and watched more netflix and for saturday this is the exciting part – i read for the next twelve hours then went back to sleep woke up at 7 to get to the ou center on time. So thats what i did this weekend hopefully you’re all happy with this masterpiece.

After a fun packed week of climbing masada, touring the old city, and water hiking i was fortunate enough to spend my weekend in Jerusalem. On Thursday night i traveled to ben yehuda street where i was introduced to my friend’s school friends. We ate at a delicious cafe and spoke about our similarities and differences as teenagers growing up in different countries. However, the highlight of my weekend was definitely kabbalat shabbat at the Kotel. Seeing jewish people from around the world come together to welcome in the shabbat queen is an experience i will never forget.