The Beginning of Something Incredible

(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. We sat among two other birthright groups that were on the very same flight! -When we arrived at Ben Gurion airport, our Israeli staff and participants were ready and raring to go--they welcomed us with some spirited singing and dancing. We then learned an "ancient" group cheer to celebrate our group's completion. -We headed directly from the airport to Jerusalem, where we enjoyed a panoramic view of the city from the Hoss Promenade. We stood in a circle and sang the shehecheyanu prayer to mark the beginning of an incredible trip and to express thanks for the opportunity to be together. -From there, it was a short bus ride to our hotel in Jerusalem, where we checked in, had our group orientation, and went promptly to bed for a full night of well-deserved rest! -On our first full day, we went on a hike in the outskirts of Jerusalem, taking a trip to the Western Wall (kotel), and heading up north to the fertile galilee region, where we will spend the next two nights.