Updated: Monday, May 04, 2009 7:30 PM

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Thursday April 23, 2009

Hello from Israel!!
We have made it. The kids are so excited needless to say. We had an excellent trip into Tel Aviv. The kids have met the other schools, and are already running around like they have known them for years. Tomorrow, we are going to the Western Wall and to Hazah Kaya Tunnels underneath the City of David to explore the water sources of Ancient Jerusalem. We will see an overview of the City of David from Promenade Hess and Mt. Moriah. The students will also explore the Jewish Quarter tomorrow.

To be continued...

Friday April 24, 2009

We had an awesome day. I enjoyed going to the Old City and seeing the Western Wall. I enjoyed the City of David and going through the Hazakiah Tunnels. The water was freezing and refreshing. We liked to be able to go through the tunnels in the dark when we turned off our flashlights. Tonight, we experienced Kabbalat Shabbat at the Western Wall. This was our second experience at the Western Wall. Our class led the St. Louis class in Kabbalat Shabbat. We are having a great time with our new friends from St. Louis and Virginia.
 

Monday April 27, 2009

In the Kotel, we got to do the Horah with a Rabbi that knew the Rabbis from Memphis. I got to speak in Hebrew in the Yom HazekAron ceremony on the Israeli Navy Base in the Gulf of Haifa. We collected 2000 kilos of potatoes for Table to Table. I got to eat Kosher Mc Donalds. So far, the experience has been great.

Ezer Benaim

I can't decide what to write because everything has been amazing. From the food to the table to table project to seeing Israeli soldiers, every part of this trip is filled with excitement.

Nathan Light

So far the trip has been amazing, but tonight it really hit me that I really was in Israel for my 8th Grade trip. We went to a Memorial Ceremony for Yom Hazikaron at the navy base in Haifa. During the ceremony, we got to not only watch this amazing thing take place, but we also got to participate in it. While I was there, I really took a moment to think about not only where I was but why,how and who made it possible for me to take this trip.

Garrett Smith

Wow I don"t really know whats been the most fun! I love druze food and the Israeli navy. The ceremony was the most breathtaking thing ever! I love being with the other schools!! We bonded so much and we love them!!
P.S. there needs to be a Druze resteraunt in Memphis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jordan Shipowitz

Today, in order the celebrate the holidays Yom Hazicaron and Yom Haatzmaut we went to a school which helps children with special needs to prepare to have a Bar/Bat Mitzvah. The first thing we did was meet the five eighth graders and eat Falafel with them for lunch. After eating the delicious Israeli dish, we proceded to a classroom and recited prayers in sign language. Since some of the students can't speak clearly, this gives them an oppurtunhity to express prayer and thanks to God. This was the most interesting thing I have ever seen. Also, seeing the kids my age interact in these activities was really awesome!

Brittnee Campbell

Tuesday April 28, 2009

We visited a school named Megido. We participated in the Israel Memorial Ceremony and I was touched by the ceremony. It included a video about the Israeli soldiers that have been kidnapped by the Hizballah in Lebanon. The ceremony was all handled by the students, and Brandi and Brittnee had reading parts in the ceremony. Later we hiked around Megido, in a natural grove with fig trees, pomegranates, olives, eucalyptuses trees that were planted by the pioneers in order to dry the swamps. We saw the “Dam HaMacabim” flower that means the blood of the Macabees. It appears on stickers that every student wears on his chest today to remember the heroism of our soldiers that resemble the heroism of the Macabees. We stopped for ice cream break and I got a “French Crepe”, it was AMAZING!

Megan Fortas

We went to a school named Megido, it is a school for kids on kibutzim and we participated in the Israeli memorial ceremony for the people who died fighting for Israel or during Terror attacks. Later on we went to Tzipory. It is the city were Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi signed the Mishna. We saw an ancient synagogue, mikve, and Roman mosaics.

Alex Gordon

We went to an Israeli school for kids who lived in villages, kibbutz and moshav. There were also kids from the city. They were good at English even though it was some of their 2nd or 3rd languages. I tried to speak Hebrew with them, but that didn’t turn out so well. We participated in a Remembrance Day program that was in Hebrew, so we had the Israeli kids next to us translate what everyone was saying. We really got to interact with the kids who were really cool, and we are going to go to the Dead Sea with them!
I am really excited. Tonight we are going to celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut. We also are really enjoying hanging with the St. Louis kids and Virginia kids. I have really become good friends with some of them.

Matthew Filderman

Wednesday April 29, 2009

We didn’t do anything life changing today, but it was still probably one of my favorite days. In the morning, we went to the Naval Base, and it was interesting but what really made the experience was when Brandi, Amit (body guard), and I got lost. We went back and forth through the naval base cracking up and finally getting to the bus. The whole day was like this because we did fun activities but it was the laughs that made the day.

Garrett Smith

This morning we went to a Navy Base and saw war ships in the port of Haifa. Next, we went to visit a cemetery where 12 paratroopers died because of a missile. After that we went on a water hike, which was fun because it was really hot out, and then we got to jump in the cool water. We went to Tzfat; also known as the blue city. It is called this because all the roofs and some of the walls in the city are blue. We saw the site where they bury old books (Geniza) and we went to a small Gallery shop. Next we went to the hotel where we had dinner, I think it was the best hotel food yet!

Samantha Weiss

This morning after prayer we went to a Naval base and saw all of the different war ships! It was really fun and you would think they would be pretty big, but they were ten times as small as our navy’s ships. Afterwards we went to a site were paratroopers were killed in a missile shot from Lebanon during the last war. Then we took a two-hour drive to a river where we took a walk to the end of the river and of course I fell many times as we walked in the river! It was really fun! Then we took another long drive to the blue city also known as Tzfat. There we went to different synagogues one Sephardim and one Ashkenazi. They were beautiful. For dinner we went to kibbutz Lavi where we are staying and had an amazing dinner, best food so far in a hotel!!

Jordan Shipowitz

Thursday April 30, 2009

Today we had two fun adventures. In the morning we went on a two-hour hike. On one side there was a rock wall and on the other, very gentle things such as thorns, boulders, and even a long long fall into a river. This hike was very enduring, but was worth it because at the end of the hike there was an ice cream truck to cool us off. The other adventure was kayaking. Most rafts consisted of four to six kids. The kayaking involved rapids, races, boats getting stuck, and of course people falling out. After this exciting day we had a bon fire at the hotel. Today was one of my favorite days on the 2009 Israel trip so far!

Alex Alpert

Today we went rafting on the Gilabun River, which is a tributary of the Jordan River. There were six boys in my raft. There was a raft of six girls ahead of us. My raft decided that we would catch up with them and prank them. Once we were 30 feet behind them we knew what we were going to do. We eventually got beside them and I jumped on their raft. I pushed one of the St. Louis girls off and immediately hopped back on my raft. It was definitely an eight-grade moment.

Andrew Ellen

Monday May 04, 2009

On Friday, we went to Tel Aviv to go to the Carmel Market and it was so much fun. All of the different sales people were yelling you to buy their product, and there were so many things to get, I only got one thing. After that we, headed to Ashdod for host Shabbat at Morah Almalem’s parents house. The first thing we did was go to the beach. That was so much fun. At ten o’clock in the night, after Shabbat dinner, we went to a three story slide where we met these local teens and hung out with them. They were so nice. On Saturday, we woke up and walked to a park were we had a lot of fun riding the zip line and bungee jumped. Afterwards, we walked back to the house on the beach, and went to the market were I got candy and Israeli chips for my friends. That night, we went to the mall and shopped with Ofir Broides and that was so much fun. The next day, we went to Beth Shemesh and met kids from a school there. We did Tikkun Olam at a local nature site. After that, we went to an archeological dig, and that was so much fun!!! Especially when you found something!!! The next thing we did was head to the Bedouin Tents for camel riding and tons of tea. The next morning at 4 we woke up to see the sunrise at Masada. It was a cloudy hot day. It was still really fun though! After that, we went to the Dead Sea which was painful, yet really fun. We went to lunch and we met the Megido kids that we had seen before. We hiked Ein Gedi and went swimming. It was so much fun! I will miss them so much! Overall, it was a really fun day!

Jordan Shipowitz

Today we got up at 4:30 in the morning to climb Masada to see the sun rise. Unfortunately, the sky was to cloudy too see anything, but it was still a good experience. After that, we went to float in the Dead Sea which was fun, but it was a little sad to see that it was drying up in some places. Next, we went on a short hike to a spring in the desert to go swimming. Later, when we arrived in Jerusalem we went to the hotel to watch a small presentation on Israeli electronics. Then, we ate dinner and had free time.

Samantha Weiss

We have been having a great time here in Israel. It is already hard for us to have to say goodbye, but not for the beauty of the land or the spirit within it. It is because of the friends we have made here! We are so upset we have to leave them tomorrow night. We have become the best of friends. Luckily, tonight we are allowed to hang out with each other from after dinner until curfew. Also, we are lucky and get to go on the same flight home to the United States with the St. Louis people, whom we, the Memphis kids, have become really good friends with. We also had to say goodbye to our Israeli friends from Megiddo in the North. We became such good friends and are going to try to stay connected through Facebook. If we do, we will have to talk with them right after school gets out on school days while it is 12 o’clock at night for them. Tomorrow, we are going to Yad Vashem, which should be amazing and also are going to the Kotel Tunnels and Mount Hertzel. It has gone by way to fast, and we wish we could say here forever.

Matthew Filderman