Pictures!

Here are our sleepy participants!

These pictures are in Jaffa and on our minibus, which everyone has made their new travelling home in Israel!

Hi Everyone, this is Rabbi Siegal reporting....we have had an amazing last few days but no internet connectioin....today, we arrived in Jerusalem and are staying at Bet Shmuel, the guest house at Hebrew Union College Campus, where all reform rabbis, cantors and educators sutdy. It is directly across from the Old City, and the kids are so excited to be here! The Negev experience was amazing....here are the reports in their own words.....and some pictures....

Dylan Silverman: I love waking up at 3:30am, oh the rush! We climbed Masada today early, and it was hot and fun! Orit is our guide. She is SABABA (which means cool in Hebrew, my new favorite word). She is also a mermaid, because she lives "in" the Dead Sea (near the dead sea, really). We all made it to the top of Masada to see sunrise over the Jordanian mountains and Dead Sea. Next, we had breakfast. It was SABABAAAAA! Next, went to the Ein Gedi Spring, where we swam in the SABABA spring and waterfall. Next, we ate our shnitzel lunch and went to the Dead Sea, which was SABABA but burned our abrasions! We went to the AHAVA factory, where surprisingly the BOYS all bought products....for themselves! (that was Rabbi Siegal's addition) Then, we rode the camels at the Bedouin Tent, drank sweet tea and slept in mattresses that seemed like they were made of sand. Alex had the best meal, yet! We all loved the dinner with the chicken...it was SABABA!




Kira Levin:

We woke up at the Bedouin tent after not sleeping much last night. We heard the animals and saw the peacock, which was making strange nosise. Then, we saw the sunrise over the Negev. We got up, got ready, and had an amazing breakfast in the Bedouin Tent. It was interesting to see how advanced the Bedouin people are and how much technology they use. Then, we rode a short ride to the Ben Gurion house and museum. THe museum depicted Ben Gurion's life in the Negev and how he lived. We were able to admire the person who he was and not who the people said he was. We learned about him through the items in his house. We saw his and hiswife's graves and placed rocks there. It was also an amazing veiew over the Negev. We saw some Ibexes running around and jumping on the trees to get food. Next, we went to Maktesh Ramon, which is a crater. We were able to see how the earth has changed over time. We had a long drive to Jerusalem but finally arrived and saw the Old City from the Has Promenade. We got to where we are staying and heard Paul Liptz, who talked about his experience fighting in a war and fighting for a cause and Zionism. He fought to help the coutry and not just because he wanted it to exist but to make it happen himself.