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.