Blogs

Wake up to pound cake all over the place. Stuff your face and drown it in coffee and tea and talk about Brother Daniel. Brother D and the law of return and 1958 and can you be a Jew and a Catholic at the same time? Torah portions and 13-moon calendars and "Aviel will explain it when he gets there." The soldiers taught Hatikva. Nir "I have a televised puppet show" Winegerten led the way. Everyone was shocked that Brian Segal didn't do a back flip to one-up him. We were all out of pound cake and went for lunch and all the watermelon you could eat.

This is Carly from Bus 547. I can't believe that we have less than two days left in Israel--the trip has flown by. We have learned so much and made so many memories in the short time we have been here. I know I will remember this experience for the rest of my life.

Shalom from Israel! This is Sean, one of the staff with Bus 547. This trip so far has been incredible!

I've been to Israel over a dozen times, but this group that I'm traveling with is among the best I've known. Every day has been filled with new challenges - opening new perspectives of Jewish identity, Israel appreciation, history, and Israeli-Diaspora dialogue. There have been many nights whose conversations have often been as long as the long days' touring.

So, everyone's getting a little bummed here on bus 547. We have one more full day together and we've got to make the most of it. Today we're going to a convention, then climb in some caves, and then the night will end with a concert with a local Israeli band.

Shalom from Jerusalem!

These past few days have been an absolute whirlwind. It's getting hard to distinguish what has happened on which day, and they have all started blending together.

Shalom from the desert! Today so far, we’ve done more than I usually do on any given Monday. As usual, we woke up super early, ate breakfast, and hit the road by 8:30am. On the ride to our hike, we played “That Camel is Mine!,” a thrilling game in which we Shorashim-ers claim as many camels as we can find. So far, Erik is winning with two spotted. Some have also claimed Ibexes and Donkeys.

The history here is something I find the most amazing about this country. Today we climbed through a tunnel that water came out of that was around 4,500 years old. Each day we turn on the faucet and never stop to think where this water is even coming from. Taking the time to go through a tunnel that was crafted specifically for the purpose of receiving water really makes me think how easy we have it. Besides all of that, it was a REALLY cool experience.

Everyone awakes bright and early after a long night of being introduced to Israeli Folk Dance. Our bones are not aching because our hearts are full of excitement. We had yummy breakfast and then walked to the Western Wall (Kotel). Before entering the Jewish Quarter, we sat near the entrance of Mount Zion and listened to the great Yossi speak of Jerusalem -The Old City- how it came to be and how it came to be again, the spiritual home of the Jewish people.

Coming into Shabbat in Jerusalem, a lot of people were not sure what to expect. I know that I was a little weary of being in a highly religious place, when I myself am torn about the distinction between being culturally Jewish and religious.

I think that we were just excited not to climb a mountain on Thursday. :) Instead we walked around Tel Aviv. The first place we went was Rabin square, obviously named after the assassinated Prime Minister. We learned a lot about his life, and his political career. Then we broke into groups and did a kind of “man on the street” thing. We were tasked with finding a local Israeli to ask questions about the day Rabin was assassinated, and where they were. We also asked them how they felt it had effected the country.