May 3rd, Sunday, Day #13

May 3rd, Sunday, Day #13

Today we made some changes from our original itinerary and they were all great changes. We started our day meeting Rona, our new guide just for today, who did a wonderful job teaching and connecting with us. Instead of the original hike and cave experience we decided that we had had some amazing hiking and caving experiences already, but, except for the Holocaust Museum, we had not really visited any museums. We went to spend the morning at The Israel Museum and it was fabulous! Not only did we get to see the Dead Sea Scrolls but also the world's smallest Bible engraved on a gold plated silicone chip, the size of a small grain of rice. 

At the Israel Museum there were so many exhibits of amazing archeological finds. There were also exhibits about Jewish life- life cycle, holidays and synagogue- from Jewish communities around the world and from different historical periods. The Israel Museum also has an amazing model of Jerusalem from the period of the Second Temple (Roman Empire). This model was at least the size of our atrium and it was made from Jerusalem stone.

We had lunch on the street in a nice neighborhood of Jerusalem called Emek Refa'im. An important ending to our trip was going to Israel's National Cemetery on Mount Herzl. We walked past rows and rows of graves of soldiers who gave their lives to defend Israel. We stopped at the graves of some young heroes and dignitaries and our guide told us their inspiring stories. Some of the graves included Yoni Netanyahu (killed in the Entebbe Rescue), Hannah Senesh (a young woman soldier from Israel during WWII killed by the Nazis), Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin and the father of modern Zionism- Theodor Herzl.

Back at the hotel we finished our Israel trip scavenger hunt and spent some time catching up on journal writing. Dinner was at a really nice dairy restaurant with a huge variety of delicious food. We got our official Alexander Muss Lippman Kadimah  Israel T-shirts, designed by Jace and Eliana. We gave a big round of applause and cheers to thank our great and unbelievably skilled bus driver, Yoav, and our Israeli counselor, Dikla, who worked so hard to make our trip exceptional. Before going back to the room to pack our suitcases to leave tomorrow, we had a final activity with Dikla. 

Tomorrow morning we drop off our new friends, the Kadimah students from Buffalo, at the airport at 8:30 am. We have a full day planned after that for the Lippman students, until we have to be at the airport in the evening. We will be visiting Kibbutz Gaash, where our Akron Israeli Emissary, Ofri, grew up. His parents will host us and give us a tour of the kibbutz as well as special time at their Kibbutz spa with pools and hot springs. 

After lunch we will be going to a special "museum in the dark" for children to learn about living with blindness. Final stop will be a Supermarket for important food items (like candy and Turkish coffee or whatever other food items students and staff need to buy to take home.)

We are all sorry to leave Israel and to see our wonderful trip end, but we are excited to go home and see our families. We have so many great memories and have learned so much. We are all grateful to everyone who helped give our students this amazing experience, especially parents and supporters of our school.

We hope you enjoyed our blog posts and photos. We will be adding more student reflections and photos in the next few days.

May 2nd, Shabbat, Day #12

Our second Shabbat in Israel...could our trip really  be almost over? We have done so much in such a short time. It has been wonderful seeing our students and the Kadimah students getting along so well and becoming friends.

The students were able to sleep in this morning until 8:15, breakfast at 8:45 and then at 9:15 we divided into three groups and walked to three different synagogues, giving the students their choice of varied Shabbat prayer experiences (a Chabad congregation,  the Agron Conservative Synagogue, and the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem with its orthodox men's choir).  

After lunch the students had a great afternoon at a nearby Jerusalem park, playing ball, frisbee, talking, snacking, relaxing and socializing. 

Our guide, Maor, gathered us together and we thought back over our past 12 days and all that we did, saw, learned and felt. Everyone shared a meaningful moment and then Maor expressed his gratitude to our students for a great trip. Unfortunately, today was his last day with us, since he has to be at the University tomorrow for his studies. Our students also thanked him and we gave him a card and a gift.

After dinner we had a havdalah service and then walked two blocks Ben Yehudah Street, where we did some more shopping at the many gift shops and souvenir shops that line the streets. Hopefully everyone found the gifts and items that they wanted to take home. When we walked back to our hotel at 11, the streets were still full of people and everyone in our group was energized from a great day and evening.

Friday, May 1st, Day # 11

Friday, May 1st, Day #11

Today started with a morning hike down Sataf mountain to learn about ancient agriculture. We saw how they used terracing and natural water springs,found in caves,  to irrigate their crops.

Our next discussion was about the history of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. We got a better understanding of both the history and current situation, and it was clear that this is a very challenging and complicated situation. We saw, from a vantage point, the controversial security fence that has been built to separate parts of Jerusalem.

Next we drove to a beautiful look out spot for a great view of the Old City of Jerusalem and the hills surrounding it.

The Jerusalem Marketplace (Shuk) in Makhane Yehuda is famous for all of its fresh foods, baked goods, fruits, nuts, vegetables, shops and little eating places. It is an especially bustling place to be on Friday afternoon, as people finish up their Friday shopping for Shabbat. We joined all of the shoppers to experience the Marketplace (Shuk). Then it was a short walk back to our hotel to get dressed for Shabbat evening.

At 6:40 we lit Shabbat candles and then walked (35 minute walk) to the Old City and down to the Kotel. The Kotel was full of people coming together to pray and welcome the Shabbat. We had our own Prayer Service first, in an area of the Kotel that has been recently sectioned off so that women and mixed groups of women and men, can come to the Kotel to pray , either as a women's group or groups of men and women together (since the rest of the Kotel has men and women separated). It was a very meaningful experience to pray together in Hebrew and English and then to put more notes with prayers from students at the Lippman School into cracks in the Wall. Our Kotel experience would not have been complete without joining the men and women on their designated sides to hear the joy of prayer, singing and dancing- religious men and women, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, soldiers, students and tourists all moving and singing together as they welcomed Shabbat in this holy place. 

We walked back to our hotel, enjoying the cool mountain air, and had a good Shabbat dinner.

April 30th, Day #10

April 30, Day #10

This morning we started with breakfast in the Kibbutz dining hall and then we went for fun rides in jeeps into the lower Golan Heights. We learned about the the need to have a secure border along the Golan Heights and the battles that were fought there in the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War. The jeeps left us off at the foot of a stream and pools of fresh spring water that we hiked through to get to the actual source- a waterfall called the At-Tina Spring. The water was thigh high and then we hiked up the rocky mountain about a half mile to reach the waterfalls.

Our next stop was even more water fun. After a great pizza lunch in a park we went kayaking/rafting down a tributary of the Jordan River. The weather was perfect and the kayak experience was fabulous!! The students had so much fun! Many of the students were really looking forward to the kayaking and they told me that it surpassed their expectations. The water was not very deep or rapid and many of the students had fun "falling" in and out of the rafts, and of course there was lots of splashing and joyful faces.

From there we drove to visit the Israeli emissaries that were in Akron last year, Shirel and Eran. They live in a beautiful town called Har Adar, in the Judean mountains outside of Jerusalem. What a great view from the lookout point that they took us to. We could see Jerusalem and on a clear day, they told us, you can even see Tel Aviv. It was so wonderful to see them!  What great memories the eighth graders had of traveling with them to Montana last year and studying with them all year. We are so fortunate that our Akron Jewish community invests in having Israeli emissaries each year to help us connect to and learn about Israel. We look forward next Monday, to going to visit the kibbutz that our emissary from this year grew up in. Our final stop for the day was our Youth Hostel in Jerusalem. 

April 29th , Day #9

Today we spent up north in the Galilee. We started our morning at the Sea of Galilee, the Kinneret, where we visited two important Christian sites- Mt. Beatitudes and Capernaum. We learned about the history and life of Jesus and where the major events in his life occurred in Israel. There were many Christian groups at the sites we visited from all over the world.

Next we drove to the city of Tzefat (Safed), which is known as the city of Jewish Mysticism, Kabbalah. We saw 2 famous synagogues and we were also able to visit a candle factory and walk in the artist quarter. Tzefat is built on a mountain, so we walked a lot of steps, and it was a very hot day. The students ate some delicious ice cream and drank fresh fruit smoothies.

We left Tzefat and headed back to the Kinneret to enjoy a fabulous meat and grilled chicken dinner on the lake. After dinner we drove to the Kibbutz where we had some great free time before lights out running and playing ball or relaxing with friends.

April 28th, Day #8

April 28th, Day #8

Our Tel Aviv day was great! We started off doing a meaningful Mitzvah project. We packed boxes with food for 36 poor families. We did our community service in the city of Jaffa (Yaffo) at the Jaffa Institute. At the Jaffa Institue we learned about the issues of the poor in Israel and the many programs that the Jaffa Institute does to try and help the poor families in the Tel Aviv/Jaffa area. We dedicated our volunteer act of kindness (Chesed) in memory of Talia's grandmother, of blessed memory. At the end of our work time, the woman in charge complimented our group for our great cooperation and teamwork. She said we were the best group of 7/8th graders she has worked with in the past four years. 

After our mitzvah project we went to Independence Hall, Hechal Haatzmaut, and learned all about the history of Tel Aviv and the period of the establishment of the modern State of Israel. As we sat in the room, that still looks exactly the same, where David Ben Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister, read the Declaration of Independence and declared the State of Israel in 1948, we listened to a recording of the actual event.

Next we took a short walk to a Pedestrian Mall called Nahalat Binyamin, where every Tuesday and Friday artisans sell their wares and there are cafes and an open market. After lunch and shopping the students did a fun photo scavenger hunt on the streets of Tel Aviv. 

Next stop was the beach for fun and relaxation in the sand and Mediterranean Sea.

Dinner was a real treat. We ate at an upscale dairy restaurant with delicous breads, salads, pizzas, two kinds of raviolis with cream sauces, pasta primamerva with tomato sauce, and three flavors of ice cream. There was so much delicious food everyone found something they could enjoy. 

Back at Alexander Muss we got our clean laundry back and everyone took showers 😉

All is well and happy with the Lippman group!

Day #7 April 27th

April 27th, Day #7

We woke up at the Sde Boker Field House and started off our day with a beautiful hike through the Ein Avdat canyon/oasis in the Negev desert. In addition to the amazing scenery of the canyon and pools of water, at different parts of the hike some students saw a desert mouse, vultures, ibex, and a chameleon. The second part of the hike was a challenging ascent up the mountain to the top of the canyon. There were some metal ladders built into the side of the mountain, which made the climb even more special.

After the hike we spent time talking about Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion. Ben Gurion was one of the great leaders of Israel. He believed that building and developing the Negev desert was essential to the success of the modern state of Israel. Since Ben Gurion was a member of Kibbutz Sde Boker it was his wish to buried in the Negev desert by the kibbutz rather than in the National Cemetery in Jerusalem. We went to visit his grave and saw the magnificent view.

Next stop was a pizza lunch. I never saw so much pizza consumed!

We then left the desert and drove north to an archeological dig site at a Tel which is the ancient city of Maresha. We learned about the history of the Tel and then we went to work digging in caves, that were actually basements from 2,000 years ago. 

We found all kinds of large and small shards, handles and bones. it was nice and cool in the cave and the time flew by. Next we carried buckets full of the dirt we dug up and shifted through all of the dirt to be sure we didn't miss anything important. there were archeologists there to help identify and explain our "finds." 

After digging we went "Spalunking", crawling through a series of narrow caves by candle light. Yes, it was as cool and fun as it sounds! 

Our final part of the dig experience was seeing pictures and stories about the major archeological finds that have been found at Tel Maresha. We all got to take home real pottery shards as souvenirs of our experience. The archeologist who was our guide told us that we were the best behaved group of Middle School students she has had in her four years of working with groups! We love getting those well deserved compliments!

An hour an a half later we arrived at the Alexander Muss High School Campus, took showers, dropped off our dirty laundry and walked around the corner to the lovely city of Hod Hasharon where we had dinner on the street- falafel, shwarma, hamburgers, whatever the kids wanted.

It was a great day, only the students (and teachers) were disappointed we didn't have wifi in the dorm at Alexander Muss. Hopefully we will have it tomorrow.

Today we really had a chance to feel some Israeli hot weather. Tomorrow will be hot again.... good thing we're going to the beach!

April 26th, Day #6

The hike today up and down an Eilat mountain was challenging, but most of the students enjoyed the challenge and a chance to see the borders of four countries from the mountain top. After the hike they all got to snorkel next to a coral reef in the Red Sea. The snorkeling was for a shorter time than many of the kids wanted but unfortunately, since the coral reef has to be protected from humans destroying it, you can only swim there with a special guide. After snorkeling we had lunch in Eilat at the food court and then we started driving up through the Negev desert to our next stop, the Ramon Makhtesh, usually translated as the Ramon Crater. This geological phenomenon looks a huge crater but they believe it was formed by a mountain collapsing. Our travels for today ended at Kibbutz Sde Boker, where we are staying in the dorms of this desert Field School.

More student entries

Talia: 

We went on a hike in Eilat that started out kind of easy, then the path turned into a rocky sand, which was much harder. When we got to the top we all sat silently and looked at the borders of the four countries that we could see: Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It was really cool to take it all in and see it all in one place. On the way down it was very challenging because it was so steep and windy. When I got to the bottom I felt really accomplished because I had climbed a mountain. Snorkling in the cold Red Sea after that was very refreshing.

Jace:

When we were at the Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem, we went to the Children's Memorial. When you first walked in it was really dark. There was an illusion that there were millions of candles, but there were only five with specially positioned mirrors. You could hear a man and woman reading the names of boys and girls who were killed. It was very powerful and you could feel all of the emotion that went into making this Memorial.

Korrine:

We had to wake up really early to climb Masada, which everyone was not very happy about. When we first arrived it was just barely dawn. To go up the mountain, we hiked up the Roman Ramp (which is way easier then the Snake Path). We went to an open part of the mountain and watched the sunrise. Then we sang songs and had our own little service. After we looked around at all the ruins of the Romans, and they were all astonishing. It was amazing how much was left from over 2,000 years ago. There were so many elaborate and decorative things located all over the spacious mountain. Then we went to a canyon-type structure and yelled the phrase "Masada Shall Not Fall Again" in Hebrew and our echo sounded like the souls of the 800 Jews who made the worst decision of all, because they knew the Roman's were going to kill them. The hike down was harder then the way up but still really fun. In a nutshell, my experience with Masada was amazing, overwhelming, and extremely powerful. 

Eliana:

On Shabbat we got to sleep in until 9:45 which is longer than all of the other days when we had to get up at 6. After we got ready we had a morning Shabbat prayer service where we read from the Torah portion. We walked to the beach, which was two blocks away, and we went swimming. The water was cold at first but we got used to it easily enough.While we were in the water my friends and I played Marco Polo and Truth or Dare. After we got out a group of us sat and talked underneath the pavilion. Then lots of other kids came over too. We went back to our Youth Hostel and had a short havdala service outside. That night, we went to the boardwalk and the mall to go shopping, I got ice cream!!!

April 25th, Day #5

Saturday, April 25th Day #5

Today was a wonderful day from start to finish. First of all, we got to sleep in! Most of the students showed up for breakfast between 9:30 and 10:00 looking relaxed and more rested. We started off our morning at 10:30  with our own Shabbat prayer/Torah service in the synagogue at the hostel, which happens to be in their bomb shelter. Some free time before lunch at 1:00 and then off to the Red Sea beach, which is right across the street from our hostel.

We were at the beach until 5:00/5:30 swimming, relaxing in the sun and shade, playing soccer, football and/or frisbie, snacking, talking, socializing, reading, laughing- basically having a great time. Some of the boys even played soccer with some 6 and 7 year old Israeli children who loved playing with our boys! What made the day especially wonderful was the way everyone got along, cooperated and enjoyed being together. it was truly a Shabbat to remember.

Dinner was at 6:30 and after a short havdalah service to end Shabbat we went over to the promenade along the beach with shops and stores, an area with vendors and the Eilat Mall. It was warm out with a light sea breeze, and there were families walking up and down the promenade. There was even a large group of adults doing Israeli folk dances together. We walked around, on the promenade and in the mall,  and some students bought a few things in the shops, but mostly they bought food and snacks and enjoyed walking around at night with friends.

Tomorrow we return to our busy itinerary- wake up at 6:15, load our suitcases in the bus at 7:00, breakfast at 7:15 and then a big hike followed by snorkling!

Friday April 24th Day #4

Friday, April 24th Day #4

The students all did well sleeping in the Bedouin tent and being up and ready to leave at 4:30 am! We climbed the Roman Ramp up the mountain of Massada. While we were up there our tour guide taught us about two stories: the story about King Herod who built himself a palace on Massada during the period of the Roman Empire. And the story of 960 zealots who lived on top of Massada, trying to escape the Romans. Their attempt ends up being the final stand against the Romans, ending tragically.

As the story unfolded we walked through the ancient ruins and saw how Herod constructed it and how the zealots lived. It was a challenging morning because it was unseasonably chilly and the strong wind made it even colder, but the kids did great. The students walked down Massada's famous Snake Path that zigzags down the other side of the mountain.

After lunch we had a great time swimming in the Dead Sea. The temperature got warmer and the wind became a comfortable breeze. How cool it was to walk into the water of the Dead Sea and lift your legs and effortlessly float!! Many of the students had fun putting on Dead Sea mud too.

On our drive from the Dead Sea to Eilat we stopped at Kibbutz Yotvata, which is famous for its dairy farm products. The kids loved the "Shoko Basakeet", delicious chocolate milk in a plastic bag and, of course, ice cream. 

Friday evening everyone dressed nicely, and we welcomed Shabbat with "shabbatograms" for each other, some songs and prayers and a Shabbat dinner. After dinner we had some really fun activities, lead by Dikla. We played some crazy games that helped everyone feel part of the group, get to know each other better and laugh! With each passing day our students and the students from the Kadimah School in Buffalo are getting to know each other better and make friends.

It was a long day---- everyone was exhausted but in good spirits. Saturday morning we all get to sleep in (yay!), breakfast is served up until 10:00 am. A relaxing Shabbat in Eilat is planned.

Shabbat Shalom!

April 23rd Day #3

Happy Yom Haatzmaut, Israel Independence Day!!!
Another great day! We started off driving to Jerusalem to learn more about the history of the city. Our first stop was the ancient City of David, conquered by King David in around BCE. We saw a movie about the history of Jerusalem and the archeological excavations of a building that many archeologists believe was King David's palace. 

Our next stop was Hezekiah's Tunnel. For about 20 minutes we walked through knee deep fresh water that flows through man made tunnels from the period of King Hezekiah. This water tunnel secured the main source of fresh water to the ancient city of Jerusalem. We then walked along the ancient path that lead up to the Western Wall of the Ancient Holy Temple. 

Our lunch in the Jewish Quarter of the Old city was fast food "Old City of Jerusalem style"- falafel and shawarma with hummus, salad and French fries.

After lunch we learned about Jerusalem during the time of the Roman Empire, when the city was set on fire and the Holy Temple was destroyed. We then went over to the the Western Wall, the Kotel, where we wrote personal prayers on little notes and took the notes that we brought from the students at Lippman to place in the Wall. There was time for personal prayer as well. 

From there we started our drive down south to the desert (yes, we saw shepherds with sheep and goats and camels in the desert hills). When we reached our destination, a Bedouin Oasis designed to teach about the Bedouins and their way of life, we unloaded from the bus and climbed on camels. We all had a lot of fun riding on camels in a caravan through the desert! After the camel rides we sat together in a large Bedouin tent and were given a chance to hear about Bedouin life and ask questions. We had sweet hot tea brewed on an open fire and black coffee. Next we had a fun Bedouin style dinner eating sitting on mattress pads on the floor. Our after dinner activities, lead by our counselor, Dikla, were fun games, a bonfire, s'mores and singing. Everyone had a good time and you could feel the warmth of friendship and comraderie that are such an important part of a trip like this. At the end of the evening, we got ready for bed and climbed into sleeping bags to sleep in a large Bedouin tent. 

Tomorrow morning we are on the road at 4:30 am to drive to the foot of Massada and climb the Roman Ramp in time to see the sunrise over the Dead Sea. 

April 22 Day #2

Today started off serious and somber as the country commemorated Israel's Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day. Our morning was especially meaningful, with a three hour visit to Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem. The Museum is a powerful testimony to the events of the Holocaust. We had an excellent guide from the Museum who engaged the students in trying to understand and reflect on the atrocities of the Holocaust. Some of the students shared that the Children's Memorial was the most moving part of the Museum for them, where we walked through a dark circular hallway illuminated by five candles. The candles reflected in mirrors to look like thousands of candles. As we walked we heard the continual reading of children's names and ages that were killed in the Holocaust.

At 11:00 am we once again stood in silence with the rest of the country as the sirens sounded for two minutes.

After lunch we returned to our Hostel in Tel Aviv and the kids enjoyed some free time 😄 

After dinner we drove to our sister city Kiryat Ekron and had an amazing evening! Thank you so much to our Shlichim, Tohar and Ofri, for arranging our visit to celebrate Yom Haatzmaut (Israel's Independence Day) in Kiryat Ekron! The city organized a large group of high school kids (mostly 9th graders) to greet us at their Youth Lounge. They were incredibly friendly to everyone! I cannot tell you how heartwarming it was to see our kids conversing and playing games with them! Then we all went outside to the city Independence Day celebration. It was so festive with families, food, performances and fireworks! At one point they invited a few of us on stage to receive an official certificate of appreciation to the Akron Jewish Federation for their financial support of  special programming for underprivileged Ethiopian Jewish children.

All in all, a wonderful day!

Happy Yom Haatzmaut, Israel's 67th Independence Day!!

flight and day #1

We had easy connections and the flight was on time. We were proud to receive compliments from two of the flight attendants about how well behaved our students were on the long flight to Israel!

We arrived and met our guide, Maor , and our counselor, Diklah. They are both young and energetic and they are looking forward to two great weeks with us. We met the Kadimah School students and we had some fun icebreakers to start making new friends. We ate dinner in a pretty Jewish National Fund Forrest, "picnic style" and celebrated Korrine's birthday.

 Next we drove to Latrun where around 4,000 people gathered for one of many Memorial Services for Israel's Memorial Day that occurred all over Israel tonight. This particular Memorial Service highlighted "Lone Soldiers", soldiers who leave their families and come on their own to live in Israel, from different countries, and serve in the army. We all stood for a minute of silence when the siren went off at 8:00 and then, interwoven with music and prayers, we heard the stories and saw videos about 6 young soldiers who were killed either in battle or by terrorists in the past ten years. It was very moving and gave us a sense of how the Israeli people support one another through hard times, the pride these young men and women felt being Israeli soldiers and what Yom Hazikaron (Israel's Memorial Day) means to Israelis.

After the service we drove to Tel Aviv. Everyone settled in their room and will, hopefully, get a good night's sleep. Looking forward to tomorrow, our first full day.