Updates from Israel

The trip has been in full swing since we arrived in Israel on March 20th. We started off by exploring the North of Israel in the Upper Galilee. Each of us enjoyed hiking the Banias trail to see Israel’s precious beauty during the transition from Winter to Spring. We had the chance to play some…

What a second day!  The strike ended in Israel so everything is open and will continue as normal as of now.  Tuesday was a nice day. We began with breakfast, we did our opening ceremony and did some blessings for new times. We loaded the bus and headed to Golan heights and had a lovely…

Hal-lo!  We met at the JFK airport and began our journey together. Ice breakers, rules, and connections – oh my! This was followed by fun airplane time and socializing. We arrived in Israel and went to a nice lookout, then to the hotel to shower and get settled in. We discussed what’s happening today and…

After a cozy night in the Bedouin tents, we hiked Masada and congratulated a whole team of B’Nai Mitzvah participants, then headed down from the fortress to feed some camels and load back onto the bus. We floated in the Dead Sea and meditated in the grass before spending another night under the stars camping…

March 22nd: Quest Bus 363 hit the ground running. We ate breakfast at beautiful Nof Kinneret Hotel. We left at 8am sharp to tour and hike The Banias Nature Reserve. Moran, our Israeli tour guide extraordinaire, taught us about the origin of the land. Originally it was called “Panias” but the Greeks changed the pronunciation…

The moment we all arrived at the airport, one could sense feelings of excitement, nervousness and optimism for a trip that will bring new eye opening experiences. This 10 day adventure will provide an opportunity for all of us to forge a deeper and meaningful connection to our Jewish identity. After getting through El Al’s…

We arrived fresh and feeling excited after an 11 hour flight! Such a great group full of fun and interesting people led by our fearless educator leader, Adam. This is Outdoors Max, but the first activity was a short name game led by co-staffer Jenny and the aptly named Why Are You Here?, led by…

We are now leaving Jerusalem. The participants had a great time with the ascension music program in Tzfat. Yad Vashem and Mt. Herzl were really great experiences for them. They started to share more amongst each other. We had a great Shabbat – including a fantastic Values In Tension activity. Today we got to walk through the…

The group is doing well. We did some icebreakers with them last night and this afternoon once the Mifgashim joined us. The group had a great time in Tel Dan and LOVED the ATVs. We have another educational session after dinner tonight – pretty sure they’ll all be fast asleep soon after now that they’re catching…

The trip has come to a close and what has happened in the past couple of days? We explored the holy city of Jerusalem and saw some monumental places such as the Western Wall and explored the city at night!  The last few days of the trip ended with the Dead Sea, Masada & Tel…