Snorkeling and a beautiful weekend in Haifa!

According to some ancient Jewish tradition, there are certain snails that can be found in the sea that are used to create the blue ink found on Talits. Yearcourse provided us with an opportunity to go snorkeling for these snails at a kibbutz next to Zichron and we all jumped on the chance! So we got to this kibbutz and learned all about the history of these snails. Then they showed us how the dye is made from snails that have already been found. We had to mix the "snail blood" with all of these chemicals and once we soaked the wool and put it in the sun, it became blue. The whole thing felt like a third grade science project....

We then got the chance to go snorkeling to looking for the snails but it is illegal to take them according to Israeli law so we just found them and put them back. It was a gorgeous beach and really nice water to snorkel in though!

After this exciting day, I got a chance to go home with one of the scouts on my program who lives in a beautiful city in the north called Tivon. There, I had a yummy lunch and hung out with her and another scout. She took me to her old scout "shevet" and showed me around and introduced me to all of her friends. We then went to a gorgeous overlook and from the point you can see Afula, Haifa, Alonei Abba and Beit Lechem Haglilit. SO BEAUTIFUL. The north really takes my breath away.

From there, my friend drove me to Haifa where I was staying with some friends at an old counselor's house. We had a lovely Shabbat dinner and then had a girls night out on the town in Haifa! I also got to see a friend from camp this summer who lives in Haifa and that was really fun. The next morning we had brunch on the beach and laid out all day! We then made a stop the the Technion which is the university that my dad went to! I was so excited and made sure to take a picture in front of the architecture building. Yay!!!

Weekend=Success!

Siyur in Jerusalem!

My friends and I decided to take a day trip back to Jerusalem during our free afternoon. We spent time at the shuk, ate dinner at my friend's grandmother's house and walked around the beautiful old city at night. It happened to be Earth day so in the Old City was a beautiful exhibit with painted globes all about saving the environment.

We stayed with our friends from yearcourse in Jerusalem and the next day met up with our Zionism class.
This class was talking about the battles that were fought in Jerusalem and why Jerusalem was so important to the Jews during the war of Independence. First, we went to the Castel and learned about the battle that took place there. One of the most chilling moments was when our teacher told us that we were standing on the spot where the Haganah militia became the IDF. Pretty cool huh? We climbed up the mountain and saw all the trenches and tunnels that have been there since 1948. From the top, there was a beautiful view of Jerusalem and all of the surrounding villages.

After this, we went to a kibbutz called Kiryat Anavim. This made me really really happy because this is the kibbutz that my grandparents lived in when they first made Aliyah from Europe. I had never been there before so I was really excited to go. We didn't really make it into the kibbutz, just the cemetery but I definitely want my grandparents to take me there and give me a tour some time. The cemetery there is for military soldiers that had fallen in the independence war.  The average age was around 18 and buried there were Holocaust survivors who fell, and Jews from Yemen, Poland, Hungary etc. We walked around and read the graves and then discussed the stories. I was probably most affected by the Holocaust survivors who were lucky enough to escape death from the Nazis only to be killed when they are fighting for the freedom of their people. And they never got to see Israel the way I am so lucky to see it now. I wrote down some names to remember for next year during Yom Hazikaron.

Camping Trip to Sde Boker

For the weekend, a group of my friends and I decided to go camping in the south at a beautiful National Park called Sde Boker (home to the first prime minister David Ben Gurion). With lots of food, tents, and games, we set out to enjoy a beautiful overnight in the negev. When we arrived, we had to trek down a very steep hill with all of our things (thankfully no injuries). We plopped down the first place we found and OF COURSE once we set everything up, we were told to go to the actual camping area. So we carried the open tents over to the grounds and everyone around us laughed and laughed. We passed the time by walking around looking at the beautiful surroundings and playing games such as cards and lots of backgammon (duh). Later that night, a group of guys invited us to eat with them. They gave us homemade pita and delicious poyke. "Poyke" is a stew that has a bunch of random food in it and somehow it tastes amazing. For example, this stew had coke, beer, vegetables, chicken, rice and a bunch of other things. It was soooo good!!!
We went to bed early so that we could wake up at like 5 in the morning to watch the sunrise. We got up, hiked to the top of a mountain and waited for the sun to come up. It was such a nice moment to sit with six of my closest friends soaking in the gorgeous views around us. Sde Boker is actually so beautiful. We spent the rest of our time exploring and hiking. When it was finally time to go back to the bus stop, we had to go up the hill which was actual death. And then we visited Ben Gurion's grave as well. We were SO lucky because it started to pour just as we were on our way to the bus stop. Yay us :) I'm so happy that we did this and for all the hater throughout our trip that asked why we were all girls, SCREW YOU girls like this kind of stuff too

Yom Hazikaron AND YomHaatzmaut!!!

April was a month of many important days. First was Holocaust Remembrance Day and then a week later, was Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day) and Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day). In Israel, Yom Hazikaron is a day for the fallen soldiers AND victims of terror in Israel. This is something that is unique to Israel and I think that it is very important to remember the lives of both groups. It started on the 14th of April and the next evening was the start of Yom Haatzmaut which is when Israelis celebrate 65 beautiful years across the country. This is very weird because that means that bereaved families who were remembering their fallen loved ones in the morning were expected to celebrate that evening. The topic of these days being back to back is very controversial and many people think that there should at least be a whole day in between.
To bring in Yom Hazikaron, all of Yearcourse attended a ceremony put on by Masa at Latrun. Latrun is right next to Jerusalem and is land that was annexed by Israel in the Six Day War. Every single Masa program was there (that means any Israel program basically) including March of The Living! The ceremony was very well done. There were performances, speeches by very famous people such as Naftali Bennet and Natan Sharansky and there were five stories told. Four of the people spoken about were not "Tzabarim" (meaning native born Israelis). These were four people who either made Aliyah early on with their families or did it on their own through lone soldier programs like Garin Tzabar. I was crying for the first story until I got to the bus. Each story was so inspirational and heart breaking. We listened to their families talk about their loved ones and you just can't help but feel such pain for these five people. They will forever be in my heart.

The next morning, my section and I went to the military cemetary in Tel Aviv known as Kiryat Shaul. Every year on Yom Hazikaron, bereaved families go to the cemetaries where their loved ones are buried and commemorate their lives. We were lucky enough to speak to a man named Haim Abraham who lost both his son and his brother from war. He told us their stories and I couldn't believe how strong he was. He lost so much and is still able to come to talk to us about it. His son was captured during an operation near Lebanon. No one knew whether he was dead or alive and the government wouldn't disclose any information.  In the end, they swapped many dangerous terrorists only to receive the bodies of his son and his two soldiers. We went to his grave and remembered him and put flowers. 

After listening to Haim's story, we walked around the cemetary handing out water and picking up trash. I noticed that there were soldiers everywhere and was then informed that every soldier was assigned to a grave. This way, everyone resting there has someone watching over them and remembering them. So I walked over to a grave that had only one soldier there and I read the tombstone and took a moment of silence for them. Everyone deserves to be remembered and I think that the IDF is doing a great job of making sure that this happens.

At 11:00, the nationwide siren went off and the whole country shut down. Immediately afterwards, the ceremony began and the Minister of Defense read the "Yizkor" prayer and we sang the national anthem "Hatikvah" as a nation. Being able to witness this with my own eyes was absolutely incredible. The whole nation bands together on this day to remember the victims and it is so special.

Later that night, Yom Haatzmaut began!!!! Our section went out with almost everyone dressed in blue and white. We got to Rabin Square and watched the fireworks while listening to some good ol' Israeli music. After that, 60 of us roamed the streets of Tel Aviv going to all the street celebration that we could find. Such a fun and cool experience that you can only find here in Israel :) Happy Birthday to the best country on Earth! 65 years old and looking better than ever!

After a fun night of partying it up in the streets of Tel Aviv, Sarah and I were on our way to Jerusalem at 8:00 AM the next morning. We have a bunch of friends from BBYO that are on a program called March of the Living. This program spends one week in Poland and one week in Israel. On Yom Haatzmaut, the program was planned to march from the city hall to the Western Wall. One of my best friends got us wristbands and just like that we were in!!! The day started off with a super fun ceremony in Safra Square. Thousands of MOTL participants from Canada, USA, Panama, Mexico, Brazil etc were going crazy celebrating Israel's Independence. Then, the LA delegation was first in the march so we started walking. The whole time, people were chanting Am Israel Chai and singing songs. Everyone had Israelis flags and it was sooo much fun! When we arrived to the Wall, we completely took over the area and all you could see from a bird's eye view was a sea of blue and white. I was so happy to be able to take part in this!!!!

עם ישראל חי