Hello friends and family! We have had an AMAZING first half to our Birthright experience. After a wonderful and relaxing shabbat in the kibbutz, we spent some time exploring the beautiful natural landscape of the north, with some hikes and outlooks. On Monday we made our way down to the seaside city of Haifa, where…

We really can’t believe how quickly the time has flown by! We had an amazing three days in Jerusalem, bringing in the Shabbat and taking the time to pause and process everything we’d done so far. In Jerusalem we went to Sacher Park for a reflection activity and spent time learning about the politics and…

Hey everyone! We have been keeping busy! Monday-We went to Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial and Museum) and went to the National Memorial on Mount Herzl. We then drove to Ein Gedi. Tuesday-We woke up super early so that we could hike to the top of Masada before the sun went up. We learned about the…

For many of us, this has already been the best trip of our lives. Our group has gotten very close, as we’ve explored new terrain, topics, and become closer as friends. We have done a lot since the last update, and we’ve had programming just about every minute of the day, but I’ll try to…

Shalom! We’re in the Holy Land! It has been almost 2 days and it feels like we’ve gone through so much. Our group of 37 participants met us, the two American staff members, at LAX to start our 17 hour trek. We got our trip started before ever entering Israel–at the airport, we all became…

We visited the Kotel in the Jewish Quarter, and had an opportunity to place our notes in the Wall and learn about the history of the area, including the current political situation. Lunch in the Machane Yehuda shuk (marketplace) was fun and invigorating, and gave the group a chance to really experience the shuk and…

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem!!! The last five days have been a whirlwind of travel, logistics, and transportation, but we’ve arrived safely and soundly in Jerusalem! After landing at Ben Gurion International Airport on Monday and meeting our award winning tour guide, Shabat (yes, his name is really Shabat), we hopped on the bus and made…

Shalom! We have had a great couple of days. We are staying in Shavei Etzion and have been traveling in the Golan Heights. We went to a lookout point and said Shechechianyu and stated our goals for the trip. Then we went on a hike to see the Banias waterfall. From there we had lunch,…

These last few days have been unbelievably eventful, and everyone’s bucket list just got a bit shorter. Our Israeli peers joined us, and we hiked Masada at sunrise, floated in the salty Dead Sea, slept in a Bedouin tent (after eating authentic and delicious Bedouin food), rode camels, and learned some Israeli dancing. The fun…