June 30 - July 21, 2010

Spain, Gibraltar & Israel

June 30, 2010: At Dulles Airport before the trip

Day 1 - June 30th/July 1st

Meredith Lerner    

Jerusalem of the West

At the start of what felt like either an endless day or the shortest day ever, the group of SOSers met at Dulles awkwardly clinging to friends from their past. Once we got on the plane and escaped our neurotic parents, things seemed much calmer and the excitement began to kick in, as well as the socializing. Us kids were able to bond over the interesting airline food and the contrasting, wonderful mandel bread courtesy of the Rebbetzin.

Despite the food the flight was uneventful and eerily on time. What added to the suspicion that the trip was starting off on too good a foot was that our luggage was waiting for us the second we got to the baggage claim area.

Now, ready to enjoy Spain we set off to the hotel to rest and wash up. Eventually we headed out to Toledo, also known as the Jerusalem of the West. We clearly saw this connection when on the panoramic tour we saw the view of the city showered with shades of brown and ancient buildings. Throughout the tour we visited two buildings that were synagogues before Isabella and Ferdinand started passing anti-semitic laws which led to the inquisition. We saw synagogues that later became churches, and are now museums. As we looked at the beautiful buildings and views of the city we learned of the Jews’ past in Toledo which was at times triumphant, tragic, and heroic.

As the day went on the heat began to get to us, but like an answered prayer it began to rain and the temperature was dramatically lowered. Without our ponchos or umbrellas (sorry moms and dads-- who’d have thought it?) we cheerily made our way to look at places where it is thought that Conversos secretly practiced Judaism beneath their homes.

After a nap on the ride back to Madrid we were well rested enough to enjoy dinner and each others’ company at a kosher restaurant that felt like dinner at a family friend’s house. As far as first days go, we certainly lucked out in more ways than one, and we can only look forward to whatever adventures come our way next.

In recently uncovered secret passages       Dinner at La Escudilla Kosher restaurant underneath Jewish home in Toledo             in Madrid

In front of Don Quixote Statue in Madrid

Day 2 -July 2, 2010

Olivia Greene

First I would like to start off by saying, this SOS trip has been amazing!  I could go on and on with words like amazing, fantastic, spectacular, life changing, unimaginable excitement, but instead, I am going to tell you about our second day in Spain on this fantastic, spectacular, life changing trip.

This morning we left the hotel at 9:00 AM to head to a small Jewish cemetery in the city of Madrid.  This cemetery was over a hundred years old and the graves were hardly legible and us being the fabulous children that we are took it into our hands to clean and repaint the faded words on top these graves.  Throughout the painting I had the grave keeper standing over me smiling and speaking in some language, I think is called Spanish, giving me what I thought were directions.  I asked one of the girls on the trip to translate and she told me what he was really saying was how happy he was. Seeing an elderly man come to life at the site of kids repainting gravestones, really got to me. As many of you are aware of my grandfather passed away on the tenth of June.  I could not put my finger on why it bothered me until I began to type up this blog.  The spirit I saw in the old man’s eyes reminded me of the spirit and enthusiasm my grandfather had when he spoke of his adventures of being a young soldier in the middle of a war.  My Zadie told me a story that I will never forget.  He told me of the time when his position in the army was to reload firearms.  He said (paraphrased), “I will never forget the time that the man shooting the gun I was assigned to was shot and killed.  I was not prepared, I was not expecting it and I was certainly scared out of my mind.  But I did not hesitate, I did not think about what would happen to my life I just took the fire arm with my hands and kept going.”  As David, the man in charge of the chevra kadisha (organizes funerals) said (paraphrase), “People go in and out of cemeteries all the time, not truly realizing how grateful they should be to be alive.”  Yet the elderly man understood just that.  Just like my Zadie understood what the consequences would be for others if he did not take into his hand an unfamiliar machine.  He understood what life was and what it meant to other people.  He understood the importance of life so much so that he was willing to risk his life so that others could cherish the world as he did. 

To truly live life to the fullest a person must learn to find happiness and extreme excitement in the smallest things because in actuality those small things are so much more than meets the eye.  While I did not see the importance of repainting the graves, considering these people had no more relatives, the grave keeper did.  I saw a bunch of repainted graves, but he saw children truly understanding and respecting life, because death is as much apart of life as living is.

That being said, my eyes have been opened even more so.  Every step we take as a group and every decision we make has been a historically Jewish experience.

After the cemetery we traveled around Madrid getting a feel for the beautiful city.  After the tour we headed over to the Embassy and met Ambassador Alan Solomont, the U.S. ambassador to Spain.  He was extremely calm, amazingly respectful and an all around fun person.  Ambassador Solomont is Jewish and quizzed us with Torah questions.  He praised our group and gave us a tour of his awesome office.

After returning from the Embassy to the hotel, we showered and got ready for Shabbat.

This trip has only just begun but the memories and adventures are already building up more and more with each day to come.

With that said my fellow parents, I hope you do not miss us too terribly; we are in amazing hands of A+ care and A+ people.  We are happy to say that with the help of Rabbi Tessler and Aviva Tessler, your absence within our adventures hurts less and less each day.  We love you (SHOUT OUT TO MAMMA AND PAPA GREENE! Syd and I love and miss you!)

Olivia Out.

Preserving the graves in a 100 yr. old Jewish cemetery in Madrid

With Ambassador Alan Solomont

It was wonderful to meet you last Friday and to visit with your students.  What a wonderful group! 

Conor Crawford, Front Office Intern - US Embassy Madrid

July 3-Shabbat in Madrid

Debi Smith

After Kabbalat Shabbat we headed downstairs for dinner and joined the young Madrid singles group of Balmes shul for Shabbat dinner. At the synagogue they usually have a singles once a month where Jewish singles can meet.  They changed the date for their July singles event so that it would coordinate with the SOS visit.  They wanted a lo of ruach.  After an evening of singing and chants we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep.

Because Ben Douek is a Kohen he got the opportunity to bless the whole congregation. In his words “it was really nice but it really hurts your arms.”

Followed by the blessing of the congregation, our very own Roniel Tessler read Parashat Pinchas in honor of his Bar Mitzvah anniversary. At first it was hard to keep up with the rest of the congregation because of their different tunes but it soon became an interest to listen to our same prayers sung in a different melody. After Torah reading, us ladies went to go have our own davening discussion group. After davening we went to the Escudilla Restaurant for some delicious chamin or in other words Sephardic chulent. Everyone was so excited to once again be eating at a nice restaurant.

Once we finished our tasty meal we were lucky enough to find out that there were two museums open for free. After a little nap we were off on our forty minute walk to the Rena Sophia and the Prado. We had a nice long beautiful walk and got to see some of Spain’s street performers such as the moving statue and a man leaning backwards while standing on one foot.

At the Rena Sophia we got to see Pablo Picasso’s amazing Guernica. We learned about the meaning behind the painting and the connection of the modern light bulb representing the consequences of the war and how it was replaced by the candle. There was also the connection of the women, the horse and the bull and their representation of traditional Spain’s pain and terror. Following the Rena Sophia we preceded to the Prado museum. We got to see Velázquez’s work of Philip IV of Spain and his family along with the art work of Goya, Mary Cassata and other artist street names of Potomac as well as biblical paintings such as the Blessing of Isaac. It was really interesting to see the difference in the two museums and the comparison of medieval art at the Prado that had more of a sense of realism compared to the Rena Sophia with Picasso’s more modern cubism and surrealism.

On our walk back to our hotel Trafalgar we got to experience the craziness and excitement of Spain with a parade going through the streets. There were people dancing and cheering in the streets, we couldn’t believe how crazy the locals were.

We went back to the hotel for Seudah Shlisheet consisting of Aviva’s famous peanut butter & jelly and nutella sandwiches. Definitely the best we have had the whole entire trip. We all hung out in the lobby a little longer and we were singing and chatting when all of a sudden we heard a cheer coming from the streets followed by a second round of cheering and fireworks celebrating Spain’s victory over Paraguay in the World Cup. For the rest of the night every car that passed by would be hooting and flashing lights,

Soon after we had havdalah, which was so meaningful after a long day, we all embraced one another and stood in a circle and sang songs as Shabbat came to an end. Following our song session of havdalah we packed and went to sleep with great excitement awaiting our 5:00 AM wake up call.

July 4-Sunday

Sydney Greene

We all woke up around 5:30 am to catch our 6:30 am bus ride. For the first half of the bus ride everybody slept since we were all exhausted. After our second rest stop everybody was pretty much awake so Aviva decided to play a game where she would ask us questions about what we had learned so far. The first round was just for the girls since it was about the discussion we had had the morning before, about the meaning of prayer. During the game Rabbi Tessler started to get so excited that he ended up raising his hand with such excitement that he ended up hitting it on the ceiling. At the end Natalie ended up in the lead having gotten 4 questions correct.

The next round Rabbi Tessler asked questions about specific dates; in this round anybody could answer the questions. These questions were a lot tougher than the other ones so it took us a while to get the answers. In the end Natalie still one with 6 points.

After an hour or so after this game ended we finally arrived at Barcelona. Every one fell in love with it right away. We headed straight to the hotel to put our things away. Afterwards we went for a little 30 minute shopping adventure and to scope out all of the stores! We then headed back to the hotel to meet up with our tour guide.

After meeting up with our guide he took us to this castle that was up the street from where we were staying. Our tour guide was telling us about the Jewish history in Barcelona and giving us an idea of where everything was located in the city. One of the most amazing buildings we saw was this huge church called “Sagrada De Familia” designed by the famous architect Gaudi, which is still being built. Our guide had told us that they had started building it in 1882 and are expected to finish it in about 40 years.

After seeing the church we parted with our tour guide and headed to eat dinner at the JCC.  When we got there we davened Mincha and then headed up stairs to where the dinner was.

Throughout the meal we were all pleasantly surprised. It started with a delicious breadbasket followed by a salad (it was nice to have an actual salad).  The salad was followed by schnitzel, grilled peppers, and potato fries.  Desert included fruit and some sort of cake. We could all agree that this had been the best meal yet :p!

 After the meal we were all just sitting down goofing off when Gabe and Rebecca decided to have a fanning contest. The rules of this contest were as followed: no hitting of the face, no hitting of the waist or below, no hitting, and you are able to fan each other to death. One of the opponents had specific fans that they had each already bought in Spain, while the other borrowed a fan. The fight was intense. Rebecca had started out the fight strongly and it looked like Gabe was going down until he made a fantastic comeback. In the end Rebecca ended up winning which meant that Gabe had to either get Rebecca ice cream or jewelry.

After the duel we headed to the metro to go back to the hotel and that was the end of our very long day.

Shul In Barcelona

July 5, Monday

Rebecca Panitch

Today we woke up and set out for a tour of the kosher winery of Barcelona. We got on the bus and was given a tour by the Chabad Rabbi in Barcelona. We were one of the first groups to ever get this tour and it was a fascinating tour.  Firstly we entered the winery and saw the machine that crushed the grapes. All the excess grapes from the crushing were taken to the pressing machine. Then we moved on to see the pasteurization process of the wine. Afterwards we went to see the machines that bottled and capped the wine. We all went down to the wine cellars and saw all the bottles that were preserved. After each bottled is ready you have to put it into the machine that shakes the dust out of each bottle. We also learned the main difference between kosher wine and non-kosher wine. Non-Kosher white wine adds pig lard to make the wine whiter. Non-Kosher red wine includes enzymes from non-kosher animals like rabbit.

We all boarded the bus after our tour to the winery and started making our way to Gerona. On the way to Gerona we watched the movie about the debate between the Ramban and Pablo Christiani called The Disputation.

We got a tour of the Jewish quarter in Gerona. Some of the doors to houses had impressions where mezuzahs used to be. We all sat down on the steps in a square where our counselors Leora, Saphira, and Roni summarized a letter that the Ramban sent to his son in Gerona. The letter is called the Egeret Ha’Ramban. Afterwards we sat and wrote a letter to ourselves with goals we want to accomplish and ideas that will only make us better people.

We got back to the hotel and split up into groups. Three out of the four groups were shopping groups and the other one was a group to go to the Barcelona football (soccer) stadium. Generally people who went shopping such as myself came back with some items and enjoyed themselves. The soccer group walked along the sides of the stadium and took plenty of pictures.

Afterwards we went to the hotel and ate dinner brought to us by the Chabad rabbi. All the food was great except the chicken got to me. First I tried to take a piece of chicken and it jumped off my plate. Then I tried to take a leg and I ended up with the bone since the bone slid right out… finally I ended up with a boneless leg.

Afterwards we all went up to pack our bags to get ready for a flight to Sevilla. Some of us lucky people got around 4 hours of sleep.

P.S. If you are reading this Mom I am still on the look out to find you a chamsa.

Photo of the group at a  winery which has a special area to produce kosher wine outside of Barcelona. Rabbi Libersohn from Barcelona joined us.

The winery put up an Israeli flag in honor of us.

July 6, Tuesday

Ben Douek

Dear Bloggie Jr.,

Once upon a time in a faraway land named Spain just off the tip of Antarctica and neighbors with Mars, the people of SOS woke up at 4 AM to catch a flight to Sevilla at 7:10 in the beautiful Barcelona airport, but they got there so late that they missed their flight (JK – just kidding…LMNOP). We were on the coach bus in Seville (as it is pronounced in English) looking at the sites with a four-month pregnant tour guide. First we went to the location of the most recent expo in 1992 and then we visited the buildings of the previous expo in 1929. We all thought it was a king’s palace because of how ornate it was (you like that vocab word, don’t you?). It was tan and shaped in a huge semi-circle with benches that lined the semi-circle and each representing a different province of Spain and we all wanted to live there and live happily ever after with three kids: Amanda, Mark, and Ben.

Then we went back on the bus and headed to the old city of Seville, and yes there was a Starbucks. We explored the Jewish quarter of Seville, and walked through the many small alleyways of the medieval city. We stopped in front of the house where Washington Irving stayed, and saw the outside of a couple cathedrals

For lunch, Mamma and Pappa (Aviva and Rabbi Tessler) surprised us with a fun lunch in a large square and the Rabbi treated everyone to Haagen Dazs in honor of Natalie remembering everyone’s name and an interesting fact about them on the first day we arrived.

We hopped back on the bus for a drive to Cordoba, where Moshe Ben Maimon (or the Rambam) grew up. We toured the Jewish quarter, complete with Maimonides square and a statue of the Rambam and davened mincha in a shul that survived the Spanish Inquisition (As a side note, there are only three synagogues in the entire country of Spain that pre-date the 1492 expulsion and we have visited all of them). At the end of the tour, some of us paid to go inside a cathedral that was originally a mosque, (oh no a comma splice!) There were pillars everywhere that made it look like a mosque, but in the center of the building the roof shot up a hundred feet and we were suddenly standing in an extremely large cathedral, where our guide showed us the difference between the Gothic and Renaissance designs.

As if we hadn’t driven enough, we drove a couple hours to Torremolinos, where we would be staying the next two nights, and walked to Molly’s Kosher restaurant and saw Molly herself. I now know the location for a perfect date, with a lovely breeze and a view of the city. After dinner and watching the Netherlands beat Uruguay in the World Cup, we walked back to the hotel, crossed the streets with walking green men that told us when to cross instead of boring stationary green men as in America, and went to bed after an exhausting day.

Learning about the Rambam in his birthplace of Cordoba at the Plaza Tiberiades

July 7, Wednesday

Kivah Zola

Today we woke up late for a change, 7:45! We oh so cheerfully went down to the lobby to daven. Every morning for the last week the girls have been learning Torah with Aviva. She has been teaching us a little bit about the prayers and the meaning of what we are saying. Today we focused on the birkat hashachar, the first of the fifteen prayers we say is ”asher natan li sechvi bina le havcheen bain yom ovain laila”. The word sechvi really means rooster and the literal meaning of the prayer is that we are thanking G-d for giving the rooster the ability to know and separate between day and night. Aviva taught us that Sechvi also means heart and that this payer is really thanking G-d for giving us the ability to choose with our heart. She also taught us that we know what is right in our heart but we ultimately act with our brain.

After breakfast we left for the water park where we spent the greater part of our afternoon. We split up into groups and explored the various attractions the park had to offer.  Much to his dismay, Ethan was gushing blood so he was rushed to the hospital (just kidding). After going on the baby slide, we then moved on to the giant white slide that shot straight down. However, we were distracted by a sea lion show, which some people got very into (David).  There were a few kids who did not want to go on the big slide, but after a while of encouragement from everyone else, they overcame their fear of the slide and slid down where they realized “there is nothing to fear but fear itself” ~ Ben Parzow (he is reading over my shoulder).

Later after the water park we traveled to the Jewish Talmud Torah in Malaga. It is the only place where the Jews of Malaga are able to come together as a community. The school also hosts events including bingo for elders and opportunities for the single Jewish men and women to meet each other in an area where there are so few Jewish people. The school is very small and they cannot afford the resources that we in the US take for granted. The kindergarteners as well as the older students share a room in the school therefore the manager of the Talmud Torah wanted us to make it a friendly environment for all ages. So we split into groups and some people cleaned the kitchen where they cleaned old dishes, arranged the cabinets, etc. Others cleaned classrooms. My group cleaned the kindergarten room. Our job was to throw out old toys and arrange them nicely and also to install new blinds. We threw all the old stuff into a nearby dumpster, where we met a very friendly man who was eager to take all the stuff off of our hands in exchange for some trash bags. The people were very thankful that we came to clean up because we had saved them weeks of work.

The people in Spain have extremely different lifestyles than us in the US part of which includes having late dinner as seen by our delicious kosher meal (at the same place as last night), which began at 7:30 pm. We were all much more focused on the “futbol” game than the food. The food was delicious as usual, and each time the waiter came by he shouted “espana”.  From the balcony of the restaurant we could hear the shouting of the crazy Spanish fans. People were dressed in red everywhere and there were horns honking constantly.

After dinner, because we all had such “a boring day”, we got back on the bus and went to an amusement park, known as Tivoli World. Since the game was on, we were pretty much the only people in the park. We were there from 9 pm until 1 am, just our group riding the rides over and over again. Some people did not want to go on the drop tower with us i.e. Gabe, Susie, and Leora entertained us by dancing crazily next to the ride. Our favorite ride was called Techno Jump. Saphira, Debi, Ben, Ethan and I made friends with the two operators Willie and Fidel. They asked Saphira for her hand in marriage and as an engagement present they let us ride as much as we wanted and as fast as we wanted. Willie got scared off once Rabbi Tessler came over for he realized it was his fiancee’s father who also happened to be a Rabbi but we still got to keep riding. After riding the Techno Jump about a million times, we went to the dragon, which was a crazy ride. We didn’t have enough people with just part of our group, so to our surprise Rabbi Tessler and Aviva joined us! Saphira was not proposed this time, so we did not ride as many times as we wanted, but the operators had fun with us and made the ride extra long and nauseating. We were sad to leave, but all exhausted and ready for bed. We got on the bus, and counted off when we realized Ben was in the bathroom, of course!

Written by Kivah Zola

              --Edited, and given personality by Ben Parzow--

July 8 - Thursday

Shookie Eisdorfer

On Thursday, the first thing that we did was pray all together in our hotel- the guys were wearing tefillin and the girls were listening to Aviva talk about the meaning of prayer. We prayed in a room full of paintings that showed nature- fog near trees, a wheat field, etc.. After that, we all got dressed up and went TO THE BEACH! As we got closer to the gorgeous view, we realized that we had made a mistake in our ETA at the beach, because the coast came after a cliff of stairs that we had to walk down. As we walked down, someone reflected that the return walk up the stairs would be torturous. As we got to the beach another person remarked, “Oh! Sand!” Everyone was really happy that the waves of the ocean looked as large as the ones that were in Greece. Everyone was either tanning or swimming, and it seemed like hours before our Eema said that we had to go back to our hotel. We walked back up the stairs, and indeed, it was torturous. At our hotel, we had put our bags into a room in the lobby because we had to go early on the bus to Gibraltar. We were now off to Gibraltar. The first thing that we saw of Gibraltar was a giant shaft of rock sticking up, blocking the view of the horizon. When we got to Customs, the most miraculous thing happened- the guard that came on the bus had an Israeli friend and was beginning to learn Hebrew. He checked our passports and we had a nice chat with him about Hebrew and Gibraltar- the Rabbi even gave him a Hebrew name-Abraham. It was so exciting. But what was even more exciting was that the guard got us Gibraltarian stamps on our passports- which is really rare, because Abraham said that the giving of stamps depended on the Customs officers moods. So after those exciting things we switched buses because our regular bus was too big for the streets of Gibraltar. We switched buses and then arrived at the Bristol Hotel in minutes. Moses, who had set things up for us in Gibraltar, met us there. He told us that the elderly who were living in the old age homes were too sick for us to visit them, so instead we would be meeting with the ex-Mayor of Gibraltar Solomon Levy, who had recently recovered from being very ill.  We met him in one of the four shuls of Gibraltar, where he told us that he was the first Mayor of Gibraltar to be elected as a civil Jewish mayor, and not just a political one. He told us how he took care of the Gibraltarians and he had some funny imitations of how the Queen of England spoke. He also told us how well all the different religions in Gibraltar got along- he even gave us a picture where he, a Catholic priest, a Protestant priest, the Chief Rabbi, and the Imam of Gibraltar were holding hands. After we met with him, we had the opportunity to walk around Main Street and shop. We also learned that it is impossible to use Gibraltarian currency anywhere other than Gibraltar. We walked around Main Street and when it turned dark, we went to pray Maariv in the Sephardic tradition. Shortly after, we went to sleep in the magnificent shadow of the Rock of Gibraltar.

July 9 - Friday

Gabe Snider

Hey there blog-readers!!   

Okay, so Friday morning at 10:30, all of us started walking to the Rock of Gibraltar.  The rock was steep and it was hot, but we all sang some songs to help us forget about our panting and sweating. So once we were almost halfway to the top, we stopped at a Jewish cemetery that dated back to the 1730’s and every one of us said a prayer for the Jews buried there.  The cemetery was originally supposed to be built in another part of Gibraltar, but that cemetery faced Spain and the Jews didn’t want to be buried facing Spain because they had been expelled, so a new cemetery was built.  After that, we started to hike towards a famous Gibraltar site called St. Michael’s Cave, and on the way we ran into some MONKEYS!!!!!!  They were SO ADORABLE!!!!!  There must have been at least 20 of them and they were climbing all over the place!!!  One monkey was carrying its baby on its stomach while it was being breastfed.  It was pretty cute!!  A bunch of other monkeys were climbing on people’s heads!!! - INCLUDING MINE!!!!!  At least two or three of them had climbed on me!!  After we played with the monkeys we walked through St. Michael’s Cave.  WOW!!  It was very beautiful and really interesting to learn about stalagmites and stalactites. After the cave tour, we ate some really good sandwiches for lunch outside on a few benches, and took some group pictures in front of some beautiful scenery. We decided to start heading towards the bottom of the rock and then had some free time!!  Most of us went to the pool, which was very tiny, 3-4 people walked around Main Street, and 5-6 people went to the Gibraltar Museum.  At around 3:15 pm, 5-7 of us went to go set up a party that the community was going to have on Shabbat for a few people who had finished learning the Talmudic tractate of Makot. I cut up some pickles for the dinner and Matthew and Kivah put silverware on the tables. The people were very nice and they gave us some brownies to eat. Overall it was a pretty good day.

July 9 - Shabbat

Hannah Becker

It was our second SOS Shabbat together in an entirely new place, Gibraltar. We spent our last few hours before Shabbat walking down the beautiful streets browsing with SOS family members absorbing the safe and friendly culture surrounding us. As Shabbat came closer we hurried to shul excited to follow along to the Sfardi melodies. The shul was beautiful with silver chandeliers and detailed walls which were over a hundred years old. Although the flowing voices of the service where amazing some of us were overjoyed to leave due to the lack of air conditioning. We soon realized it was time for Shabbat dinner with Jewish families that lived in Gibraltar. We split up into four groups and I had the pleasure to join our Travel agent Moses’ family along with 13 others for a wonderful Friday night family dinner. As we reached the top floor of the apartment building you could smell the home cooked Sfardic food as each of us eagerly breathed it in. Before we sat down to a beautiful dinner we stepped out on the balcony looking out at the rock of Gibraltar and seagulls circling the air. After a few minuets of schmoozing Mose signaled us that it was time for dinner. All of us quickly circled the dinning room table eager to finally taste the home cooked food. The table was covered with home cooked berakas and salads made by the amazing Rebecca, Moses’ wife. Rebecca explained that in order to fufill the tradition of saying 100 brachot every day, the Sefardim place a different type of food for each bracha. After Kiddush we each made a bracha out loud from all the food groups. This was so intriguing to us and we were all eager to participate. We took each bite with appreciation of Hashem and Rebbeca for making the delicious food. Next came grape juice, washing, then challah. We sat silently waiting for the challah to be tossed to us, which was a Sefardi tradition that you need to metaphorically work for the bread. Some of the many highlights of the night were when we went around the table telling our favorite part of the SOS trip so far. Singing was another highlight of the night. Hearing the Tessler’s harmonize just put the rest of the dinner table in awe. Everyone sung along to the songs we love and new ones we grew to love. Thirteen SOS guests and I found a new family in Gibraltar that we knew in our hearts that we would always be welcome there again. The night soon came to an end but even though we were leaving our new home, we were looking forward to see friendly faces at Saturday Shabbat services. With just this one night I already knew that our stay in Gibraltar touched our hearts in ways that we will never forget.

July 9 - Shabbat

Shira Becker

Shabbat dinner experience in Gibraltar

Friday night services at the Shaarei Shemayim synagogue was very interesting and exciting because the group was able to get a Sephardic sense of davening following new tunes, and trying out new customs. The adventure of learning new Sephardic customs continued when Debi and I had Shabbat dinner at the Cubys. After shul Tanya Cuby walked Debi and I to her house. On the way to her house Tanya passed and pointed out so many people that she knew or was related to, it seemed as if everyone in Gibraltar was either related or close family friends. Debi and I were instantly good friends with Tanya by the time we reached the front door of her home. When her parents answered the door we all said our hellos and Debi and I gave our gracious thank you gifts to Mr, and Mrs. Cuby. Debi gave a sterling silver cutlery utensil from South Africa, and I gave Hawaiian kitchen wear so we could both leave a little bit of ourselves in Gibraltar with them. The Cubys home was amazingly beautiful and everyone was so hospitable and wonderful. After our hellos we all went upstairs to finish getting the last touches of dinner ready. Debi and I began curiously asking about life in Gibraltar but the Cubys were even more interested to find out about our home life in Maryland. Debi ad I also explained to Tanya how not everyone in Maryland were as close in walking distance from one another as they were in Gibraltar. For example, Tanya has usually a five minute walk to a friend’s house where as I have a 30-40 minute drive to Debi’s. Even though Debi and I thought Gibraltar was one of the most interesting places we have ever been to, Tanya (although she loved it) thought Gibraltar to be a bit boring and small. Tanya pointed out her Washington D.C magnet on her fridge and showed Debi and I her very large magnet collection of all the places she has been. The Cubys told us about their time in D.C and how much they loved it, they even told us about a family they knew in Potomac. Once dinner was ready Mr. Cuby, Mrs. Cuby, Tanya, Debi and I all sat down at the table to begin Shabbat dinner. It seemed to me that only the men of the house were singing Shalom Aleichem and Ashet Chayal, which is different from the way I do at home. At home my entire family sings together. After Kiddush we washed our hands and did Hamotzie. When time to eat we had a delicious salad, followed by chicken noodle soup, chicken, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and a meringue dessert (lets just say that Debi and I were very full after dinner).  The food was amazing, and Mrs. Cuby told us that she prepared Ashkenazi food especially for Debi and I so that we would enjoy dinner as much as we did. Over dinner Debi and I told the Cuby’s of our lives at home and about our school. They were interested to hear about the sports Debi and I partake in and all the activities that our schools at home offer. Everything was such a surprise to them because Gibraltar limits them in terms of what their schools can offer. When Debi and I talked about our courses at school the idea of girls studying Talmud, and mixed classes also surprised the Cuby’s but they were so happy to hear about everything we had to say. Tanya and I discussed our love for Twilight as Tanya has seen the movie Eclipse 2 times already. I on the other hand, haven’t even seen it once because it came out the day I left for Spain. We also talked about our favorite TV shows and Glee of course! When it came time for benching Mr. Cuby asked Debi and I how we bench at home so that they could bench like we usually do rather then the traditional Sephardic benching. When it was time to go back to the hotel we said our goodbyes and Mr. Cuby and Tanya walked Debi and I back to the hotel. The following day, Tanya was excited to see us at shul and we were excited to see her too. That Shabbat dinner was amazing, a great learning experience, the food was great, and most importantly Debi and I had made a new friend.

July 9 - Shabbat

Ben Parzow

Shabbat dinner experience in Gibraltar

Ethan and I had the pleasure of sharing the mitzvah of shabbat with the Benggio’s, a prominent Jewish family in Gibraltar. There, we were introduced to the patriarch of the house, Mesod, his wife, Sharon, their three sons, David the oldest, Rafi, and Rueven, their daughter, and David’s wife of two weeks, Rifka. To be honest, I expected that Shabbat in Gibraltar would be a completely different experience from the Shabbat that I have become familiar with. I feared it would be a night of awkward table conversation and tasteless food. As if we weren’t already overwhelmed by the similarities between Gibraltar and Maryland, Shabbat was no different. The family and their traditions were the same as anywhere I had ever been. The meal began with the recitation of shalom alechem and moved on to the Kiddush followed by hand-washing and Hamotzi. Thus began the party in my tummy! So yummy! So yummy! The food was very good but also unique. The mother had cooked a very delicious tuna casserole that I thoroughly enjoyed. The appetizers were followed by the main course consisting of chicken, meatballs, and vegetables. The conversation during the meal was not unlike that between friends meeting for a cup o’ joe. We mainly discussed movies, television shows, music, and life. David and his wife, who had returned to Gibraltar just minutes before Shabbat from their honeymoon in Portugal, were the center of the conversation. They talked about their experience swimming with dolphins (showing us some funny pictures) as well as their drive back home in which they were mysteriously able to follow a car going 210 kmph though they swore they drove the speed limit. David told us that his favorite television show is Flashforward, a show that I enjoy greatly. I was the first person to break the news to him about the show being cancelled and he was not happy. The conversation moved on to stand-up comedy which all of the Benggio’s enjoy. As the meal was wrapping up, Mesod spent a few minutes discussing the parsha of the week. We then joined together to bench.

              Spending Shabbat in Gibraltar was an invaluable experience. If I wasn’t already sure that all Jews are a family, this night made it clear. When I return to Gibraltar in the future, I know that I will always have a place where I can feel at home.

Motzei Shabbat with Youth from Gibraltar

Sunday, July 11th and Monday, July 12th

Haley Cohen  

We woke up at 4 am, and for once everyone was on time. Even though we were sad about leaving our new friends in Gibraltar, we were all very eager to get to Granada  which was supposed to be our stop on the way to the Madrid airport. Little did we know that the next two buses we got on would break down.  After spending hours sitting around waiting for a new bus, we no longer had time to stop in Granada. Instead, all we had time for was a quick stop at a Jewish community center in Madrid for dinner. During dinner, some SOS teens got the opportunity to be interviewed about our trip for a Spanish radio station. Once dinner was done, we got back on the bus, hoping this one wouldn’t also break down, and headed off to begin our long journey to Israel.

After impatiently waiting in security lines and baggage check, we ran as fast as possible to find the TVs to watch the World Cup finals. Spain was playing the Netherlands and we were not going to miss the opportunity to see the country we had been touring for the past week win the 2010 World Cup. After a while of intense watching and many missed goals by Spain, the airport erupted- not literally- but with the screams of excited Spanish soccer fans. No one dared walk away from the television screens, the entire airport including the security guards crowded around cheering for Spain. Flights were delayed because even the pilots were not willing to miss history being made. Finally, after going into overtime, Spain made a goal! Even people who had never watched a soccer game before, were getting excited. After a long, intense game, Spain had won with a 1-0 score! As soon as the game ended, everyone hurried back to their gates and the airport once again was filled with people walking in every direction.  There wasn’t much time for us to celebrate Spain’s victory.  We eagerly rushed to get on our plane to Israel. After 5 long hours on the plane, we had landed in Tel Aviv!  Despite the fact that it was 5 am when we arrived in Israel, we were all too excited to care about our lack of sleep.  After collecting our bags and converting our Euros into Shekels, we gathered in a circle and danced to “Am Yisrael Chai” to celebrate those of us who’s first time it was in Israel.

Once the immediate excitement wore off, we realized how tired we actually were. After getting up at six in the morning the day before, and then spending all night on a plane, all we wanted to do was go to sleep. But that was not an option, our tour guide already had a day of fun planned for us. We headed off to Kefar Kedem, a biblical village, where we got to dress up in biblical robes.  Next, we got a chance to ride donkeys. It no longer mattered that we had gotten no sleep the night before, we were all excited to have a chance to “relive” the biblical days. The day kept getting better, as we were taught how to make delicious pita bread. After enjoying our handmade bread, we sat down to a typical Israeli lunch-- hummus, pita, Israeli salad, dates, chicken and lamb. After enjoying a meal that could only be found in Israel, we headed off to the kibbutz that we will be staying at for the next two days.  Once we got to the kibbutz, we finally had a chance to relax. Some of us took naps, while others went swimming or watched our favorite American movies, but with Hebrew subtitles.  After a long but exciting day, we all know we have so much to look forward to now that we are in the beautiful country of Israel.

July 12 -Israel

Kfar Kedem after arriving in Israel

Our new mishnaic heroes

July 13, 2010

Laura Scavo

Tuesday started off with a lovely tour of the De Karina Boutique Chocolate factory in the Golan Heights. Our tour began with a short video describing the evolution of chocolate and the history of the Boutique. After the video, we continued on to a room where we were able to view experts demonstrating the chocolate making processes used to produce several of their products. A majority of the work is done by hand. Then we were led to the tasting room. There were several tables set up with closed trays. We all crowded around and were able to taste four different chocolates. Finally, we moved to the next room in which we each were able to design and decorate different chocolates. The factory employees were so impressed with our talents that they took pictures to post on their website.

When we left the factory, we went to Har Bental, where we were able to look into Syria. Noa, our tour guide, discussed the importance of the area to Israel and the history behind it. Har Bental provides an excellent view into both Syria and Israel due to its height. Therefore, whichever country has access to it has an immense military advantage since it can be used to launch weapons easily into the opposing area. The area is also mentioned in texts dating back hundreds of years, describing it as part of Israel and belonging to the Jewish people. We were also able to go through a bunker used during the Yom Kippur war. 

After Har Bental, we ate lunch. After lunch, we went Jordan River rafting. Each raft seated up to six people and two oars. Don’t worry parents, the rapids were very small and the only people who ended up out of the rafts were those of us who climbed out to cool off and to say that we swam in the Jordan River (this includes most if not all members of SOS). Some rafters were better than others. Many groups managed to make it to the end in a timely manor with few accidental delays. Others, however, had slightly more difficulty. Our boat, for example, ended up brushing up against plants or getting stuck on rocks at every turn. At one point, some obtrusive branches rudely interrupted our attempt at yoga. It was fun though; by the end we all had the routine down and ducked on cue to avoid being hit by branches. There were boats from other groups as well. We met people from France and Israelis who claimed to be Canadians. One boy from our group, David Nebb, even saw his sister, who is visiting Israel with another group, in one of the rafts. At one point our boat met up with the one containing Rabbi Tessler, Aviva Tessler, and Noa Buchholz. Rabbi Tessler, who was swimming alongside the raft, managed to convince us to get in the water just once both for the experience and because it was fun. Of course, just seconds after we had gotten in at a point shallow enough to touch the ground, the rocks below our feet disappeared and we were clinging onto the raft for dear life (we had life vests, but it was still surprising). We had trouble getting back in the raft, but only because we were laughing so hard we couldn’t concentrate on anything else. In the end, we all made it to the finishing point safely and happily.   

Though our day was carefree and joyful, our night ended on a sadder note. We went to visit the mother of Gavriel Hoter who was killed in Otniel while working in the yeshiva kitchen by terrorists in 2002. It was truly a very moving experience. Eileen, his mother, has since written a children’s book based on his younger brother’s experience to help children deal with losing a loved one. We read it along with her and discussed what she has been doing in recent years. She has been doing very well. She teaches online classes for Arab and Israeli students who talk to each other online during the year and finally meet in person at the end of the year. She has also been working hard to tell her son’s story to groups like ours. She has put a lot of work into her book to make it into a helpful tool for any mourning family. Her children have also produced a CD with songs dedicated to their brother, which is topping the charts in Israel. When we got back to the Kibbutz, a few of us discussed the experience. Aviva noted how living with the threat of terrorist attacks has strengthened the will of the Israeli people and how, despite so many tragedies, their spirits are still very high.

De Karina Boutique Chocolate Factory

July 14, 2010

Susie Klein

I love Saphira Tessler

At 7:30 a.m. we departed Kibbutz Gonen for Tzfat.  We started our tour by connecting our visit with out visit to Spain.  The Sefardic Jews inhabited Tzfat for many years and we walked through the Sefardic quarter of Tzfat.  After touring around the artistic city, we went to pack bags of food for people in need and fold second hand clothes.  We had to learn to communicate to tell each other which rows have chocolate, or to tell each other if the bag of sugar had exploded.  In only one hour, our group finished 93 bags of food,  what would have taken the people an entire day to do.  Sweaty and disgusting, we got on the bus to Tiberias to the Donna Gracia Museum.  The extremely enthusiastic guide explained Donna Gracia’s amazing story about leaving Spain for Portugal, then went to Italy and Turkey.  She was a strong fighter for the Jewish people and never gave up on helping the Jewish people live with freedom. After the movie and info session, we were invited to dress up in clothes from Donna Gracia’s time.  The woman in charge took her job very seriously.  She dressed up everyone in their specific character.  Even though she caused us pain, and made us late for our next appointment, she never lost her enthusiasm for dress-up.  We left Tiberias for Haifa where we went to Rambam hospital.  They were making a presentation about the new therapy that Operation Embrace had sponsored for terror victims which includes teaching victims of terror attacks to express their feelings by way of Photography.  After the formal ceremony, where terror victims spoke of the importance of the Photography workshops,we separated into groups and listened to different terror victims’ stories.  Personally, I heard the story of a bus driver who watched as a bus blew up before his eyes.  He told us about his deep depression after the event almost 8 years ago, and how he lives his life to try to be happy.  This man has seen a horrible event, and continues to live with a positive attitude, and continues to love Israel. 

We continued upstairs to visit with sick children in Rambam hospital.  I thought that the children would be around 4-6 years old; however, we ended up visiting 18 year olds.  I bought silly bands (rubber bands shaped like animals) thinking that a little kid would love them.  To my surprise, the 18 year olds still appreciated the visit and even enjoyed the silly bands. 

Leora, Saphira, and Roniel Moshe Shlomo organized a fantastic scavenger hunt in the Haifa mall that night.  While Susie, Staci and Olivia were a close second, Kiva, Debi, Ben, and Shira came in first place.  Kiva showed off her Hebrew skills, talking to many locals.  We left the mall extremely tired from the strenuous scavenger hunt, and went straight to bed in the hostel in Haifa.  We dreamt of Aviva’s “Boker Tov” to put a smile on our faces in the morning. 

Dressing up in clothes from Donna Gracia’s time

July 15 2010

Julianna Nechin

Today we woke up in Haifa. We went to the Achmadee Mosque. We learned a lot about how people in Islam pray and what some of their beliefs are. We heard a man speak about coexistence and about what he believes your mindset should be when speaking to G-d. We then cleaned the beach in Haifa. There was so much trash there it was unbelievable. I would have thought that someone before us would have done something, but surprisingly no one had.

              It was really nice to clean the beach. One lifeguard had a cup of coffee and he was going to drop it on the ground but then he looked up and saw what we were doing and he walked over and threw it in a trash can. We didn’t even clean half of the beach but at least we made a difference. Maybe one day the beach will be clean because of what we did and then it will be so much more enjoyable for so many people.

              After we cleaned the beach we went to the house of a Druze family. There we learned about the Druze religion and had a kosher lunch. The food was amazing. They made everything themselves. There was pita and humus and pizza like bread that had pepper and another kind that had a special spice on it. There was rice and salad. It was so different from any place that I have eaten before.

              We then went horseback riding on the beach. It was so much fun. We trotted and cantered. My horse’s name was Elat. He was such a good horse compared to some of the other horses, who butted and kicked. The beach was beautiful.  After the horse back riding we drove to Jerusalem and went to our hotel. There we met with the former president of Israel, Yitzchak Navon. He spoke to us about Spain and what happened there. It was really special considering we were just in Spain. He was such an educated man, I thought what he had to say was fabulous. I think that he is the first humble politician I have ever met. He was a truly special person, and I am so happy to have been given an hour to hear him speak.

              After we heard Yitzchak Navon we went to Leora’s (our Israeli counselor) home in Hashmonaeem.   Her mother made us a fabulous meal. Her family was so welcoming and friendly. I thought it was so kind of them to have all of us at their house when they hardly knew any of us. The food was great the people were amazing and their house was beautiful. It was a great way to end the day. 

Beach Cleaning In Haifa

Horseback riding on the beach

With Former President of Israel, Yitzchak Navon

Friday, July 16th, 2010

Natalie Marks

              The days are going by so quickly that when we woke up Friday morning, we didn’t even realize it was Friday, or that we only had four days left of our wonderful SOS trip. The days are also very packed so by the end of the day we’re all too tired to remember what we did in the beginning of the day. But we like it that way.

              Friday morning, we woke up early (meaning before ten o’clock in the morning, which is normally when I wake up) so we could go see King David’s palace. When we entered the palace, we saw a big, metal harp sitting in front of the entrance. Before our tour began, we went to go see a short 3-D movie about the history of why David wanted to build the city. The movie also explained how they received their water (the water tunnels!). It was all very interesting and the 3-D was also good. After the movie, Noa our fabulous tour guide, took us to a small sitting area where she explained that archeologists had found small stamps that you put on the backside of an envelope to seal the letter. Noa said that the seals were stamped there not only to close the letter but also if you received the letter and you saw that it was open it meant that someone had been reading your letter! Oh no! Behind the sitting area there was a wonderful view of homes with flat roofs. We learned that the houses had flat roofs because back when King David was king, people would work on top of their roofs. Sounds like a lot of fun, especially when the sun is beating down on you.

              Some of the group was claustrophobic, others didn’t feel well, but the part of the group that went had a really awesomely wet time. I am talking about going into the water tunnels. Remember a paragraph ago when I said how the movie explained how the people of the city received their water? Well the water tunnels are HOW they received their water. The water tunnels have really low ceilings, close together walls and a whole lot of darkness. I wonder if people back then were really short because if they were super tall they would’ve built the ceilings in the tunnels much taller… Anyhoo, a couple of us went down, down, down into the dark, scary, super-awesome-fun water tunnels. If you closed your eyes (opening your eyes would be pointless because it’s dark anyways), and put your hands on the tight walls around you, you could feel the bumpy texture of the tunnels. It was amazing. I mean, the whole time I was somewhat scared and I was hanging on to Saphira’s hand for my dear life and Sydney was hanging on to my shirt because she didn’t want to bump into anybody, but other than the darkness it was so cool! You could barely see anything and there was water only up to your ankles except for in some parts where it was up to your knees. I felt like I was hiding from someone, or I was running away and the only way to run away was through the tunnels. Most of the time we were singing songs that we had learned from the trip or yelling at Ethan to stop making freaky sounds. When we came out of the tunnels we were burnt by the sunlight. Well at least I was.

              We met up with the people who didn’t go into the tunnels and Noa took us to the steps that lead to the Temple. The steps were really long and wide. People from last year’s trip explained that the steps were wide so that people would look down and make sure they wouldn’t bump into other people on their way to the Temple. Also, there were some stairs that were just wood. Noa explained that when the Roman’s came to destroy the Temple, the Jews tried to hide under the wood. Unfortunately the Roman’s had found them and the Jews were killed.

Saturday July 17, 2010

Jerusalem

Ethan Broner

-First we woke up

-Then we ate breakfast

-Then we went to synagogue

-Then we went back to the hotel

-Then we chilled for about an hour

-Then we ate lunch

-Then we went to the windmill village

-Then we had dinner

-Then we played soccer with Mexicans

-Then we sang and prayed

-Then we went to a stand up comedy show

-Then we explored Ben Yehuda street

-Then we went to a waffle bar

-Then we went back to the hostel

-Then we went to bed

THE END

              On any average day, being woken up at 7:00 am would have been met with grumbles, putting the pillow over my head, and pleading for just five more minutes of sleep. But Saturday July 17, 2010 wasn’t just any average day; for everybody on the trip it was a rare opportunity to spend Shabbat thousands of miles away from the DC metro area, in the holiest city in the world, Jerusalem. This being my first time in Israel made the experience even more special and memorable.

              As the morning light shone through the window, a thunderous rap on the door awoke me. Dragging myself out of bed, still half asleep, I got ready for synagogue. After a short breakfast and a count off to make sure everybody was present, we set off for shul. The first thing I noticed about The Great Synagogue of Jerusalem was the massive stained glass window. The expansive interior provided the perfect place to pray. Once shacharit ended we stopped by the tent where Gilad Shalit’s family camps out. For the past 1483 days his family has sat in the same tent outside of the prime minister’s house to remind Israelis that their son is still a hostage of terrorists. His family’s love was touching, but what really got me was the dozens of strangers that showed their support by sitting with the family. Finally we got back to the hostel and had a rare spare hour to kill. Personally I used the spare time to take a much needed nap. Lunch was followed by a trip to Yamin Moshe, the first Jewish settlement outside of the Old City. Interestingly enough, we found out that the settlement was very unsuccessful in attracting residents despite it’s beautiful homes and walls and despite the incentives to move in. Some of the incentives included even being paid to move there and leaving an overpopulated Jewish quarter in the Old City filled with disease and unfair rent paid to the Muslim owners. The people were scared to move to Yamin Moshe, which had its own set of walls, and it’s own windmill because they were scared of thieves and crime that dominated the land outside of the Old City’s gates. Once back at the hostel we ate dinner, and a few of us even played soccer in the street with some kids who were visiting Israel from Mexico. After the Mexicans left we came back inside and had havdalah service while facing the Old City that was only stone’s throw away. Next we walked to a comedy club that was started by an American from Rochester, NY who made aliyah named David Kilimnick (forget his name). was hilarious. Not only were his jokes sidesplitting, but he also taught us a lot abut life in Israel throughout his performance. Once our evening entertainment was over, we were allowed to explore Ben Yehuda street ad all of its amenities. Personally, I went to a waffle bar. Let me explain what a waffle bar is; it is a bar where you order a waffle and can choose the toppings they put on it. The toppings were things like chocolate sauce, bananas, berries, whipped cream, and cinnamon cream cheese. The waffles were scrumptious, and for anybody in the United States who wants to start a multimillion dollar company, I recommend starting a waffle bar chain. By the time we finally got back to the hostel it was really late and everyone’s energy was drained. And we all went to sleep, more than satisfied, recollecting all of the fond memories from a very special day.

July 18 , Sunday

David Nebb

Today we started the day touring the old city and we visited the Western Wall. This was a really special moment for the whole group, especially for the first timers. After we left the old city we went to the Weitzman Institute and science museum. The first thing we did was explore the garden of science. It contained the most fun and exciting science experiments. After we had lunch at the institute we went to an experiment room and we all made hand cream for us to keep. Then we went to an Ethiopian community to help with some of the work to be done. We picked and threw out rotten tomatoes at a field, which elderly Ethiopians walk 30 minutes to get to. We also accomplished work in an hour that it takes the seniors to do in 3 or 4 hours. So we made a big impact on helping them with their farm. Then we got to meet some Holocaust survivors and we listened to a hilarious Ethiopian Rabbi. He told us a lot about how people judge others about being Jewish depending on their race. Later we had dinner with the Sderot youth who had a day of fun sponsored by Operation Embrace. These kids have been through a lot in the past and were all diagnosed with trauma. It was important that we hung out with them because they aren’t completely like us. When we returned to Jerusalem we went back to the Kotel to tour the Kotel tunnels. It was really interesting to travel underground and see the tunnels, and at the end of our long day we went back to our hotel to get some sleep.

Agricultural project with Ethiopian community in Kiryat Gat

With Rabbi Shalom in Kiryat Gat

In Jerusalem

At the Weitzmann Institute

Dear Parents,

The adventures of SOS continue to be some of the most powerful and singular life experiences.  How do we capture in words the tapestry of experiences that are being woven and absorbed from thousands of years of history, doing a variety of chesed activities, learning Torah, hiking, learning from one another, laughing until it hurts, tasting food from different cultures and much more. 

On a logistical level, our mighty family of 26 has been functioning like one organism.  It is unbelievable to experience harmonious suitcase shlepping, everyone being on the bus on time, magically arriving to destinations on time and implementing chesed activities in the most efficient assembly lines.  We have power packed days (yes they will most likely need lots of time to sleep when they are returned to you) and they all have been amazing troopers.  Your children have been exceptional! 

As we approach Tisha B’av, we are reminded of the destruction of both holy Temples.  Just yesterday, we stood on the original stones that King Solomon used for the first Temple.  At the kotel, and touched the only remnant from the Second Temple.  We will experience Tisha B’av as we remember the destruction of that which held us together.  Perhaps our united SOS team will pave the way for us to grasp a better understanding into coming together as a more united and kind Jewish community. 

A meaningful fast to all from Jerusalem,

-Rabbi and Aviva

Monday, July 19

Ben Parzow

To start off, this day was the most important one on our trip for it marked the culmination of all that we have learned in our three weeks abroad.  In the morning after a quick breakfast, we were met outside by a bulletproof bus! From there we picked up Peter Abelow, one of the tour directors of Keshet, who was to be our guide for the majority of our day. We continued on to our first stop of the day: Herodian. Herodian is a palace built atop of a plateau by the famous Roman king, Herod. It was built as a “country club” where Herod spent time away from his routine duties. On Herodian, we visited the location of a historic synagogue as well as an underground water system. As well, we walked through the tunnels that were used for surprise attacks in the Bar Kochba revolt. We couldn’t stay too long atop the plateau because of the heat so we continued on with our tour.

              The next stop for the SOS group was the Gush Etzion Museum at Kibbutz Kfar Etzion. Here we were lead into a small theater where we watched a film about the historic settlement of Kfar Etzion.  

              Although we all would agree visiting museums and touring is the bee’s knees, we were unable to hold back our intense desire to perform an act of chesed any longer. Thus we decided to travel to an army base to meet with some soldiers. The base was home to something like 80 soldiers close to ourselves in age. There we distributed packages of hygienic products (thanks to Dr. Snyder), handed out refreshing popsicles, chatted with the soldiers, and delivered letters that the SOS members had written thanking the soldiers for their bravery and efforts. The soldiers were extremely happy to see our young gleaming faces (especially the girls) for they very rarely get visitors. They were a very cool bunch of guys and I feel safe knowing that they are the one’s keeping Israel safe.  

              From the army base we traveled to Efrat where we were given cash for lunch. Many of us chose to get falafel from a local shop and others decided to go to a pizza parlor. The pizza place is owned by a man originally from Texas who coincidentally loves sports so intensely to the point where he developed an Israeli flag football league.  Not only is he extremely athletic, but he knows how to make a mean pizza! 

On the eve of Tisha B’Av, we were given the incredible and very exclusive opportunity to step foot inside the offices of the prime minister of Israel. This was due entirely to Jordana Luks’ generosity (a JDS alum and Maryland native). We arrived at the entrance of the Prime Ministers building where we were directed into a security facility. One by one we walked through the metal detectors, passports in hand. Finally upon entering the building itself, we huddled into a room with lots of chairs. Inside there was a small stage on one side of the room with a large podium, as well as an adjacent table with three chairs pushed into it. Behind the furniture stood a blue wall with the Israeli flag just in front of it. Hanging from the ceiling were large spotlights. Jordana entered with a smile on her face. To start she discussed where we were physically situated and that was in the actual press room where the prime minister addresses the nation. She then began to talk about her position in the offices as well as a timeline of how she ended up in such a highly regarded position. I think all of us learned a great deal from her not only about the activities within the prime ministers office but on how to achieve success. I especially valued her discussion on how to take a large goal and break it up into smaller more manageable steps. Even at such a young age she knows a great deal about hard work and dedication, which are values we all could try to develop. Although we were unable to meet the prime minister himself, this experience was in and of itself invaluable. After speaking with Jordana we were lucky enough to take the opportunity to take photos behind the podium in front of the flag. It was exciting to stand where the Prime Minister himself stands to address the people of Israel in times of happiness and in times of sadness, in times of success, and in times of failure. We would all like to thank Jordana deeply for giving us this once in a lifetime opportunity (hopefully this isn’t the case) and for giving up her time to share her experiences with us eager teens.

              At this point, we returned to the hotel to get ready for the upcoming Tish B’Av fast. We went to our rooms, showered, and put on nice clothing. At dinner, we each ate and drank diligently to insure completion of the fast. I singlehandedly took out an entire watermelon; a useful pre-fast food because it not only hydrates but also curves one’s appetite.  

              From dinner we walked towards the Kotel where we planned to spend the eve of Tish B’Av among the other thousands of people who wanted to be as close to the place of the old temple as possible. We were going to daven in a synagogue known as the Chorva but we decided against this when we were told that we would have to split up into girls and boys. As if this wasn’t already a stressful situation, Staci decided that she needed to go to the bathroom and she couldn’t wait. So from the synagogue we walked to find a bathroom. We were outside of the bathroom when all of a sudden out of nowhere, a small miracle happened…

July 20th

Matthew Goldkind

Yesterday night started Tishah B’Av (the day that the 10 spies came back with a negative report about Israel, the day both temples were destroyed, and the day the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492), which also makes it a fast day. On our way to The Western Wall, we were looking for a place to sit and hear Eicha, the megillah that is read on Tishah B’Av, and out of nowhere we ran into a friend of the Tesslers, Pamella Klaymen, who had last year’s group over for Shabbat lunch. She was headed to another place to hear Eicha, but told us we could go to the roof of her house to look at the Temple Mount as we prayed. It was amazing that in the middle of the Jewish Quarter we ran into her just as we were looking for a good place to commemorate the day. There is no spot on earth to see the exact location of where the temple stood like the spot where we sat and heard Eicha. We then each went over how the trip has influenced us and what we are going to take from it. It was a pretty powerful experience.

The next day, we got up a little later than usual. We went to the Menachem Begin museum.  It was very interactive and told the story of his life.  The Tessler’s cousins joined our bus ride as we met with a Holocaust survivor in a city called Shoham, who told us his stories and how he survived 11 different concentration camps by playing the accordion in the death camp orchestras. We also went to the house of a friend of the Tesslers, who is the Chief Rabbi of Shoham and explained a little bit about the city.

When we were at the hotel, we rested and continued our fast. Just a few hours ago, we finally broke our fast. We ended the last night of our trip talking about our favorite times in Israel and thanking other people on our trip at an Italian restaurant. It felt like we started the end of our trip with a meaningful bang.

S.O.S._Videos

Video #1: Havdalah in Madrid
Video #2: Mincha in Cordoba in one of three synagogues in Spain that pre-date      the Inquisition
Video #3: Singing after cleaning a school in Malaga

In order to view these videos, you are required to download and install "Pando", a FREE file transfer program.  The reason we use this is to share these relatively large files. 

1) Download the FREE Pando program using one of the following links and save it to your desktop by right clicking the link and clicking "Save Target As"

Windows: http://www.pando.com/dl/download/PandoSetupNCI.exe

Mac OSX:  http://www.pando.com/dl/download/Pando.dmg

2) Install the program by running it from your desktop and follow the instructions on your screen.

3) Once the program is installed, double click the attached .pando file and start the video download.

4) When the video download is complete, double click the video you wish to watch and enjoy!

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