summer09

Updates from Working Wonders Worldwide Summer 09

July 27, Monday - Noah Zweben

On Monday, we started the day with a 2-hour trip to Yad Vashem. Our guide was from Wales (he had an awesome accent). After the tour, we met with a holocaust survivor from Thessolaniki, Jacob Handeli, who told us his story. It was especially moving to hear his story because we were just there. When visiting Thessolaniki, we learnt that there were so many Jews there that on Shabbat Thessolaniki, one of the biggest port cities on the Mediterranean Sea, completely shut down. However after the holocaust, only 4,000 Jews returned out of 55,000. Then we went on a picnic for lunch where we got bagels from Jerusalem’s bagel store, Holy Bagels (It’s funny because Holy can be a reference to Jerusalem and the hole in the middle of the bagel. It took me a while to get it too). After lunch we picked onions for Table to Table. Even though I got multiple splinters and Staci cut her toe, overall it was an enjoyable and meaningful experience.

Afterwards we went to the blind museum where we spent an hour and 15 minutes in the pitch black experiencing different environments from a blind person’s perspective such as sitting on a boat, walking through a forest, and eating in a pitch dark café talking with our blind guide about his life. It was the most memorable museum I have ever been to. On the way back to Jerusalem, we dropped off Noa, our awesome tour guide. After we got back to the hotel and had dinner, many of us went out to Ben Yehuda Street where we went to the most awesomest waffle bar EVER. Then we went back to the hotel and went to bed after I made sure to hang up a sign on our door asking the rabbi not to wake me up at 5 in the morning to go to the kotel. Others saw the sign on my door which said Not Going to the Kotel, and thought that meant it was cancelled so no one ended up going! Well at least everyone got a good night sleep.

Noah

July 26, Sunday - Ben Parzow

The members of Working Wonders Worldwide need no sleep to be good people as we saw today. We left the hotel at three in the morning and headed to Masada for sunrise. Most of us slept on the two-hour bus ride. Upon arriving, we had to hurry off the bus because the sun decided to rise a little faster than expected. We began the gruesome climb to the top of Masada by the roman trail a little after the sun had risen above the skyline. Luckily we were still all in fantastic shape from our climb on Mt.Olympus so today’s climb was no challenge. Rabbi Tessler decided to show off as he did at Olympus and sprinted up the mountain taking only five minutes to reach the top. When the rest of us reached the top, we found a spot with shade and davened overlooking the Dead Sea. It was a priceless scenario. There we learned interesting facts about the building of and lifestyle on Masada about 2000 years ago. We spent some time snapping pictures and lying in the shade and also rehydrating, before returning to the base of Masada. On our descent we took the snake path down which was a daunting task, for it is very winding and therefore dngerous. My favorite part about the descent was seeing people go down the mountain waving from their air conditioned cable cars while we all were toughing it out. It’s a joke.

After a delicious box lunch provided by the hotel, we took a trip to Ein Gedi, the desert oasis. We were a little short on time so we had to hurry through, but it was still some of the most beautiful scenery most of us had ever seen We took a very short hike to a gorgeous waterfall and spring. There many of us took a dip in the refreshingly cool water.

Our next stop was the Dead Sea. We literally drove across the street from Ein Gedi to a beach along the Sea. For many people, like me, it was our first times in the Sea so our beloved tour guide Noa gave us a quick rundown of the rules for going in the water. As we walked down to the water, some people decided it was a good time to share their memories of the Dead Sea with each other. Listening to their stories of intense pain and suffering made me a little hesitant in entering the water but I decided its just one of those things you have to experience for yourself. We entered the water and swam around for about 25-30 minutes. When I say swam I mean floated. For me, the water felt really nice. It was like a hot tub but also the water felt really good as it flowed over my skin. The water was more painful for some than others. Noah Zweeben was hit the hardest and we all shared a laugh about it as he grimaced in pain.

For lunch we ate at the kibbutz in Ein Gedi where they were generous enough to make us a wide array of food. It was especially nice to get out of the extremely hot sun and to drink cold beverages. After lunch we headed to Hadassa hospital where we visited the children’s section of the hospital. We brought the young children colorful balloons, which we handed out to each of them. They were all very cute kids and really seemed to enjoy our company. The new wing of the children’s hospital was spectacular. It was built with the focus of making the hospital a comfortable place for the children. One fact that was especially interesting is that no procedures are done in a child’s bedroom, they are all done in a designated room. This is so that they feel comfortable in their rooms and it can act as a safe haven for them whenever they need it. The children’s hospital has another very special aspect and it is that Jews and Arabs are in the same section sometimes even the same room. This can hint to us that children are the most powerful tool for obtaining peace.

Anyways, the rest of the day was pretty relaxed. We returned to the hotel where some watched the final stage of the tour de France and others walked through Ben Yehuda street schmoozing and purchasing souvenirs for friends and family.

Later that night we walked to the Kotel for a special tunnel tour. The consensus was that the tour rocked. We walked all along the Western wall underneath of the Arab section of the city. We learned a good deal about the constructing of the temple and the people who lived there in its heyday. The most special part of the tour is that we were able to touch (and some left a note/said a few special words) the part of the western wall closest to the second temple.

Well I hope you all enjoyed reading about another exciting day for the Working Wonders Worldwide team. We all send our love and despite being upset about leaving, we are looking forward to seeing our families and friends again. See you all in two days.

July 25 - Israel, Justin Dekelbaum

Roni's birthday

We woke up and walked to the Great Synagogue, just a ten minute walk. The power of the silence of walking in Jerusalem was very touching to me. Stores are closed, no buses, few cars and just a feeling of everyone doing Shabbat together is inspiring. The davening at the Great Synagogue included a chazzan and a more formal service. We walked half an hour in the blazing heat to the Old City for a brief tour before lunch. We were greeted by Pamela and Abba Claman, our lunch hosts, in their magnificent home. First we had Kiddush on their rooftop porch overlooking the Dome of the Rock and then we moved into their dining room with a table set for 40 people. Abba asked some questions from several of us and Susie was hands down the most articulate and our noble ambassador. Pamela was inspired Rav Shlomo Carlebach of blessed memory, so we sang Carlebach songs. At their table was an army hero (an undercover anti-terrorist Israeli soldier) who after fulfilling his military service decided to become a shepherd………that’s right a shepherd. He told his story about both being in the army and currently what it is like to be a shepherd.

As we were walking down for Shalosh Seudos, we were greeted by our tour guide’s brother in law who also happened to be a Kollel guy at the Berman Hebrew Academy a few years ago. We ate Shalosh Seudos, just outside the hotel in a courtyard and had “slow shira”, or sang those slow melodies interspersed with words of congratulations to Roni on his birthday on his landmark birthday. In addition, each of us expressed reflections about our experiences together and these were truly special moments to remember. We made Havdalah in the lobby of the hotel…camp style for the last time as a group. We did the group shuckle and swayed back and forth as we finished Havdalah. After a quick change of clothes, we headed for the Old City once again to see the Sound and Light show at the Tower of David. There were digital projections on the walls of the Tower going depicting the history of the Jewish people.

What comes next on a Saturday night in Jerusalem? Yes, that’s right……bar hopping on Ben Yehuda (hi mom). In addition, it was so much fun bumping into friends that we know from all over the place. We went to sleep at 1 am….but needed to wake up at 3 am to start our journey to Masada……….stay tuned.

July 24- Israel, Nathan Orenstein

Breakfast in the morning (for me at least) consisted of watermelon and pudding, the only edible things in the hotel we are staying at. We set out for the city of David to see Hezekiah’s water tunnel. Shookie and Gabe did not join us for this trip through the tunnels, because the two of them and Rabbi Tessler had a Persian army to fight. We went down into the dark led by the tiny flashlights that Noa, our madricha gave us. Roni suggested that we have the journey completely in the dark, which lasted for a while until some people killed the buzz. In the narrow tunnels it is not a good idea to be over 250 lbs or over 5’6” (being 6’1” forced me to practically crawl in the freezing water in some places). It was a very entertaining and successful trip in the total dark. We came out of the tunnels into a pool of water where we splashed around for a little bit, and then proceeded to the street. On the way to the road we saw the recent excavations of the steps leading to the temple mount, which was really interesting.

We met up with Shookie, Gabe, and the Rabbi who came back from a great victory over the entire Persian army of 1,000,000 dead People. We headed to the old city Cardo, mainly the Hadaya jewelry store where they engrave gold and silver necklaces, bracelets and rings. It was a neat experience browsing the shops selling chatchkes and jewelry.

We then went to the Herzl museum which was a building where you went to different locations to watch a video describing his life. The reason why you went to these different locations was to set the atmosphere for that particular period in his life. I personally thought the dialogue was cheesy and the plot was lacking, but it did get the info across to the viewer. Leaving the museum, we picked up a hitchhiker: Staci Tohar, who used to be in our community.

We went back to the main city to go to the shook (market). In my opinion the shook embodies the entire Israeli culture by itself: shouting, bargaining, diversity, overpricing, wandering, browsing, crying, begging, mild violence, and shwarma. It was a harrowing and emotional experience, overall successful.

Then it was time to head back to the hotel to prepare for Shabbat (for the next 4 hours), when we were given free time to sleep, shop, shower, watch Lance Armstrong in Le Tour De France, visit nearby friends and relatives, etc. We all met up after a while of free time to go to Friday evening services, where we were greeted with lots of singing and a beautiful service. There we met with Gabe’s sister, Lisa who joined us for dinner at the tachat yerushalayim (whoops. I mean lev yerushalayim) hotel. After dinner we sang in the hotel restaurant until we were kicked out by the cleaning staff. Tomorrow promises meat (yessssss) and a lot of praying, can’t wait for it.

July 23 - Israel, Debi Smith

For the first time we actually got to have a late start to our morning. We left at 9:30 am for the city of Tzippori in the Galil. When we arrived we had a very educational but unsuccessful scavenger hunt around the area. We learned about the time at the end of the 1st century and the struggles that the Jews went through. Next we went off to the Ahronson spy museum in Zichron Yaakov, where we had a lovely picnic lunch that was interrupted by some scary looking stray cats. After lunch we watched a movie about the Ahronson family and learned about their story and their fight for a Jewish state. The Ahronsons started a secret movement that sent messages to the British asking for their help. It was unbelievable to learn how much they sacrificed and risked their lives for a Jewish State. Sarah, one of the Ahronson sisters even took her own life instead of giving up information to the Turks. We took a tour around their house and even saw where Sarah hid her gun that she used to commit suicide in her bathroom. After the tour and looking around the museum we got the chance to go to a park with the coolest gym equipment and experienced being 5 again. We, then headed down the coast to Cactus Ranch where we went horseback riding on the beach. I was so excited that I was finally going to complete my life long dream! It was such an amazing experience, we stayed right along the shore, there was a beautiful view and we even got the horses to run. Then we discovered 2 things, one, Israeli horses are really stubborn and two, never go near a horse that Rabbi Tessler is riding – you might get bitten. Immediately after riding, and even though we were a little smelly, we traveled to Old Jaffa for dinner at the Kapish Restaurant where the waiters are deaf and mute. It was really hard to communicate with them even with a white board handy but it definitely was a fun challenge. Following we saw a play with deaf and or blind actors called, Not By Bread Alone. For me it was unbelievable to see the characters memorize each step and move and to be able to dance to music they can’t even hear. At one point Noah and I were confused as to if they really were blind. Throughout the play they were telling the audience of their hopes and dreams and adding a bit of comedy to it too. It made me realize how much in life we all take for granted. We don’t realize how lucky were are to be around other people and especially the ones we love, for them it means the world just knowing at least one person is there by them shaking their hand. It gives them a feeling of reassurance that there not alone in this world and they’re going to be okay. Others in our group found the show very touching but felt that it was hard to enjoy because it was too sad to watch what they go through everyday. On our bus ride to the hotel we all shared our thoughts and opinions of the show, and along the way we picked up a girl who was in a car that broke down and was headed to Jerusalem too. It was very weird for us because that’s not something you see everyday in America. Her name was Efrat and she was very nice and shared her whole life story with Suzie. By the time we finally got to the hotel we were all ready to crash so we all checked in and got some beauty sleep for the next day.

July 22 - Israel, Roni Tessler

Happy Rosh Chodesh to you all and a happy no eating meat for the next 9 days as well (which the group frequently discusses with disdain)!

We began our day with a drive to the ancient Kabalistic city of Tzfat. We met with an artist who paints portraits inspired from things he has learned from the Kabala. Originally from Michigan, Avraham said that he grew up unexcited about Judaism until he read Aryeh Kaplan’s book Jewish Meditation. He moved to Tzfat shortly thereafter and began his studies in the mystical teachings of Judaism. The group seemed interested in something that is so foreign to them and we browsed the colorful paintings in his shop after Avraham’s short tutorial on the subject.

We then drove to a religious school for boys called Tzemach David to paint and fix the place up. Ruti, a social worker in Tzfat’s municipality and good friend through Operation Embrace, picked the school and arranged for our group to come there. We were met, as we have often have been on this trip, with cakes, cookies, soda, and warm welcomes for all. We got to work quickly, using brushes and paint rollers to repaint the white walls that had pencil markings and dirt all over them. Of course, some got paint on their bodies and Staci still claims to have painted Shookie’s face by “accident.” While we were painting, one of the workers pointed to a 5 foot hole in the ground outside and explained that a Katusha rocket landed there three years ago. Luckily the students were on vacation and no one was injured. We painted four floors in total and could see results by the time we were done. Pizza was lunch for today and was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

With our faces, legs, and arms decorated with white painted pimple spots we headed for a rafting trip down the Jordan River. It should be known that Nathan and Shookie are excellent rowers and gracefully let my dad and me relax. Israel became Sparta and Shookie screamed commands as he helmed his vessel down uncharted waters amidst crocodiles, Persians, and giant whirlpools. Meanwhile, some decided to race (the winners: Isaac and Gabe), while others took to warfare. My boat and Justin and Ben decided to have some fun and hide our boats and ambush Aviva/Eeeema, Saphira, Debi, Staci, and tour guide Noa. Let’s just say the girls went swimming whether they wanted to or not J

After we dried off we drove to an army base/outpost at the Israeli/Lebanese border and were given an eye opening tour of a base for army reserve soldiers (In Israel every male is required to serve for one month every year after he finishes his three year term). We walked through a maze of concrete lined at the top with rows of solid bags of sand, eyeing Lebanon through the periphery of our eyes. Inside the base we found soldiers playing ping-pong and watching Raiders of the Lost Ark. We davened mincha in the tiny shul in the base and before we left some got to hold a round of bullets. Gabe was the most excited as he wore them proudly around his neck and asked the man if he could take them home. He left empty handed. We then drove to a kibbutz even closer to Lebanon and saw small Lebanon communities and family homes used as missile launching pads in 2006.

We ended the day in Teveria, another of the four holy cities of Israel (in addition to Tzvat, Chevron, and Jerusalem) and searched for a place to eat. Back at the hotel we found our laundry waiting for us fresh, clean, and folded. Tonight is our last night at Kibbutz Lavi and tomorrow should be a very exciting and meaningful day...

July 21 - Israel, Gabe Snider

We woke up really early and got on the bus by 8 am. Our first stop was Rishon L’tzion, meaning the “first to Zion”. This was the city that the first aliyah happened in 1882. We arrived at 9:30 to the beach of Rishon L’tzion. We participated in an Operation Embrace sponsored activity with Sderot kids that suffer with trauma in their everyday lives. While we are relaxing in a hotel, these kids from Sderot could be sitting feeling lonely, hot and sweaty in bomb shelters. There were

47 boys and girls from Sderot, their ages ranging from 12-20. We participated in different activities on the beach together, like volleyball, kayaking and many other activities. I got to go out on the first kayak. The lifeguard on the beach put up black flags, meaning that it was rough around those areas, so we were unable to go into the water as much as we would have liked.

We left at 12:30 pm to go to Ra’anana, where Benjie Friedman lives.. Benjie is 15 and was part of our group in Greece, but returned to his home in Ra’anana when we arrived in Israel for he is going to a summer camp in the States tomorrow. It was great to see Benjie and we miss him being part of our group. At Benjie’s we had lunch and had fun swimming in his pool and meeting his dog, Lily. After Benjie’s, we went to a Kanyon, which is a mall in Herzylia for around an hour. I discovered today from a personal experience that malls are no fun when you don’t have any money on you. We then went on the bus and made our way back to Kibbutz Lavi. On the way there, we played a really fun game. Aviva asked us to write on a slip of paper something, either funny, weird or embarrassing that has happened to us and then we put those pieces of paper in a plastic bag. Ben Parzow was our Jay Leno and he read each slip of paper and we had to guess which person belonged to each story. There were some really funny stories.

We arrived at Kibbutz Lavi and immediately went to dinner. After dinner, we watched a movie called “Homegame”. The movie was about Israeli soldiers who were commanded to remove Jewish families from their homes in the Gaza Strip (four years ago) and Jewish teens in a community in the Gaza Strip called Netzer Hazoni who were playing a basketball tournament. Rabbi Tessler talked about the importance of this movie and that tonight begins Rosh Hodesh as well as the nine days that we count to Tisha B’av or the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av, when we fast. He said that these are the saddest days and that this movie put us in the proper frame of mind.

Mom, Dad, I love you so much!!!

July 20 - Israel, Isaac Gould

We arrive from Greece to Israel reach the Kibbutz Lavi hotel completely exhausted at 4 AM and quickly go to bed because we have an 8 AM wakeup call the next morning. When we wake up we quickly scarf down breakfast and meet with terror victims through Operation Embrace. Operation Embrace sponsored a therapeutic day for them and it began with us having breakfast together at the hotel. After breakfast, we split into groups and everyone explains something about themselves in each group.

It is a very touching experience to see how much trauma these adults have been through, but they still manage to continue on with their lives. I am so touched to meet Zvi Regev, the father of Eldad Regev.

Eldad was one of the three kidnapped soldiers which started the Second Lebanon War. Unfortunately, he was one of two that were murdered. We say goodbye as the terror victim group leaves to go white water rafting.

Then we go on a two-hour bus ride to Akko, an ancient port that was used for thousands of years. Noa, our new tour guide, takes us to many old sites including an inn that was used hundreds of years ago, a scary Arab market, and a jail that housed Jewish political prisoners before Israel was established. Noa speaks about the jailbreak that occurred which helped to establish the state. We excitedly stop for lunch to get our first taste of Israel: Shwarma and Falafel, whi ch the bus driver kindly lets us eat on the air-conditioned bus.

Our next stop is at Rosh Hanikra, where we walk through beautiful cliff side caves created from water erosion. We went through them in about 10 minutes and hopped onto bikes, which we rode 3 miles down the beach.

The bike instructor instantly fell in love with our group by giving us nicknames. Gabe’s nickname is Donkey (from Shrek), because he keeps asking ridiculous questions like “Are we there yet?”, which only Donkey would ask. All are exhausted and sweaty but hop on to the bus to go to the beach for a BBQ, where some of us go into the water and some take beautiful pictures of the sunset. The meat is amazing and we finally end Marissa’s 3 day long birthday saga with another cake and Happy Birthday in English and Hebrew.

We arrive back at the hotel around 9 and we meet some pretty interesting guests in the lobby. We don’t fall asleep until very late because there is a party outside making an incredible racket.

We all can’t wait until the amazing adventures the new day will bring…

July 19 -Sunday (My Birthday!!)- Marissa Cytryn

In the morning I woke up to one of MANY rounds of happy birthdays. Staci and Susie presented me a bag that was stuffed the night before with crazy funny gifts by them and the rest of the girls the night before. It was the second start to my birthday (after bowling) and the start of an amazing and meaningful day.

We got on the bus for a two-hour bus ride to a small town called Kavala. (On the way we passed Roni’s favorite town called Drama.) We were on our way to a Jewish cemetery where we were going to clean up the graves; we passed a Christian cemetery, with amazingly white stones and tons of flowers. We then were redirected to the Jewish cemetery next door. The differences were obvious between this cemetery and the first one; the stones were covered in moss and dirt. Many of the graves were cracked and faded, weeds covered the ground and the cemetery almost seemed haunted.

At the gate we met Mr. Cohen, the only Jew left from Thessoloniki to the Turkish border. He gave us food and soda and we got to work. At first we weren’t really sure what had to be done, we had limited tools and the graveyard looked in such disarray that I assumed it would take a couple years not hours to restore its order.

We grabbed shovels, rakes and gloves and started scraping dirt, moss and snails from the tombstones. It was so fulfilling to scrape20off the years of grime and see the names and dates of the people lying below, knowing that we would remember these people who were long forgotten.

After some work, Mr. Cohen called us all back to gather as a group. As me and Staci walked back to where we had eaten the food, I looked back at the cemetery. Even though it still needed so much more work, a difference was made and I realized that the saddest part about the cemetery when we first walked in was not the dirty graves or the weeds, rather the feeling of people gone with no one who cared. With every swipe of our shovel or brush, we showed caring to deceased, looking over the cemetery for a second time, I felt the warmth that we had brought.

As we gathered together again, we said a Kale Male Rachamim for Mr. Cohen’s wife who had died three years earlier. After, he requested a picture with all of us; he said that this picture would be in a beautiful frame with his most prized pictures. This to me was the most touching part of our experience there.

We got back on the bus to the hotel. Once we arrived it was a mad dash to shower and pack by 4:30 to make it to the airport by 5:30. We got down to lobby at around 5:00 (to no one’s surprise) and got to the airport safe and sound. Once we got through baggage check we sat down to have lunch. Another round of happy Birthday was started and I was handed a bundt cake. (Unfortunately we had no flowerpot to put in the middle of it.) The cake was so moist and delicious but it was beaten out by Justin’s dried salami, which miraculously made it though the security checkpoint. Once on board the plane to Cyprus most of us slept, read, listened to music or talked about Physics (me and Shookie).

Once in Cyprus we had just enough time to make our connection to Tel Aviv. This plane ride was much shorter and we had no problems occupying our time. When we landed Elle and I kissed the ground (Ben was forced later to do it) and we made our way over to baggage claim. Luckily everyone’s bags arrived on time despite rumors that we would have another Greece experience. We were then welcomed by our tour guide Noa and Peter (Staci’s favorite person) the head of Keshet who organized our trip. We danced and did a round of Hava Ne’ Gila for Ben, Staci, and Debi for their first time in Israel. We made it safe and sound to Kibbutz Lavi where we rested our eyes after a long, meaningful and fun (birth)day.

Lots of Love! Marissa

July 18 - Thessolaniki, Staci Smith

On Shabbat morning we had another early start to as we all got up and got ready to go to shul. We left at around 8:30 from the hotel to join Rabbi Shitrit’s congregation. I noticed the smile that formed on his face as he watched us all file in. He knew that morning he was going to have a full, young, and lively minyan. I’m not sure how lively we were but we were definitely young compared to the usual crowd. The lack of youth made me realize how close the Jewish community of Thessolaniki is to dying out.

We all sat very attentively in shul as we listened to both Noah and Roni beautifully (as Noah puts it) read from the Torah. Even if you weren’t so attentive, you were conscious of who was reading because of the very distinct change in tune as Rabbi Shitrit gave way to Noah and Roni. The rabbi was definitely thrilled to hear others read as he usually single handedly learns and reads the parsha every week.

Following the service, we all eagerly headed upstairs to discover what Tula (the chef of the Jewish Community Center in Thessalonki) had prepared for us that day. Her amazing cooking hadn’t failed us yet so we weren’t very worried. We said Kiddush, washed our hands, and dug into her warm cinnamon challah rolls. While we ate, and (for some of us) slept, we chattered among ourselves and recounted the Ladino song Rabbi Shitrit had taught us the night before.

I realized that even though there may be a language barrier between us English speaking

Americans and the Greeks, we can always resort to singing Jewish songsthat we know in common. The shared songs do all of the talking for us. We finished up our meal with more singing and the birkat hamazon and left to have our shabbos naps.

At around 8pm we left the hotel and walked back to the shul for mincha. We ended off our shabbos with seudat shlisheet, some more singing and havdalah. However, our night did not come to a close just yet. We then headed over to the bowling alleys and it was so nice that Rabbi Shitrit and his wife joined us to bring in Marissa’s birthday at midnight!! We all had a blast…especially me because I was the winner in my lane!

And soon you will hear about Marissa’s birthday from Marissa herself……

July 17 - Thessolaniki, Saphira Tessler

Jews have been living in Thessolaniki since 100 BCE. The apostle Paul came to preach the new religion, Christianity, to the Jews living there. He went to the synagogue Etz Chaim which no longer exists. In 1492 an enormous amount of Spanish Jews came to Greece. Greece was the safe haven from Western Europe. One hundred years ago you would see the streets of Thessolaniki filled with Jews. When one drives through the city you pass by beautiful enormous villas which belonged to the Jews and now are simply empty or used as art galleries. On Shabbat everything was shut down in the city because the Jews controlled much of the businesses there. There is a major port and that too was completely shut down on Shabbat. As you can tell this was a Jewish city and it was even called a mini Israel.
Today we went to the Jewish cemetery here in Thessolaniki. The cemetery is less than 5% of the size of the original cemetery, which was destroyed by the Germans in 1943. The original cemetery had over four hundred thousand graves in it and now the major university is built on top of it. For lunch we went to the Jewish community center where our personal chef Tula made us amazing pizza. Nathan was drooling over himself when she was bringing out the individual slices of yumminess.
Then we had exactly two hours to shop. The girls and I were on a mission. After our little shopping spree we went to the Hebrew Home. There are fifty people living there who are all Holocaust survivors. About fifteen of them were waiting for us in the lobby with cake and drinks. The faces of the people lit up as soon as we walked in the door. They received us right away with warm sweet hugs. A woman named Sylvia shared with us a little bit of her story. She remembers having a very happy childhood and that it all came to an abrupt halt as soon as the Nazis invaded her community. She remembers when the Germans took all of the men from ages 18-45 on July 11, 1942 to Liberty square. The men were in the square for 12 hours in the blazing heat and were commanded to do somersaults, jumping jacks, and more stupid tricks in order for the men to feel like animals in a circus rather than human beings. One of the women named Zana told us that she married one of the men who was forced to take part in this act of cruelty. Most of the people in the Home lost all of their family in Auschwitz. They were explaining to us that it was very hard to come back after the war since before the war Jews swarmed the streets and then it was completely turned over to a desolate unfamiliar place for Jews. Out of the fifty thousand plus Jews who lived in Thessaloniki, only some 3 percent survived. There were many people in the Home whom you could clearly see their assigned numbers on the ir arms from Auschwitz. Shookie especially noticed the numbers on Zana’s arm, A-39405, and said he would never get that picture out of his mind. Zana was the only one to survive out of her family and there was a picture sent of her with Noah and Gabe on Friday. We then began to sing with all of them. Before we left we sang Hatikva sitting down thinking that it would be too hard for them to stand. But immediately they (our survivors) all forced themselves to stand in respect of the Israeli anthem. I then walked over to Zana to say my goodbye and I started to cry right in front of her and she looked at me with curiosity. She asked me why I was crying and gave me a tissue. She didn’t understand why I was crying. I never suffered like she had; I have a beautiful life, so why? And then I managed to bring myself together and choked out through my tears ‘you inspire me' ??.
Shabbat was on its way and we all showered and went to the synagogue. On the walls of the synagogue there are stone plaques all around. Its not like in regular synagogues where there are names of people from the community and the dates they passed away, rather it lists all of the names of the synagogues that once stood in Thessolaniki and the dates they were established (close to 40 shuls). The earliest synagogue dating back to 100 B.C.E. was called Etz Haim and was filled with Romaniot Jews, or Greek Jews. We ate Shabbat dinner in the JCC with the rabbi, his wife and other guests who were visiting. The rabbi taught us a song in Ladino (a Spanish-Hebrew language that the Jews in Greece spoke since they came from Spain in 1492) and ever since then that's all we’ve be singing! Adio Adio Querida… alright I'll control myself. Shabbat morning we were out of the building by 8:30, but Staci will tell you all about it…

July 17 Photos from Thessoloniki Cemetery and Hebrew Home

July 16 - Susie Klein

Leaving the camp was very sad; we made a lot of new friends that we may never see again. Thankfully we exchanged facebooks and the boys have Romina on their arms. On the way to Thessoloniki, we stopped in an ancient town to see amazing tombs from thousands of years ago. The tombs are believed to be those of Phillip II and Alexander IV. The artifacts from the tombs were amazing like the gold reefs and weapons. We all felt like we were on the history channel because our tour guide was a fast talker and very well rehearsed. Then we drove to an old Jewish neighborhood in Veria. The synagogue was so beautiful but tragic because it is solely used by tourists. In Thessoloniki, we went to the jewish museum. We learned about the cemetery that was destroyed by Turks and Nazis. The largest Jewish cemetery in the world! The tomb stones are now being walked on at Thessoloniki University. One of the exhibits had a quote from a famous poet saying that Solonica is the mother of Israel. It is so special to be here right now. Many people, including myself, have no idea about Jews in Greece. Thessoloniki was one of the Zionist cities that heavily influenced creating the state of Israel! The JCC of Solonica was awesome. We met the most important Jews in Solonica. We ate upstairs at the community center and feasted on fish. Marisa showed off her skill of eating fish eyes, which encouraged others to do the same. (Including Noah). What will happen in Thessoloniki tomorrow? I can't wait.

July 15 - Justin Dekelbaum

Today we started with the usual - Tefilah, raising the flags of Greece and Israel with their respective national anthems and then breakfast which consists of rolls and orange juice (this is no Dekelbaum breakfast). To be honest, no one has learned the Greek anthem yet.

After a brief nap, the members of WWW United led a scavenger hunt for the younger kids in the camp on the theme of Shabbat. There were 10 teams and each team was given clues to find lamenated pictures representing Shabbat objects, like challot, kiddush cups and so on. The team leaders were at different locations to give the group the next clue. Saphira and I learned the hard way that at each station they were giving the same clue to go to the next station......so instead of organizing in two minutes, it took 15 - great learning experience. After they found all of the clues, they had to put the clues together to form a pasuk from Shabbat with words that were on the back of each shabbat picture. After we completed the sentence, they were given a 40 piece puzzle, one of the hardest in the world of Herzl's famous words "Im Tirzu, ayn zu agadah" - If you want it, you can make it happen".

Another great experience, was teaching the kids the song "v'ahavta, l'rayacha, l'rayacha, kamocha....zeh klal gadol ba'Torah" - love thy neighbor as yourself - this is a great lesson from the Torah. We sang this in three different languages: English, Hebrew and yes even Greek! The kids loved it and are going to sing it at camp every Shabbat.

The afternoon was chill time and our Working World Wonders Team headed for the beach and some even ventured into the Aegean Ocean. At the afternoon flag ceremony, our group was called up for a round of applause for our great work in the camp. The night activity was going to the bars with the older kids from the camp.............(hi mom)

Team Leader Out
Justin

July 14 -Mount Olympus Day by Ben Parzow

We have officially been gone one week! We left Tuesday the seventh and today it is Tuesday the fourteenth. This morning we all woke up at around 7:30 got dressed and headed out to the flag raising ceremony that takes place at the camp every morning and night before meals. At the ceremony we sing Hatikvah and the Greek national anthem, which we have all been attempting to learn. Here the entire camp also recites the Shema. Breakfast this morning was the Greek version of Froot Loops, bread with chocolate spread (which seems to be very popular with the local children), and milk and juices. For all of our meals, we eat at outside under an awning in a building right on the beach, looking out at the Aegean Sea. The view from our tables is one we are not accustomed to. It’s beautiful seeing the morning colors glisten on the surface of the water. We all then went back to our tents where we packed for our journey to Mount Olympus where we were to claim our rightful positions among the gods. We took our brightly colored WWW sling bags and filled them with lunches, fruit, plenty of water, suntan lotion, extra shirts, and a sweatshirt. We brought sweatshirts because we were warned that it can be quite cold at higher elevations on the mountain. We then met our guides for the day and then boarded a large bus that took us up to where our hike was to begin.

We had no idea what was in store for us when we began our hike at 3000 feet at 11:15 am. Almost immediately, the trails became steep and rocky, the wind was howling, the snow was falling, and the rescue crew with a saint bernard was helicoptered in (don’t worry parents, it’s a joke). Well actually the mountain did become very steep and rocky making the duration of the trip more difficult than we had thought. Often times we would take short breaks in order to nourish ourselves with water, for most of us were sweating profusely. In only three hours we all made it up to the halfway point on the mountain where we were to spend a little time relaxing. When I say we were half way up the mountain, you need to understand that the mountain is 9750 feet tall, the largest in Greece, so what we did was no small accomplishment. At the midway point, there was a little house which had a restaurant inside that sells traditional Greek food. Some of us bought food from there and the consensus was that the Greek salads were phenomenal. Many of us took naps for a little while-we had lost a lot of energy. Others decided to do yoga to keep their muscles loose. From our position at the midway point the view was exhilarating in all directions. Along the horizon we could see the Aegean Sea and the houses alongside of it although they were many miles away.

After spending a good amount of time eating, resting, and hydrating, we began our descent. One would expect that going down a mountain is much easier and faster but in this case this was not necessarily so. The climb was so steep coming up that when we were going down; the pressure was heavy on our knees. It seemed to take even longer than our ascent because we were very exhausted. Despite such great opposition, we were all able to make it down the mountain without much complaining. Overall the group did a fabulous job of staying focused and determined throughout the hike.

Although everyone did a great job, the honor of queen o the mountain goes to Marissa Cytryn. Despite falling and hurting her ankle in the first twenty minutes of the hike, she was able to continue on and complete the three plus hour hike. The guide wrapped her ankle in gauze, was given hiking poles, and she was on her way. She was determined to make it up the mountain with the rest of the group. Marissa’s persistence when hiking the mountain served as an inspiration to others whose hope of ever reaching the midway point was dwindling throughout. Special recognition also goes to Rabbi Tessler who completed the journey in under an hour (he sprinted the entire thing). Overall, the WWW team had another productive day full of friendship and fun. We all say yassou (hi in Greek) and hope things at home are going well. Efcharisto.

Monday July 13: -Benjie Friedman on Israel Day

We wake up every single day at 8 am and then we go to a flag ceremony. We eat breakfast at 9. Today was a special day and was dedicated to Israel. The older kids in the camp were divided into 6 groups. Each group had a captain and I was a captain for one group and I was very proud that our group came in second place. We had activities on the beach which included a lot of physical and emotional strength. For example I had to stick my entire head into a bucket of water and pull out candies with my mouth and then look and see what number the candy had on it. Each number represented a different question to answer about Israel and then our team had to answer the question.

I have met a lot of nice Greeks, Israelis and Americans here. This camp has a feeling that it is in Israel. It is really nice for kids from America, Greece and Israel to learn about each other and to learn from one another. We all feel like one in this camp.

With love,
from Benjie Friedman (Ra'anana, Israel)

July 13, 2009: Aviva Tessler

Dear Parents,

Kalimera - Good morning from the base of Mt. Olympus at the Greek Jewish Summer camp. We arrived yesterday after a 5 hour drive from Athens to Le Tohoro, where close to 200 Jewish youth from all over Greece are spending part of their summer. On the way up to the camp, we had the privilege of taking Rabbi Mazun from Athens who shared with us his story. As we passed the city of Larissa, he recounted the days when the Nazis came to his city and how the Italians told his family to run and to find refuge in the mountains near Mt. Olympus. His story was so powerful as we stared at the mountain that he and his family hid from the Nazis.

This morning I had the pleasure of sitting with the girls on the beach and we had a learning discussion about Tefilah. They asked great questions and listening to the waves behind us made everything that much more meaningful. The Rabbi led a learning discussion with the boys also overlooking the beach.

Today is Israel Day in the camp and last night many of our teens were helping preparing today's actitvities. They were painting, cutting crepe paper chains, making posters, some were hanging out, etc. The activities began when a man dressed up as David Ben Gurion appeared welcoming all of us to Israel. Our teens then joined Greek and Israeli teens at the beach for a variety of team competitions. Some of our teens even served as captains, including Susie and Benjy and Gabe volunteers for everything. Our teens are learning some Greek and Noah has even learned to count to 29 in Greek.....I think 30 begins some of the more difficult challenges. Justin was in charge of firing up the dough and turning them into pitas for the entire camp as they served felafel today.....I think he wants to open a Max's in Greece.

And, for me, some of the more emotional moments include watching kids from Greece, Israel and the United States singing Hatikva together - it is just as its name suggests - our children are the hope and our future.

One more amazing thing is that Roni led the entire older group of kids in the camp in a fantastic night activity ice breaker.....it was so much fun!

Tomorrow we are off to visit Zeus on Mt. Olympus...

Efcharisto again for raising such special kids,
Aviva

Sunday, July 12th—Acropolis and bus ride By Nathan Orenstein

Chalimera, good morning, and Yassou. Nathan Orenstein here signing in (late as usual) from camp Galim at the base of Mt. Olympus, to write last Sunday’s blog. On Sunday morning (July 12) we were dragged by our ankles out of bed and onto the bus (at what felt like 2:00 am) to go to the Parthenon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. In its world wonder glory, it actually had a couple of buildings standing (I wonder what that makes NYC….). It was still awe inspiring to hear about the wonder and riches of the temple of Athena, and to look at its ruins in awe and wonder.

After that, the Rabbi still wanted to get in his daily 26.2 mile run, so we hit the track of the first Olympic stadium (the one they used in ancient times and in 1896) which could hold 60,000 people. Running from Athens to Marathon wasn’t enough for Rabbi T, so he ran back, just so we could all leave together. I personally tried out the long jump pit achieving a new world record of 38.5 meters (it was actually supposed to be a practice jump, but the judge decided to measure it anyways).

Αφτερ ωγφξ τραψκ ςε ΨΩφ φγω……whoops sorry about that. I had a little lapse. I guess my Greek is getting pretty good. Anyways, after the Olympic stadium we then had a five hour bus ride when everyone slept except Ben, Isaac and myself, who got to see the view of mountains on the Agean sea (we did not take pictures so anyone who missed it really did miss it and there is nothing they can do about it now. hahaha). We finally arrived at the town of Plaka Litochorou in Camp Galim (Γαλιμ in greek) where we were welcomed with smiles, inquisitive looks, tents to sleep in, an ant infestation, showers that don’t really work, a beach right next to the camp, shishkabob chicken, and a lot of Greek mumbling. After about an hour and a half, we were given a tour by a Greek American lifeguard named Franchesca who showed us around the seemingly random layout of the camp. She also needed to explain to us the complex shower system that is meant to save water where you first need to adjust the temperature, and then you push a button which lets the water run for a few seconds and then it turns off (this violates my ability to take my usual thirty minute shower). Later we met a full American named Jason, who told us all of the Greek words we needed to know to survive the camp, some of which I cannot repeat in this blog.

Meeting everyone was very interesting, because there are people all over the world, (it doesn’t matter what country you are from, just as long as you are Jewish, you can come to the camp) people from Greece, Israel, England, France, and even a couple of people from Rockville, MD. That night we really got to know each other by playing games that Saphira and Roni came up with, involving our knowledge of music and dance moves. Instead of going to sleep at 11 for our daily chesed activity, we had to help the Israeli kids and the staff work on setting up for yom yisrael the next day. We cut ribbons, made puzzles and painted the map of the state of Israel (twice). I became the artist for the 11 foot (about 3.75 meters) maps and apparently I did a pretty good job…… Going to sleep (2:00 am for real this time actually) in the tent was the worst experience of my life, for which I completely blame my father who is constantly trying to ruin it. (actually there were mattresses in the tents and I got to sleep pretty quickly but he doesn’t need to know that).

I guess that’s it. We hope that everyone is well at home, even my brother (feed him more than ramen noodles). Say hi to my friends for me. This is Nathan Orenstein signing off. Yassas!

July 11, 2009: Shookie Eisdorfer

Shabbat Highlights from Shookie.....

We woke up early and walked to shul at 8:30 am.........not so early for me but to get all of us out was a challenge. When we got to shul, we listened to a very good Torah reading from our own Roni Tessler. After that, Rabbi Tessler led til the end of services and then we walked across the street to make kiddush and have some very good cake. We also got to look at a 100 year old Romaniot shul which was very cool.

We walked for a long time, or so it seemed to the Chabad House where we ate until we couldn't eat anymore and then we sang and I danced a little too. We went around the table and met some new friends, who told them a little about themselves with a great deal of emotion. Everyone who sat at the table spoke about someone who inspired them. I mentioned my grandmother as did many others who talked about their parents and grandparents as their main inspiration in their lives.

We walked back to our hotel with our newest addition, Jonathan Jacobs from Johannesburg who spent the afternoon with us and I dare say that we had a lot of fun. In the afternoon, we played many different games such as president and bananagrams. When it came time for mincha we set up the luggage room with chairs and Roni led us in praying our hearts out for mincha and Justin led maariv with mucho gusto. We had Havdalah with our group and Shlomo, the travel agent for us here in Athens. He is also a Holocaust survivor from Birkenau and shared his experiences with us. We all held each other's shoulders and swayed from side to side while singing a beautiful Havdalah.

When Shabbat ended, we walked to the "Plaka" which is the area at the bottom of the Acropolis with all the shops, which of course come with haggling and bargaining. I think we did a good job....
Shavua tov from Shookie.

July 9, 2009: Rabbi & Aviva Tessler

Dear Parents,

You have the most unbelievable children! I cannot overstate how spectacular the kids have been on the trip. They have bonded like siblings and consider themselves family. We didn't need to use any of our "icebreaker" ideas.....they bonded on their own. The confusion with all of the planes and wait time really served our group well in that there was lots of time to bond....and they did exactly that.

You will hear from the kids about each of the days from their individual perspectives (depending on internet access) but I want to give you an overview of this past shabbat.

Friday was a dream day where we traveled by boat to 3 Greek islands: Hydra, Poros and Aegina. This day included some good ice cream, picturesque scenaries, souvenir shop meandering and lots of sunblock.

Friday night we davened and had shabbat dinner at the home of Rabbi Mendel Hendel and Nechama Hendel. They are a lovely and sweet couple and they operate the Chabad house here in Athens. There we met a couple from Great Neck, New York on their honeymoon and when they found where our group was from, the husband (who travels to the Maryland area) said "you have the best Shwarma where you live - I go to Max's as much as I can"; at that point I introduced Justin to him and he gave Justin the biggest hug and thanked him for the shwarma and everything that he had ever eaten at Max's.

Shabbat morning - (are you all sitting down?)......your kids were out of the hotel by 9 am on their way to the Beit Shalom shul in Athens. Roni layned his bar mitzvah parsha of Pinchas; Isaac was honored with holding the Torah and Rabbi Tessler led Musaf. We had lunch again at the Chabad house, sang songs and met a lovely couple from Johannesburg, South Africa (who know cousins of the Smith family). The son of this South African couple, a teen himself, attached himself to our group and returned with our kids to spend the day hanging out with our group and enjoying some cards and playing bannanagrams. Your kids are collecting new facebook friends.

Everywhere we go we receive many compliments about your kids, so we are now telling people that they are all ours! Word got back to us, how very meaningful our visit to the Restion Hebrew Home was for the residents who our kids spent time with on Thursday....but you will hear more about that from Debi who will be writing about that day.

We davened Mincha and Maariv at our hotel and had a beautiful interlocking hands kind of Havdalah. When Shabbat was over, we walked with the kids to the Plaka, a pedestrian cafe and shopping area near the Acropolis.

You have everything to be proud of at the way your children are conducting themselves. It is clear that what really makes this trip a "chesed" trip is the way in which they act towards one another. It is one of the most impressive things I have ever seen.

Tomorrow morning we will visit the Acropolis and following a short city tour will begin our journey to the Summer Camp at the base of Mt. Olympus.

Thank you for your Children!

Aviva and the Rabbi

July 9, 2009: Debi Smith

We finally arrived in Greece, we were so excited that we had made it and our journey could finally start. As soon as we stepped off the plane, we all rushed towards baggage claim and stared down each bag hoping it was ours. A half hour of waiting and guessing what happened to ours bags, we realized there was no chance our bags were coming and that they were probably in France. After an hour of sitting on the floor of the airport, once again looking like homeless children, we finally checked into the hotel and somehow fell asleep. We had a lovely start to our morning. With only sleeping for approximately 4 hours, we all received an 8:45 wake up call to get up and get downstairs by 9:15. After struggling to get up and going, eventually we managed to get on the bus and head off to Beit Shalom, Shul of Athens. We were warmly welcomed by Rabbi Arar, who explained to us the history of the shul and the events that took place at the time of the construction of the building. Following his introduction, us ladies got to try on very fashionable head coverings and then we were ready to daven. Davening was led by Justin Dekelbaum, and the rest of the boys struggled to stay awake during the service. We then we were so lucky to experience the wonderful 110 F Greek weather. As everyone was dying of heat I looked on the bright side and realized, I might actually get tan for the first time in my life. Then we headed towards the Jewish Museum. We learned about the community that once stood and what remains today, how Greece was a haven for Jews in Europe, and our gracious tour guide shared some interesting stories from her childhood, living in Yianana as a Romaniot Jew. Our dear Chabad Rabbi, Mendel Hendel, dropped off some food for those not fasting, which woke us up a bit. Halfway through our walk to the Acropolis Museum, we suddenly realized that Nathan Orenstein had decided to stay a bit longer at the Jewish Museum, so our tour guide went back to get him. We managed to find him easily but since then we’ve gone through various buddy systems to ensure our safety. We then got to view the museum, which showed us examples of very interesting Greek architecture and ancient Greek statues. The structure of the building was indeed unique as the flooring of the 3rd level gave a whole new perspective of the people walking above (i.e. girls- be careful when wearing skirts and walking over the see through floors) After, we had a nice long bus ride a.k.a. nap time as we drove to the Restion (the most magnificent old age home we have ever seen). Upon the arrival to the Restion, the founder of the Hebrew home explained to us how he started the Restion and the care provided for all residence. Before we went to go talk to a few of residents we were given a tour of the magnificent building with a pool, a mikva, the gorgeous shul which was there because of his original intention of an only Jew residency. We all decided that we were all moving into the Restion. The people there were certainly living the sweet life. We then went to talk with the residents and hear their stories. 5 of the members were holocaust survivors and one man, Sam Nachama explained to us how his survival wasn’t an act of bravery but he was the victorious one who won for he had brought in the lives of his children and grandchildren. I got the opportunity to talk to Bud, a man originally from Ohio who served as a pilot in World War II. When Benji Friedman, Shookie Eisdorfer and I started asking questions, we came across a very emotional topic of his late wife and how they were married for 50 years, 2 months, and 22 days. The deeper we got into the conversation of how much he loved her and how happy he was, the more he cried and it came to a point I was crying as well. I couldn’t believe all he had gone through and how loyal I could see he was. He said, “When you meet the woman of your life you should always treasure her and love her because you know that there’s no other woman in the world like her.” The four of us stood there giving each other comfort. After spending a few hours there we said our goodbyes and headed back into town for us nice evening dinner. We ended up eating at a relaxing restaurant outside who so kindly served us kosher food. They had the music going and people dancing, it was only a matter of time before our whole group was up on stage adding in our own dance moves to the Greek music. Soon our night of excitement came to an end it was time to head back to the hotel. Along the way we picked up a stray dog, which we named Costas that walked with us and protected us from strangers that came nearby barking. We became very attached to the dog so it was very hard for us to leave him outside the hotel. It was such a relief to be back at the hotel, we had been told some of our bags had been found so we sprinted towards the luggage room. As soon as we got to our bags we all were so excited and some of us started screaming except for Isaac Gould whose bag wasn’t found. After such a long day we decided to unpack and somehow managed to fall asleep. We all were so pumped as we were looking forward to our fun relaxing cruise…

July 9, 2009: Elle Schiff: Day 1 (cont.)

Our adventures in Roma continued as we preceded through the airport, homeless and bag- less. We waited for hours outside the ticket counter, watching in awe as native Romans passed in their chic clothing and fancy Italian accents. Meanwhile, we attempted at making a few dollars on the side with the help of Nathan Orenstein’s acoustic guitar and several very off key players. We did however receive one donation… from the always-generous Marissa Cytryn. Finally, Rabbi and Aviva Tessler told us that we would be spending the day touring Rome while we waited for our 9:30PM departure to Athens (which of course was delayed another 30 minutes).

This was the beginning of the best day of my life. As we left the airport I felt as though we were stepping into a whole new country, continent, and culture. Crazy drivers and motorcycles swerved past each other missing each other by inches with no road lines or speed limit that anyone cared to pay attention to. Horns honking, breaks slamming, and yet people remained perfectly calm in their cars chatting with their girlfriends about the latest Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses and smoking cigarettes… lots.. Our cab was awaiting our arrival and picked us up, driving just as frantic as the others, was still leaning back to talk to us about our latest adventures and his history as a third generation roman citizen.

My first glimpses of Rome consisted of girls in too-high heels, tall men with piercings and tight clothes, cobblestone roads, small cars, and tall apartment complexes lining the roads with wet laundry hanging out the windows. However, for me it was picture perfect and reminded me of my childhood aspirations after seeing Hilary Duff in her infamous role in The Lizzie McGuire Movie, set in Rome, Italy. I stuck my head out the window, mouth open, and unable to utter any comprehendible sound other than the occasional squeal here or there. Our cab dropped us in front of an area stretching miles of perfectly in tact ruins, representing upperclass life during the Roman Empire. Before entering, dead ahead was a view I will never forget of perhaps the most famous piece of architecture of the Roman Era; the Colloseum. Unfortunately, due to President Obama’s unexpected visit (which our cab driver’s Italian accent led us to interpret the situation to be a “Bomb” threat), we were unable to actually enter the structure. We walked past palaces made for gods, and stopped at the Arc of Constantine, which is where the first Menorah from the 2nd Temple era is carved into the side with the Jewish slaves alongside. It is said that many of the modern interpretations of the original Menorah are taken specifically from this inscription. The detail of the buildings was astonishing and mind-blowing as we gazed at the incredible design and structure which were still standing after so many years. We continue our tour with a quick stop at the Jewish synagogue and a Glatt Kosher meal in the ghetto (where the Jews used to live) with real, and original Italian spaghetti and lasagna. The views were beautiful and I was taking in every moment. Rome may not have been built in a day, but there sure is a lot you can see in one. We finally arrived in Greece… only to discover… ((to be continued)).

July 9, 2009: Noah Zweben

Day of Departure + A little of Day 1

All was going according to plan as we boarded our flight to Newark. And then the flight attendant with the weird hairdo (a balding man with rasta braids which were tied into a knot on the back of his head) and a strange smell informed us that our flight was going to be delayed 1, 2 no 6 hours! To compensate us, we were offered free alcohol, which we politely declined after having an emotional and harrowing group discussion. Then the Indian people in front of us were locked in the bathroom (we were in fact relieved as the daughter was continuously rocking back in her seat and asking everyone around her if the napkins were edible and what her school plans were for the next year). After playing “Would You Rather” (written by jews) we discovered many new words, ideas, and theological concepts.

Since we were delayed 6 hours, we missed our connecting flight to Athens. So we went to the Continental lounge where the nice lady named Cherry gave us snacks and soda. We watched House and played “What Would You Be” as an icebreaker. Then the Tesslers brought us delicious deli, which apparently everyone said they liked. However the potato salad was not as popular. After the dinner, we caught our new flight which would take us to Rome (!!) and from there we would go to Athens. They had a lot of well-received movies such as “Hannah Montana: The Movie” (the group voted this their favorite), “Mulan”, and “Defiance”. Then we slept: Elle Schiff slept with a blanket over her head to block out the light of the TV. Staci slept with her mouth open, drooling. Gabe, who was placed in seat 16, far away from the rest of us, moved to our area in the middle of the night unbeknownst to the angry fight attendants. Nathan didn’t sleep.

When we woke up we were served delicious croissants that seemed to be fresh from a bakery. Later we were given forms to fill out concerning swine flu. Then we got off the plane. To catch our connection to Athens, we went through the most pathetic security that we had ever seen in our life. They didn’t even ask for our boarding passes! Later, much to our dismay, we realized that our connection flight had been slightly overbooked. However, we were not angry since we understand that everyone makes small mistakes: even if that mistake is overbooking a flight by 70 passengers.

When we went into the airport bathrooms, we were pleasantly surprised – it turns out that in Rome everyone gets to use the same washcloth to wipe their hands!

July 8, 2009: Aviva from Athens

We were greeted with a beautiful motorcoach bus that took us to our hotel in Athens. Saphira and Benjy from Ra'anana, Isreal were waiting with chicken dinners from the Chabad House.

The kids have been tucked into bed, everyone is laughing and really having a great time. It has become a kind of outward bound trip where we are all learning that we cannot be in control of everything and we just need to go with it and make the best of things.

We begin our day (a fast day) tomorrow at the shul in Athens. It was very touching today when we saw the arch of Titus, that depicts Jewish slaves being taken from Jerusalem at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple. On Shivah Asar B'Tammuz, we remember the Roman seige on Jerusalem. And thousands of years later, our group of 15 davened mincha out loud outside at a kosher restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto area near the main synagogue in Rome. It was very touching. Also, it was beautiful to see the boys putting on tefilin at the airport in Rome.

July 8, 2009: Photos from our impromptu trip to Rome, credits to Roni Tessler

July 8, 2009

Our wonderful teen group has landed in Rome. Their flight to Athens has unfortunately been overbooked and they are now only leaving Rome at 9:30pm to arrive in Athens at 12:30am. The tour bus will be there to collect them and take them to the hotel.
The great news is that they are going to find a kosher restaurtant to eat and do a tour of Rome this afternoon!
They sound amazing and were complimented by the ticket agent on the well behaved group that we know they are.

July 7, 2009

After much delay, the group will be leaving tonight to Rome arriving at 12:30pm and continuing on to Athens with expected arrival time at 6pm, July 8th. They managed to find kosher deli items and have all eaten. Everyone is in great spirits and doing so well.

July 7, 2009

Photo of the group leaving from Reagan National Airport, little did they know what they were heading for

Photo credit: Sharon Dekelbaum