Eighth Grade 2017 – 2018 Blog

Shalom Chaverim! It’s Ella and Jonah reporting to duty. This morning we woke up bright and early to prepare for a long day. We started our day by visiting a local junior high school. We got to meet eighth graders and became good friends with them. After that, we went with them to their school tekes where we heard meaningful speeches and songs led by their seventh grade. We then parted from them and made our way to the Israeli Independence Hall. We got to see where David Ben-Gurion stood to announce and sign the papers that led to a... Read More

Hi y’all, it’s Tamar and Mattan. Shalom from Eilat, wow, have we done EI-LAT of things! This morning we woke up, and got on the bus to go on a hike. The red canyon hike in the Negev desert was gorgeous.  During the hike, in the middle of the canyons we all stopped and meditated and this was a really nice bonding moment. Then we got on the bus to go to Tel Aviv. On the way to Tel Aviv, we made a stop at Ben Gurion’s kibbutz home in Sde Boker. It was very meaningful to learn about such... Read More

Today was such a wonderful and busy day, the kids did not have a chance to write a blog, and the teachers weren’t able to upload their photos. You can look for both tomorrow! Here are some pictures from last night’s visit to the Ice Mall in Eilat, and this morning’s hike in Eilat’s red mountains. The 8th graders are now in Tel Aviv. They attended an Erev Yom haZikaron tekes (Memorial Day ceremony) at Gymnasia Herziliya (a middle school in Tel Aviv) this evening. The chaperones report the kids got a lot out of the experience and are wonderful... Read More

Here are a few more photos from the Dead Sea, the Bedouin tent, the morning on Masada (word on the street is that Risa and Ella led an absolutely beautiful Hallel for Rosh Hodesh!), and Eilat!

Hello!! Today we woke up at 6:45 am, ate breakfast, and got on the bus to go to Susan’s Home, an arts and crafts studio that helps employ at-risk teens. After that, we left Jerusalem and took the bus to Ein Gedi and hiked, cooled off, and played in the waterfalls. Then, we went to the Dead Sea, had lunch, and floated around for a while. Some people had some cuts which burned, but overall it was great! After showering and an ice-cream break, we went camel riding with the Bedouin and we gave the camels great names. After getting... Read More

A few more photos from last night and a lovely blog post from Bayla and Ruby:   Shalom from Jerusalem! This morning we had a late wake up. Once we woke up, we got dressed, ate and prayed in different synagogues. There were Orthodox and Conservative synagogues which were either Sephardic or Ashkenazi. After we visited the synagogues, we went back to the hotel to change and eat lunch. After lunch, we had free time then got together and walked to nearby Independence Park. At the park we played soccer, frisbee, taki, and cards. We ate snacks, talked, and laughed. After... Read More

The 8th graders had a lovely, restful Shabbat in Jerusalem. After Shabbat ended, they visited the outdoor mall of Mamilla and then went on a tour of the Kotel tunnels.