Updates from Israel

Ronald Rubin:
“Yesterday was our last day in Poland. We had a tour of Lodz. We saw a lot of memorials and some of them were dedicated to children and we learned how children lost their innocence and how unfair it was for children. We received letters from our parents and it was really nice because we were definitely thinking about them. We saw cattle cars and it was interesting to see how real everything was and it was also suffocating to think that hundreds of people were in one car.”

Josh Levine:
“Right now we are in Tiberias in the hostel. We are in the northern part of Israel. It is only the first day in Israel but we are having a lot of fun so far. We had a great dinner and breakfast. Happy Birthday to my dad! I know it is a little late but I cannot control that.”

Ali Krause:
“We started off yesterday morning in Lodz. We were in the cattle car at the Lodz Memorial and held a ceremony in the Lodz Cemetery where we sang Hatikvah. We had dinner and f arewell ceremony in Warsaw. I am really tired because we got up so early but I am also so glad to be in Israel!”

Joanna Kaissar:
“Today we arrived in Israel. WE WERE VERY TIRED! We went to the top of a wishing well in Jaffa and danced. After that we went to the Independence Hall and watched the history of how Israel became an official country. After that we had lunch and finally went back to the hostel and got to rest which was good because we were extremely exhausted. We then walked around the Market Place in Tiberias for about 45 minutes and I bought some stuff. I really enjoyed the market place. We then came back to the hostel and played an ice breaker game. I am really happy to be in Israel!”

Daniel Makutonin:
“I had a great day today. We met out tour guide Chuck. He is a great guy and very funny. Dinner was the best we had all week I really enjoyed our day in Israel even though we were all tired and I am really looking forward to the rest of the trip.”

Sarah Schneider:
“We landed in Israel today. We were pretty tired from the flight but we went to look out at the water and performed a shehechyanu ceremony. We read about what it was like for us to come to Israel by sharing our own thoughts and we did Israeli dancing. We visited Independence Hall and learned about how Israel became a state. This was interesting! We later came to Tiberias. It is really, really beautiful here by the water of Tiberias (the Knerret) and I love the Palm Trees. We had good Israeli food and it is so nice to finally be here in Israel. I am looking forward to spending time here.”