TL-48-260 Update 2

Hope you enjoyed July 4th! Sharing another update from here in Israel. Yesterday, we had an amazing day where we spent the first part of the morning at an old Syrian base camp, and heard some context about the border, the base itself, and the conflict between Israel and its borders. After, we spent the rest of the morning ATVing in the Golan Heights. After a quick lunch, we then went rafting on the Jordan River. During our processing session at the event of the day, we also spent a bit of time discussing the Israeli operation in Jenin, yesterday’s unfortunate terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, as well as the context of both the operation and attack. 

Today, we spent the first part of the morning learning about Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) in at Tzfat, followed by a wine tasting, seeing a synagogue in the area, and walking around the artist’s market. After, we had the incredible opportunity to visit one of UJA’s agency sites, the JAFI run Ethiopian Absorption Center. After hearing context on what the center does, and how it helps the Ethiopian’s integrate into Israeli society, we had the chance to do art projects with the children at the center, which quickly turned into an intense soccer match (pictures attached). This evening when we went around to share our favorite parts of the day, a large part of the group shared that while they had been a bit tired and not excited to go, that it ended up being their favorite part of the day – both in that they got to interact with the children but also how interesting they found learning about the important work the center does.

Tomorrow, we’ll be visiting an oil factory of Jewish and Arab women, and then a visit to Beit Ruth. 

All the best,

Ariel & Ali