By Abby Every year around springtime Jews worldwide, and especially in Israel, celebrate three days: Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), Yom Hazikaron (Remembrance Day for Fallen Soldiers and Casualties of Terrorist Attacks), and Yom Ha’azmaout (Independence Day). Yom Hashoah is a really powerful day at home as well as here in Israel. At home, my […]
By Sammy Four months flew by in a flash. Four months in the holy city of Jerusalem. Though I’ve known we’d be moving to Tel Aviv the whole time, I didn’t acknowledge how immense a transition it would be. Two diverse cities, both melting pots of cultures and religions, yet at the same time, completely […]
By Sammy Self-confidence. Gratitude. Think beyond yourself. Don’t worry. Don’t be a victim. Master your mind. Over the last 5 weeks, Rabbi Dov Ber taught us these integral steps to happiness as part of his seminars. Through Seidel’s Jewish Information Center in Jerusalem, our program has had the opportunity to listen to the venerated Rabbi […]
By Sami The silence of the desert was so powerful that I could hear the blood rushing through my head. Only a single fly would occasionally steal my attention away from the awe-inspiring sunset over the canyon. Once finished with my accustomed ritual of squatting like an animal to relieve myself, I turned to walk […]
By Maia For the first two months of being in Israel, each week felt like a new adventure. My time in Israel wasn’t like my life back home where I had a daily routine. Instead, I spent two weeks in quarantine, one week living at a hostel near the old city in Jerusalem, and a […]
By Abby Everyone said that this year would be a new chapter in life, but it feels more like an entirely new book. At home, I was always the “mom” of the group, but here in Israel, it feels like I’ve started the life cycle anew. In the beginning of my program, I felt […]
By Abby To say a lot has happened in the last five weeks would be an understatement. I spent four days in the desert meeting 70 Israelis; I spent Shabbat at an American friend’s house; I moved into my apartment at the mechinah for our five day opening seminar; I went to my cousin’s house […]
By Maia The program I am on is called “Hevruta,” translating to ‘partners’ in Hebrew. As the only gap year program made half of North Americans and half of Israelis we are a bit of a social experiment. The Israeli Ministry of Health calls us an organic family because while we might not be a […]
By Sammy An integral part of life is conversing with new people, making first impressions, and forming relationships. While meeting people is always exciting, after bursting out of a two-week strict quarantine into a crowd of 300 Americans, Latin Americans, and Israelis, we were all a bit overwhelmed. Conversations were a bit slow to start. […]
By Sami Last May, I decided to start writing regularly in a journal so that I could improve my awful handwriting. Now that my penmanship has improved, however, I’ve started to notice the many other positive effects that journaling has had on my life since I started six months ago. Especially now, while on my […]
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