Mom and Nanny Arrive in Israel!

About a month ago, on March 7th, my mom and grandma arrived at Kibbutz Tzuba to visit me! I had class when they arrived, but I said hello very quickly. I ate lunch with my mom, then finished my day of classes. We had dinner in chadar ochel, then talked for a while in the Belmont to catch up on the past two months. We then went to bed to get ready for the tnext day!

March 8th: This morning my mom and Nanny came to my Hebrew class. They met my teacher Rivka, and all the other students. Rivka taught us songs that day and had us "interview" our relatives and tell a short story about them to the class in Hebrew. We ended with songs. Then we had Jewish History, which my mom and Nanny also came to. In BG's class we learned about different societies of a Jewish Community to prepare for our tiyul the next day. 

March 9th: Today we left very early in the morning for Belvoir. It was pouring rain! We walked around ruins and learned all about crusades. It was extremely wet and cold, but we weren't there for too long. We soon left for Tzfat, where we learned about Jewish Mystecisim and Kabballah. We went to two different synagogues there. We also went to their amazing candle factory and saw Noah's Ark and the Beit Hamikdash made out of wax. For lunch and dinner, we ate at two different kibbutzim along the way. We returned to Tzbua very late and I went to bed because I had school the next day. 

March 10th: Today parents were invited to our General Studies classes! My mom didn't come however, except to my world history class. Then, when I was done with classes, we headed off to our weekend in Tel Aviv!

End of the Week

Well, I have finally caught up on all my posting! I'm sure I left things out so I will probably be editing these last few posts as the weekend progresses. I'll just sum up the past week. It has been going very well. When we returned from Masada we switched roommates. My roommates are great, Shayna, Olivia and Melissa. Last week Shayna and I went to play some basketball on the court for a little. It was nice to get out of the room for some time. Our room is always super clean which is a nice change from last time. It has been busy but I'm still enjoying myself! A few days ago I had a Drs appointment in Jerusalem so on the way back Adi (my madricha) let us stop for falafel which was a nice surprise. Looking ahead...my mom and Nanny will be arriving next week! Well, less than a week away actually. Then in about 2 weeks we leave for Poland which I am really looking forward to. School is going well here. The days are long, but it is worth it and I'm learning so much. On a regular day I'm in class from 8:30am until 7pm then possibly SAT prep after that. Today is an extreme exception, where we had a tiyul in the morning, and I only have 2 classes which is nice. 
Just wanted to give a quick update as to what was happening! Check back for pictures!

Islam Tiyul

Finally all caught up to today! Today we woke up at 6:30 to have Thursday morning services. Yair led the service. At the beginning he taught us all about wrapping Tefilin. We learned exactly what it is, why men do it, and many traditions behind this act. After services we rushed to breakfast so we could get back to the rooms and head off to class/tiyul. During breakfast Sandra called me so we talked for a little while. I then went to class where 

Yael was my substitute teacher. Today we visited a Mosque so Yael taught us the background of the religion, Islam, for about an hour. She basically covered how Islam is similar to Christianity and Judaism, how it spread, and its basic beliefs. We then headed to the Mosque. At the Mosque the girls were given head covers to wear and we took off our shoes. We then went upstairs and listened the head of prayer speak to us about Islam and Muslim culture. 

It was a very interesting morning and I learned quite a lot. We then went to lunch in that neighborhood. It was a great lunch! We had pita, falafel, French fries and a variety of salads and some very good lemonade. It was best lunch we have had. “I had twenty pitas!” my roommate Shayna says J That pretty much describes how good it was. We then came back to Tzuba for classes, which I only have two of today J

Full Day Tiyul of the Week

Today we traveled about two and a half hours up north to Beit Shearim. We sat outside and learned about the development of Oral Law in the Jewish Tradition. 

We discussed Hillel versus Shemai and whose ideas we follow today. We mainly follow Hillel because it is his grandson who codifies the Amidah, consolidates Judaism, and establishes many other traditions to make the Jewish religion a unified one. We learned about Yehuda and his accomplishments and contributions. 

Yehuda is the man who codifies the Mishna, or decides what is Mishna and what is not. We went into some burial caves that had both Jewish and Hellenistic Art. We could tell the difference between the Jewish and Hellenistic because Jews are not permitted to have art such as animals on their stones, where as the Greeks and Romans were. 

We also saw many other ancient sculptures, such as one of a Menorah from Beit Hamikdash. These burial caves were a very desirable place to be buried, because the location was where the Sanhedrim sat, and everyone wanted to be buried by Sanhedrim. After this part of the Tiyul, we headed to a nice spring. Supposedly the water was about 80 degrees, but it was definitely colder than that. 

We got changed, had pizza and vegetables for lunch, and then went swimming. There was also a waterfall on the other side that we could play in. Swimming was fun and refreshing. We then got back on the bus and headed to a small museum that contained a mosaic. The mosaic had been very well preserved. 

We discussed what each item on the Mosaic symbolized then we went outside and split into our classes. In our classes we discussed our Jewish values. We played a game having to do with what we believe and what we would choose to do in certain situations having to with Israel or Judaism. We then went back to Tzuba to sleep after a long day!

The Weekend

Thursday night was a fun night. We went to the Mamilla Mall in the evening. It was an outdoor shopping center. It was fun to go to a new mall. It was a cool shopping center and I got some free pizza there. I didn’t really buy anything else but it was fun! Friday morning we headed back to Ein Kerem for our Tzedakah project. 

We went to some sort of ecological site and we helped them move stones. All 80 of us made a chain line and passed stones down to the end. I was pretty tired by the end, even though we only stayed until about 12pm. Then we went to the shuk! Because it was Friday, it was extremely crowded because everyone was there in preparation for Shabbat. It was overwhelming but they had really good food. I got some incredible strawberries. For lunch I had falafel. 

I didn’t buy that much at the shuk, just some strawberries and oranges, and a really good piece of pita that had zatar and some other spices on it. The food was good, but honestly I wasn’t too sad when we had to leave. We then returned to Tzuba to clean our rooms and get ready for Shabbat. After the service we had the option to go eat dinner, change, then watch a movie or go to the bomb shelter party. I chose to watch the movie. It was an Israeli movie in Hebrew with English subtitles called “Somebody to Run With” in English. After that, I was exhausted so I went to sleep. 

Christianity Tiyul

Today we headed off to a small neighborhood outside Jerusalem called Ein Kerem. It was pretty close to the Kibbutz. When we got there, we sat outside and BG taught us about the basic Christian beliefs and the similarities and differences to Judaism. 

We talked about parallels from the Christian Bible to the Torah. We also learned about Paul’s message and the split of Christianity from Judaism. We weren’t really learning about Christianity, but we were studying the evolution of the religion and how it became a separate belief from Judaism. We then got to see two churches. Both were Catholic but very different. The first was much smaller and the depictions on the walls were much more noticeable. We were told that by looking around the church one could easily pick up on the values expressed by Christians. 

At this church we started to talk about the story of Mary’s sister Elizabeth and her son, John the Baptist. Before heading off to the second church, we stopped for some very good ice cream. At the second church, we walked in while Mass was taking place. As we walked in, we saw the Eucharist, the holy water, and other holy items. We went outside, discussed what we saw, and then headed back to Tzuba to continue with General Studies for the rest of the day. 

Bar Kochba Caves

I know it has been awhile since I have last posted, but it has been so busy here! We have had quite a few Tiyulim and busy weeks. 

I will start with on February 22 we had a Tiyul to learn about the Bar Kochba Revolt. This revolt took place after a series of many other revolts after the destruction of the temple. In 135 BCE Bar Kochba (known as “son of stars”) was thought to be the Messiah. This took place because Jews were not happy under the rule of Hadrian who was turning Jerusalem into a Roman city called Aleia Capitolina. At first the revolt goes well for the Jews, as the Romans are taken by surprise. 

A sign to us that this revolt was going well is that Bar Kochba mints his own money, which is a sign of sovereignty. It took the Romans three and a half years to put this revolt down, but when they did, it was not pretty for the Jews. The revolt is described as a huge tragedy according to Jewish sources. 

So what were we doing on this Tiyul? We were crawling through caves! During this revolt the Jews and Romans used caves as part of their warfare. The Jews would run through these tiny caves with Romans chasing after them. These caves were extremely small. I mean extremely extremely small. They were also very dark that even with a flashlight it was difficult. I personally didn’t really enjoy these caves. But it was cool to go through them and get a hands-on idea of what the revolt would have been like. After the caves we talked about the wild asparagus that grew where we were and we even got to eat some. 

Then we walked up to a “pyramid” on the site. Apparently it is the only thing of its kind to be found in Israel. I wouldn’t quite say it was a pyramid, but more like a lot of stones on top of each other. Then it was lunchtime! We had a great lunch consisting of pita, schnitzel, and various vegetables. It was very enjoyable. 

We then got on our buses and headed to the Beit Guvrim Amphitheatre. This was in one of the major Roman cities in Israel and it was used for Roman activities such as fights, theatre, and basically just entertainment. We learned about Roman leaders and great Jewish leaders of the time period. At the end we played a little game in the amphitheater, then we headed off to our next destination. 

We had a hike up to a nice spot with a great view. I’m not exactly sure where we were, but there were lots of beautiful flowers native to Israel. When we were done there, we headed back the Kibbutz. 

Relaxing Sabbath and the Return to Kibbutz Tzuba

The next day I stayed back with a small group of people and rested. We didn’t really do anything but I definitely needed the time to relax and recover after the long weekend. Of course we had services in the morning though. Later we had dinner and Havdalah, then got back on the bus to return to Tzuba! When we returned we found out our new roommates for the next month and moved in! This time I took a front room and I think so far I like it better. My roommates are nice and I’m excited to get to know a new group of people! Off to a long week of school!

The Incredible Climb!

Today was possibly the longest day of my life; but a great one as well! First off, we woke up at 4am, got dressed, and met outside the rooms to make sandwiches. I made two chocolate sandwiches. One was for breakfast and the other for at the top of Masada.

We were all so excited so it didn’t even feel too early. We then started on the hike! We took the snake path, which is the harder of the two, up the mountain. At first it was completely dark so we had trouble seeing where we were going and what was up ahead, so that made it difficult, but over all the hike was great. We made it to the top with plenty of time until sunrise. We took tons of pictures with the great view. When the sun was about to rise, the Madrichim called us over. 

We sat in a big group and watched the sun rise from the top of Masada. While it rose we listened to an Israeli song. It was probably one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. I’m so so so happy we made it up for the sunrise. It was really unlike anything I had ever seen. After the sun was up, we gathered for Tefilah. The Tefilah was almost magical. Just to be standing on top of such an important place, at 6 in the morning, all together, knowing that we accomplished the hike, it was just a great feeling. 

Alli and I

After Tefilah we split into our Jewish History groups to explore and learn all about Masada. We saw the remains of Herod’s palace and the ancient mikvahs. We learned about the Zealots and how they decided to take their own lives instead of being enslaved by the Romans. The coolest part of Masada was we got to see a Torah Scribe writing the Torah. We watched him write the Torah! We learned that if he messes up spelling God's name, he has to start the entire page over. I learned a lot on top of Masada. When we were done with our lesson we took the snake path down. 

Elana, Dani, Lizzie, Aubrey,
Alexa and Josia

When we got to the bottom I was so tired and hot so I got ice cream. We then got on the bus and headed to the Dead Sea! When we arrived we were each given a bag with lunch in it and we had to go change. David was nice and bought us some of the Dead Sea mud. We all had so much fun putting the mud all over ourselves. After I was covered in mud, I headed into the water! 

Emily and I 

Stacy and I 

It was so much fun to just we floating around with everyone. I stayed in for quite awhile but then it got uncomfortable so I got out to rinse off. After the Dead Sea we drove to the next place we were staying. We settled into our rooms and had Shabbat. 

Rebecca and I 

Becca and I mud- high fiving

Floating!

After dinner we had 5 programs we could choose from. I chose to go to Tal. Tal was having a discussion on the difference between Israeli teens and American teens at our age. We learned about the school system here and talked about the army for a while. Israelis go into the army at the same time we are going off to college. Tal also told us that at the end of EIE we will know more about the history of Israel and the Jewish people than 60% of Israelis. After Tal’s talk I was exhausted so I went to sleep. 

Leaving Tzuba for the Weekend!

Our long weekend of Tiyul began this morning! We put our bags on the bus and headed off to the old city. We met by the Kotel where I found out my teacher was not here again so Baruch taught our class. He took us to the Southern Wall excavations. There we learned about the stones used and the importance of Beit Hamikdash. 

We walked up the steps that the Jews would walk down as they left the temple. We learned all about the mikvah and what it is used for. Baruch told us how Shavuot, Sukkot and Pesach are the three holidays that we are commanded to make a pilgrimage to the temple and Jerusalem was so crowded during these holidays even though Pesach was the most popular. On a side note, Baruch also informed us that the fax machine was invented in 1932. 

After, Baruch let us climb through one of the excavations, which was like a maze. He didn’t come with us so it’s a good thing it opened on the other side. Then we walked to the Jewish quarters for lunch. I got a bagel and cream cheese, then some ice cream. It was all very good. After lunch the Tiyul continued. We went into a museum that displayed the basement of a house. We could see the mikvah. We also saw lots of pottery from the time period. 

Then we sat down for about 45 minutes to discuss how each sect of Judaism felt about Hellenism. Baruch then left us so we waited about an hour for the other groups to be finished. Once the groups finished we got on the bus to start our 2 hour ride to Masada! 

When we arrived we got new roommates and got to get settled into our rooms. We ate dinner quickly, spent some time outside, then went to bed extremely early to get ready to wake up at 4am for the sunrise hike!

Israel Museum!

It has definitely been one crazy week we just finished! We took our first Jewish History exam last week so Sunday started a new lesson. In honor of the start of our lesson, we had a Babylonian Bash for the first part of Jewish History class. 

We learned about the exile to Bavel and what happened to the Jews.  For the remainder of the week we learned about the Hellenistic Era, Greek influence, and assimilation of the Jews under Roman rule. On Wednesday we took a halfday Tiyul to the Israel Museum! My teacher couldn’t make it so I was put into Ariella’s group. The museum was outside and it was cold and windy, but still cool.  The museum was a model of Jerusalem under the rule of King Herod. It was pretty cool to get to see exactly what archeologists believe Jerusalem looked like. 

The Beit Hamikdash was incredible. The model of the temple really gave me a sense of how small the Kotel really is. The Kotel looks gigantic when you are standing under it, but in comparison to the whole temple, it is just a small piece. We learned about the four sects of Judaism and how they responded to Hellenistic influence. 

We then learned about the Dead Sea Scrolls which were left from a Jewish Cult of the sect Essenes. This sect died out because they did not allow women to live with them. They believed the messiah was coming any day, and women would be a distraction. 

After the Dead Sea Scrolls, we got a snack and got on the bus to go back to Kibbutz Tzuba. When we got back we had a regular school day. The evening however was not so regular! We had to be completely packed and have all of our stuff moved out of the rooms by 10:30pm and have a small duffle bag packed for the weekend. Our room looked so empty. When we returned to Tzuba we would be switching rooms!

Shabbat! Relaxing finally...

Finally Friday came along! Well, we usually don't have school on Fridays, but this week had our first Jewish history exam in the morning. The exam took 3 hours and was not fun at all. After the exam we got a nice break to relax before Friday night Services. After services we had our activity which was all about Hebrew phrases and teaching us more Hebrew. I didn't feel like going to the party in the bomb shelter so I stayed in my room with some of my roommates.


Saturday morning I didn't wake up until 10:30. That is crazy late. I had some yogurt and granola before heading off to services. Around 4pm we had a group study session with Baruch in honor of Avi Schaefer.


We then headed off to Jerusalem for the official memorial service for Avi Schaefer. Avi's brother Noah is on EIE with us, and his brother Yoav came to talk during the study session. The service was very nice but extremely sad. Even though I didn't know Avi, the speeches and pictures did an amazing job at conveying what kind of person he was and how he truly impacted other peoples lives.


After the service we got back on the bus to head back to Tzuba. I had to finish some homework before going to bed.




Today was a regular day. School school school and more school. Oh wait and SAT prep tonight. We have a full next couple of days but I am looking forward to climbing Masada at the end of the week!

City of David

This morning we woke up early to get ready for our first all day tiyul! We took a 15 minute bus ride to the Old City of Jerusalem. We first stopped at a beautiful overlook. 


We could see the Dome of the Rock, El Akza (one of the major Muslim Mosques), and three different churches. The Dome of the Rock is the site where the Binding of Isaac (from the Tanakh), where Mount Moriah is located,and where Mohammed talked to God and ascended into heaven. 


According to Jewish tradition it is also the first site God created when he created the world in the book of Genesis or in Hebrew, B'reisheit. This site is important to so many major religions and it was a beautiful view. We sat down against a wall and had our Jewish History class. We read about the story of the prophet Samuel and King Saul. We also read about Hannah and Bat-Sheva. 


Then all the Jewish History groups got together and we circled up around the view of Jerusalem and recited a prayer called Mincha. This is just one of the three prayers Jews are supposed to say everyday. It was a great experience to be praying as one group while looking out at the Old City of Jerusalem, one of the most holy places you could ever be at. The prayer ended that portion of class and we got on the bus and headed off to the Jewish Quarters.


In the Jewish Quarters we were each given 25 shekels and about an hour for lunch. I got pita and falafel which was very good. Then it was freezing cold so I got a hot chocolate. 


We then walked around and got ready to walk to the City of David. 
Here is a little Biblical Information about David:
David became the hero in the eyes of the Israelites. Originally he was hired to play the harp to make King Saul feel better. As David got older, he became a competitor of Saul's for the spot as King. When Saul died in a battle against the Philistines, David became King. The most interesting thing we learned was that there is actually no archeological proof, besides one piece of pottery found far away, that a guy named David ever existed. Although we still do not know if David was real or not, this site was incredible and seemed so real. 


We sat down outside and discussed why Jerusalem was picked as the capital. We learned that Jerusalem was located in the center of two of the tribes, so neither tribe could claim it. Also, Jerusalem is geographically in the center of the country of Israel, just as Washington D.C. was geographically in the center of the original 13 colonies. 


In the Tanakh, it states that Jerusalem was conquered through its "Sinour" or in English, water channel. However, the word means "pipe" if directly translated from Hebrew to English. 


We then explored this site in the City of David. We crawled through excavated tunnels and looked in caves. These were excavated in desperate hope of finding proof that David existed. From the platform at this site, we could see the Russian Church and "Mountain of Olives" which is a very important graveyard. The graveyard is important because tradition says that when the Messiah comes, these will be the first people resurrected. 


We also could see an Arab Village which is land that everyone fights over. 


After this adventure in the City of David and the Old City of Jerusalem, everyone was extremely exhausted and tired. We came back to Tzuba and relaxed before dinner, finished up homework, and we are getting ready for a full day of school tomorrow. 

Sataf....School...So Much to Do!

Monday--


This morning we took a 2 minute bus ride to an agricultural site called Sataf. At Sataf we had class outside with a nice view. In class we learned about the Exodus. We discussed the religious aspect of the Exodus and how that is possibly the single most important event in Jewish History. We also discussed the Triangle of Jewish History. The three points of the triangle are people, land, and Torah. At Sataf, we discussed how the Jewish people achieved all of these. 


After the lesson on the Exodus, we took a nice hike through Sataf. We saw agricultural terraces, and olive trees. We also saw pine trees which we learned are not native to Israel, but the JNF used the money people has donated to plant them. This has now changed and they have started to plant trees that are native to Israel. 


We sat down above the terraces and read some more Tanakh. We read the book of Judges and acted out plays of each story. We saw how each Judge got progressively worse and therefore the people asked for a king. I was in the story of Samson. 


We then got to see the water source at Sataf. We crawled through a long dark tunnel, and then it opened up into a bigger cave. The cave was pitch black so luckily we all had flashlights. We then got to drink the water in the cave which was flowing directly from beneath the Earth, and therefore it is the freshest water around. 


We then returned to the Kibbutz and had general studies classes. After classes we had a group activity about the 7 native species of Israel. The 7 species are wheat, barely, olives, grapes, dates, pomegranate, and figs. The game was...two people come up to the chair and get blindfolded, then they get fed one the foods and they have to be the first to guess what they ate. If they get it right, the team gets the whole box.  It was a fun night. 

Shabbat...Reading Torah...Emma Visits!

This morning I woke up early, went to Shabbat breakfast, then practiced my Torah portion. I was getting ready to chant three aliyot or 9 verses. Noa got me the sheets without vowels after breakfast and I went back to my room to practice. 

We held services in a new location on the Kibbutz. Baruch was not here so the Rabbi who is the director of NFTY in Israel led the service. I was called up to read from the Torah and I chanted my three aliyot. I was nervous but it went very well and the Rabbi told me I did a great job. 


Around 4pm Emma Peabody came to Kibbutz Tzuba with her boyfriend Ilan. For those of you that don't know, Emma is a good family friend from New Jersey. Emily and I gave her and her boyfriend a tour of Tzuba then we went down to The Belmont to chill with them. Noa also knows Emma so she soon joined us. It was really nice to see Emma because I haven't seen her in a while. Of course the first thing she said to me was "you look just like Sandra!" I've been getting that quite a lot on this trip. 

Emily, Ilan, Emma and Alexa

I actually had a lot fun with Emma and to my family--she says hi and she misses all of you! When Emma left we went to the Zula for Havdalah. It was a nice service and very different than anything I have done in a while. It was very camp style. Now I am in The Belmont finishing up homework because school starts tomorrow!

Soup Kitchen....Friday Night Services

Friday morning we headed off to various Tzedakah sites. I went to a soup kitchen in Jerusalem. When we got there we watched a video about hunger in Israel. We learned that one in three children are below the poverty line in Israel. We also learned that many immigrants from the Holocaust have a hard time finding work and therefore have to choose between a loaf of bread of their daily medications. The soup kitchen we went to also provides a free dental care and helps the community get jobs. It is a really cool organization and I'm really happy I had the opportunity to help out there. 

We worked in the kitchen. First we peeled and cut potatoes, then tomatoes, then cabbage. There were other people working in the kitchen from Finland and The Netherlands. We were supposed to go to the shuk after the soup kitchen but it was raining so instead we just came back to the kibbutz. We ordered pizza for lunch which was fun. We split up into groups for Friday night services. I went to re constructionist temple led by a young man who actually participated in EIE in 1994. The synagogue has no rabbi and it consisted of a lot of discussion and music. I didn't really enjoy it, but it was an interesting experience. 

We returned to Kibbutz Tzuba for group song session. After song session Noa asked me if I wanted to read Torah in the morning. *Note it was about 9:30 at night at this point. I said I couldn't because I didn't remember it so then Lior pulled up my portion on his Iphone and I practiced for hours.

 Lights out was at midnight so Noa came to my room to check how it was going. I read for her and she said I would be ready for the morning. I practiced a little more for my roommate Rebecca, then went to sleep. 

Malcha Mall!

Today was a a pretty regular day. I woke up at 7:50 and had to be at breakfast by 8am. After breakfast I had a Hebrew test then Jewish history where Baruch (the principal/director) was our substitute teacher.


After classes we got on our buses to head off to Jerusalem to the Malcha Mall! We had about two hours to roam around and get everything we needed. I didn't buy anything. We walked around, a bunch of people got falafel, and basically just explored.


No school tomorrow! I will be heading off to the Jerusalem Soup Kitchen then we have Friday night services at various synagogues in Jerusalem. It should be a fun experience!


No pictures from today...But my madrich (counselor) Lior wants everyone to know that he wore his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shirt today. He is now reading my blogs as well. So Hi Lior! 

Tell Gezer Tiyul

View of Carme Yoseff

This morning we got to wake up at 6:30am and be on our buses and ready to go by 7:25am. We were headed off  on a 45 minute bus trip for our Jewish History field trip to an ancient city called Tell Gezer. When we arrived at Tell Gezer, there was a village to our left and it just so happens that is the village where my madrichim Adi grew up. When we arrived we broke up into our Jewish history groups and went over the homework we had and talked about the geography of Israel based off of what we could see. From the top of the Tell (an artificially made hill that is flat on the top) we could see Tel Aviv in the distance, mountains, the only cement factory in Israel, and the village Adi is from called Carme Yoseff. It was a really beautiful site. 


Here are some quick facts about Tell Gezer--

Replication of the stone the ancient Hebrews
in the time of King Solomon wrote
on.

We spent a lot of time discussing how we actually know this place is Gezer. First of all, the Tanakh mentions Gezer quite a lot. Some other hints were ancient pottery chards, ruins, and the fact that it is located along a trade route. At the site, we walked down a large amount of steps to see a dug out tunnel that goes 40 meters below the ground and the goal was to reach ground water. A lot of the tunnel is gone due to cave ins, however it allows us and archeologists to know that this society was technologically advanced. We then saw the ruins of the Gate of Gezer. We learned that the gate is the weakest line of defense and was located at the lowest point. We also saw the remains of the guard tower and the wall and learned why they were in place. Only the rich could afford to live within the walls, so many people, such as Abraham, lived just outside the walls in Bedouin tents. 

Walking down the water source

We also learned about an interesting man named McAlister. McAlister did the original dig at Gezer because his goal was to prove that the bible existed. What he discovered was that he saw the same kind of stone with the same writing on it from everyone the Hazmonian (Maccabees/famous for war with Greeks) had been. What archeologists later learned was that this writing was actually from the time of King Solomon in 1000 BCE. What this means is that the Jews were actually in Gezer 1000 years before McAlister had estimated. 


We also learned about the replication stone we saw when we first walked into Gezer. The stone had writing in old Hebrew on it, and it was a sign the the Jewish people were teaching everybody to write, not just elites and priests. We also learned all about sacrifices and what to sacrifice to the gods. It was a very interesting field trip. Pictures to come...


We got back to the Kibbutz just in time for general studies courses. I have English today, which I only have twice a week, and SAT prep which I also only have twice a week plus all of my other classes. After SAT prep I will be going to Noa for math tutoring. Tonight we have our regular agenda. We meet somewhere for announcements from the Madrichim and group time. 

Close up of water source

Remains of the Gezer Wall

*I just got back in my room for the night. The evening was good. At dinner I talked to my madricha Nicole because I've never really talked to her before. She's really cool and she came to room today. I also had SAT prep and it turns out Noa is my teacher! So after prep she helped me with math again. I also got to skype with Sandra tonight :)

And family....Judy from EIE says hi! and she says I look a lot like Sandra and when I said I was Sandra's cousin, she goes "Oh from California!" so she definitely knew who I was. I talked to Judy for a while before we went back to the Kibbutz. Just so you all know, she really loves Sandra :) 
I am off to English class! But pictures are to come soon!

Western Wall and Ben Yehuda Street

Stacy, Rebecca, Alexa and Natalie

Alexa and Emily

Alexa and Josia

Alexa and Leah

This morning we had a very nice Shabbat service before relaxing for the day and taking a tour of Kibbutz Tzuba, where I will be living for the next four months.

After this, we went into Jerusalem and took a nice walk to the Western Wall. The Western Wall (or the Kotel) is the wall protecting one of the outside walls of the 2nd Temple. When we got there, we split men from women and boys from girls. At first we were not allowed to take pictures because it was still Shabbat. About 15 minutes later, all the women stood on chairs to watch the Havdalah service on the mens side. After the service was over, we were allowed to take photographs.

We soon left the Kotel and drove to Hebrew Union College for the Debbie Friedman Memorial Service. The service consisted of an abundance of Debbie's songs along with readings from some of her friends.


We next walked to Ben Yehuda street! We each got 25 shekels for dinner. That is about $7. I got half a schwarma pita sandwich and a Fanta. Israel is where I had my first Fanta when I was 11. Then a big group of us went and got ice cream from Max Brenners and just walked around the street. It's a really cool street. It was a lot of fun and I met a lot of new people in our group and bonded with them. We then returned to Kibbutz Tzuba to celebrate Havdalah. It was a nice service.

Schwarma!

Then we went to bed to get ready for school. Today was full day of school. It went pretty well. Hebrew class went really well. I learned 9 letters, 3 questions, and 4 sentences. All my classes are great except math is very difficult. But luckily Noa (one of the madrachim) took me to her room and helped me with my homework and told me to call her anytime. Now I'm down in the Belmont just hanging out! Another full day of school tomorrow...

Alexa and Emily with Schwarma and Fanta!

First Kabbalat Shabbat

Lighting Shabbat candles

Emily and I on the way to the Belmont

This evening was my first Kabbalat Shabbat in Israel. First we went down to the Belmont to light the candles as a group. Then we headed up to the hadarochel (dining hall) to say Motzi and Kiddush before eating dinner. 

After dinner we went back to the Belmont for our Oneg, which consisted of Battle of the Sexes Jeopardy game. It was pretty fun and we learned quite about our Madrichim. Adi (one of the Madrichim) brought me a chocolate spread sandwich, which was super good. Well she brought me two, but I only ate one. Then my key wasn’t working so Noa fixed it for me, which was good.

Madrichim leading Battle of the Sexes

 After the game Hadas told us we could go to the party the Israelis were having in a bomb shelter. It was basically a bomb shelter with loud music playing and a disco ball and crazy dancing. I stayed till about 11:30. Then I came back to my room and Lior came in to make sure we were getting ready for bed but he ended up staying to chill with us. We don’t have a lights out time tonight…so we are just hanging out still. Tomorrow breakfast is optional but its supposed to be a very special Shabbat breakfast so I am going to go at some point before morning services.

Tiyul!

Alexa and roommate Stacy

Alexa and Madrachim Lior

This morning we got up super early for an archeological dig. This is our first Tiyul (field trip.) We drove about 45 minutes. When we got to the caves we stopped at a fully excavated on that had no roof. This cave turned out not to be a cave but a contraption for making wine. The water flows from the top into one hole where all the dirt comes out, then it flows down into another hole and is clean. The grapes are crushed at the top so basically it is grape juice. 

How we learn

The Cave we dug in

The second cave we went to was also fully excavated and we learned that is was a Jewish burial site from the 2^nd burial time period (about 2000 years ago). Next we went to a non excavated cave that we had to crawl through! It was extremely dark and small. We learned that those caves were from when the Romans were in charge of Israel and the Jewish people revolted. The Romans were imposing pagen ideas in the state of Israel and that is why the Jews revolted. At first the revolt was working but in the end, it didn’t work out. The cave had so many holes and it would be pretty easy to get lost. Next we went into a cave that we started to excavate. This cave was 1,700 years oldWe took buckets and shovels and started to dig. 

Alexa with a skull of a dog

Next came sifting through the sand that we dug up. When sifting we found important items for dating such as pottery chards, glass, handles of pottery, coal, and I even found some bones. As we sorted the items we found, a bunch of us found a skull! I picked it up and identified it as a skull because of the ridged swiggly lines on the bone. I asked the guide, David, who said it was most likely from a dog. Then we went to see the Byzantine burial cave. It was different from the Jewish one because it had to columns in the middle with crosses engraved on the top. 

Excavating the caves!

The guide also gave me the mandible of a goat or camel to take home J so it’s in a plastic bag in my room. 

Alexa and Emily in the caves