Summer 2016

This Shabbat I went to Mitzpei Yericho to stay with a rabbi that I had met at the yeshiva/seminary fair at Yom NCSY. After sleeping until almost noon on Friday, I took a bus into Jerusalem and went to the shuk for the first time which was quite an experience. The pre-Shabbat rush provided a unique experience which was one of my highlights of the weekend. On Shabbat morning, we went to shul which was very quick compared to most shuls in America. After having lunch at my host’s home, I slept for the majority of the afternoon. The view from Mitzpei Yericho at sunset overlooking the city of Jericho, the Dead Sea, and Jordan was beautiful and I’m really glad I was able to spend my free Shabbat here!

When I walked through the door of my cousins’ house I could already feel the Israeli excitement. The whole Shabbat I was with my family in Efrat I spoke in Hebrew, played games and even learned new hand shakes.  I had a lot of fun with my family and ate very Israeli foods.

I spent my free Shabbat in Hadera with my great- aunt and uncle. The second I left the train station in Tel- Aviv I started missing my ICE family and didn’t know if I’d make it through Shabbat without our familiar Friday night dancing and motzei Shabbat ebbing. Luckily, my free weekend was very relaxing and fun, starting with spending Thursday night with a close friend from GIVE. Over Shabbat, I enjoyed great meals and a lot of time to sleep, read, and of course daven. This Shabbat was the first ever that I motivated myself to daven 3 times throughout the day, and I owe this to my amazing directors and advisors on ICE. Can’t wait to reunite with all my friends tomorrow 🙂

-Orly Krupp

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