SH-22-646's blog

Massada: Although we had to wake up at 4am and none of us were excited about it, hiking up Massada was probably the most amazing and challenging thing I have ever done. It was pitch black and as I looked up I kept thinking about all of those that ended their lives two thousand years ago. We were returning to fulfill their dreams for the Jewish people. I have never felt such a sense of pride as I had when I reached the top. Dripping with sweat, we all felt a sense of victory.

 I have to admit that I was't exactly excited to get up at 4 am this morning for the hike of Masada. However, the beauty of the stars outside definitely was a nice reward. We could see casopeia and orion's belt- the best view I've ever had of them. Once we were hiking I was definitly more focused on not falling off the mountain than the stars, and the hike was just as hard as I'd heard from friends who have gone on birthright. As it started getting brighter out I didn't know if I would make it to the top for sunrise.

On Sunday morning the group was awoken with a trip to Yad Vashem, the Isaeli holocaust museum. Those of the IDF in our group were dressed in their full uniforms, as representatives of some kind. The structures were all beautiful in its surrounding environment with subtle kind of symbolism, like the long wooden bridge leading to a modest window-door, which we were told was like a black hole of history. We were all gathered to an area around the side of the scholarly buildings to meet our very informative and somewhat entertaining guide for the tour of the museum.

From Friday night through Saturday, our group enjoyed some well-deserved rest as we spent Shabbat in Ma'ale Hachamishah. The hotel we stayed at is owned by the adjacent kibbutz. Sitting in the lush Judean hills, the location afforded us some truly beautiful views throughout our time there. When we arrived after a full day in Tel Aviv, everyone had a nice long break to take a nap, shower, and prepare for Shabbat. As sunset neared, we met together in the hotel's courtyard to take some pictures together since we were clean and dressed in nice clothes(a rare combination on a birthright trip!).

Hey Everyone--

TZFAT
On Thursday morning we drove to Tzfat, the city where Kaballah (a form of Jewish mysticism) was reinvented and popularized. Stained glass windows and doorways lined the narrow alleyways, and there was light blue paint everywhere-- a religious symbol of the heavenly presence in this Holy city.

Shalom Everyone-- Wow, have we really only been here for two days? It feels like we've done two weeks' worth of great stuff already! Yesterday, after a nice drive from the Jerusalem area, we ended our day in the picturesque mountain village of pki'in, in the galilee. After eating dinner and checking in, we all joined together for some programming. We first played an interactive "human bingo" game that helped us get to know each other better--it allowed us to learn some pretty cool and unique things about each other. Did you know that one of our participants has eight brothers and sisters?

(Written by Danny Moss, one of the madrichim (trip leaders)) Shalom from beautiful Jerusalem! Bus 646 has officially begun its journey all around Israel. Soon we will post A blog entry in which a participant will share her in-depth thoughts, but in the meantime, here's a quick rundown of what we've been up to so far: -We met as a group at JFK airport in New York. We had plenty of time to hang out and get to know each other a bit before the flight. -Many of the participants got a good deal of sleep on the ten-hour flight from New York to Tel-Aviv.