Israel remembers the Holocaust, pays tribute to its fallen, and looks forward to Independence day.

 The month of April is a very powerful and busy month in the Israeli calendar. Three very important days mark the calendar. Yom Hashoa (Holocaust remembrance day), Yom Hazikaron (remembrance of fallen soldiers), and finally Yom Haatmaut (celebrating Israel's independence). These days are important to commemorate the past, and to celebrate the present and future. On Yom Hashoa and Yom Hazikaron a siren is sounded, and everyone in the country stops what they are doing for one minute. On Wednesday I was raking leaves on the Kibbutz, when the siren was blasted from huge speakers. Everyone dropped what they were doing, and stood quietly. It was a moment of both sadness and unity on the Kibbutz.

 Tomorrow I will be heading to Har Hertzl in Jerusalem (which is the military cemetery), to hand out water to visitors, and visit a few graves. It should be a sad but powerful day.

 One grave I will be visiting is the grave of fallen American-Israeli soldier Alex Singer. Alex's life is the most inspiring story I have ever heard. Alex Singer grew up in Philadelphia, attended Cornell University, traveled europe studying Jewish history, and after making Aliyah become an officer in the Givati brigade.  Throughout his life Alex was constantly writing, sketching, and living by the ideals he believed in. In 1984 Alex was killed trying to save fellow comrades, while fighting Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. He was killed on his 25th birthday.

 Alex's drawings, letters, thoughts, and poems have since been compiled into a book called "Alex Building a Life: The Story of An American Who Fell Defending Israel." This book has inspired me in so many ways, because what Alex went through is very relatable to me and every young person. He talks about issues of homesickness, the meaning of life, Zionism, Judaism, love, and just being a kid. One thing Alex said told his soldiers that helped me, was that if they were to think only of their next visit with they families, then their tour would be very long and painful. Living away from home for nine months I have found this to be true; although it is fine to write and think of my family, I must mentally be here living each day to the fullest.

 Alex's message is to cherish each moment, and not just to think about things, but to actually put them to practice.

 Here is an excerpt from one of Alex's letter's to his brother Saul Singer, who is now the co-auther of the world famous book start up nation. Saul's daughter was also my camper this summer at Yavneh.

 "walking through a wadi in the middle of the night with a million stars over my head, and singing as I walk because I'm so content and so enjoying myself, and climbing mountains and looking over the desert, and seeing eagles and a huge waddling porcupine, and the goodness of the rest which always comes after a night of trekking with so much weight on my shoulders... I'm feeling wonderful and very much at peace with my decision to stay on.' -Alex Singer




 http://www.alexsinger.org/

People observing the moment of silence

Saul Singer's book about Israeli hi-tek

From Sea to Shining Sea

 I am currently on a train to Beer Sheva, which unfortunately means that Passover break is officially over. What a shame. But what an unbelievably fun break it was! I spent the first few days hanging out in Tel-Aviv where I ate well and did the Seder, went on a three day hike from the medeterianian Sea to the Sea of Galililea, and finishes it all off with a cruise to Cyprus. Where is the restart botton?

Sea To Sea

Organizing a three day hike through the forest takes a lot preparation, careful consideration, and of course the right people. For Yam Le Yam we had all of these things.

 After completing Shvil just last week, I wanted to put my newly acquired hiking skills to the test, and Yam Le Yam was the perfect way to do just that. I calculated exactly how much food we would need for the three days, and headed to Shuk Hacarmel to buy 30 apples and plenty of Tuna. Shopping for this trip was particularly difficult, because everything had to be Kosher for Passover. You would think that in Israel this should be no problem, but in fact in it is actually quite tedious, because as an Ashkanazi Jew (Someone from Europe), I am not allowed to eat rice or beans (Kitniyot), as where the Sphardim (Jews from the middle east) can. So even though it says “Kosher for Passover” on the packaging, I need to look extra carefully to see if it contains Kitniyot.

  Late Sunday night Jacob, Hersh, Danny, and I met up at the train station in Tel Aviv, and headed up to Naharia to start our hike. We all had huge bags (except Hershel), and at one point I got stuck in the turnstile trying get onto the train.

 From Naharia we hopped a 30 Shekel cab ride to Achseev Beach. On the way there Danny asked the female cab driver if the beach was safe to sleep at. “Someone was murdered there last night”, she told us. “Someone cut someone else’s ears off”. “Are you Joking!?” we all asked her. She then said in a very serious voice, “No, check the papers”. There was a good two or three minute where we all freaked out a little. Danny peed himself, and Hershel called his friends who were already there. Then the evil cab driver started laughing. What a crazy Woman. The next three days went like this:

Day One: We woke up at 5:45, packed up our tent, and started walking through some beautiful Banana fields. We soon noticed there were many other groups doing the same route as us. We left the Banana fields and hiked through Nachal Achsiv all day. We had to cross many streams. I became an expert rock hopper, but often we would slip and get our feet totally wet. It was awesome. We made it to the city of Ma’alot around 4:30, and went directly to a gas station to eat ice creams and relax. After eight hours of walking, nothing tastes better than a Kosher for Passover Magnum. We made camp in a public park, and geniusly found a way to place our tent on a platform, so we would escape the sprinklers in the morning. We finished our first day with an epic BBQ!

Day Two: The five kilometer walk on the high way actually wasn’t to bad. At around ten A.M. we entered an unbelievably beautiful valley, and ate breakfast. Because it is spring here, there are flowers everywhere and animals making some cool noises. We spent the rest of the day walking through a beautiful valley, until we arrived at the foot of Mount Meron. As we were climbing the mountain, a large youth group was making their descent. This slowed us down a bit, but each person who passed us wished us a Happy Holiday, which was something you can only get in Israel.

 After a very tiring and long day, we arrived at the mountainside town of Meron. Meron is where a famous Rebbi is berried, and people from all over come to pray at his toumb. Many people who follow the teachings of Rabbi Nachman hang out in Meiron, and are absolutely the nicest people ever. They believe in being happy, and blast loud techno music from large trucks, while dancing about wildly. They gave us some hot soup, and one nice guy gave us each a book of the stories of Rebbi Nachman.

Day Three: By the third day of our hike my feet were killing me, and I had many painful blisters. Luckily our journey was enlightened by a friendly Yellow Labrador, who decided to tag along for the journey. We named him Shvil, which means trail. On the final day I was carrying the tent, which made it very difficult to navigate through the windy and steep mountains of the Galil.

 After three and a half days of walking, we got our first glimpse of the beautiful Kinneret, and made our way through another Banana field. On our way to the finish line we spotted a group of Thai workers who are employed by the Kibbutz, slaughtering a pig for their new year. We left Shvil behind the gate, and watched as they expertly removed all of the organs. They said they bought the pig for 1,500 Shekels. Pig is definitely a rarity is Israel, but is not totally unheard of. In fact, it is actually not legal to raise a pig on the physical land of Israel, and so Israeli pigs are raised on platforms.

 Jacob pointed out that the shadows were getting longer, and we still weren’t so close to the Kinneret. We tried one path to the Sea, but because of the very rainy winter, the water had covered many of the access routes. We decided to walk through Kibbutz Ginnasaur, and made it to the edge of the Kinneret just as the sun was going down. The two Yeshiva boys were too timid to go Mikvaing (religious skinny dipping) in the Kinneret, but soon followed Jacob and my lead. The water was freezing, but it was absolutely beautiful! I think every time I swim in the Kinneret it makes me want to make Aliyah.

 We left Shvil sleeping on the side of the trail with two cans of tuna in his stomach, and caught a Sheirut to Tavaria, where we went to an incredible restaurant called Decks. We feasted on delicious stakes and hot sweet potatoes, while we discussed the positives and challenges of the trip. Danny tried grilled tuna fish from a can, Hershel learned to share things, Jacob tried to convince us all to become vegetarians, and I learned how to plan a trip. It was an unforgettable experience, and I recommend doing any sort of hiking next time you are here.   

The Tel Aviv Passover break scene from the Karas's apartment (shout out to Lynne and Steve for having me). When we were walking along the boardwalk to our seder we got some strange looks for wearing kippas. Never thought that would happen in a Jewish country.

Beginning of Nachal Achsiv

Danny enjoying his osier for passover Magnum bar after a long day

Our fortress

Hershel doin' work

 only 25 Kilometers to Meiron!

 Malibu's Israeli cousin Shvil.

Prayer break

Thai workers at work

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm

 After three long days we made it to the Sea of Galilee

 Picture credit to Maya Lee Perretz

 Victory dinner

Enough with the rockets

I’m sorry to have to write this post, but a rocket just fell on Eilat from the Sinai Peninsula. I was just there yesterday. It seems that there are people who still don’t want the Jewish people to live happily in Israel, and to celebrate our freedom. Unfortunately this is part of the reality here. This year has been the best of my life, yet at the same time I feel like I’ve been dodging rockets this whole time. Good thing we have the IDF to protect us. Once again, peace, love, and a happy Passover.

My man Obama breaks it down:http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/obama-wishes-jews-around-the-world-a-happy-passover-1.422887

http://news.yahoo.com/rocket-hits-israeli-city-near-egypt-border-104706012.html

A picture of Egypt I took yesterday. 

Sunrise over Jordan mountains, Akaba, Eilat, and the Bay of Eilat.

Shvil!Shvil!Shvil!

 Sixty percent of Israel is desert. There are two deserts, the Judian desert (which is named after the Judians who lived and fought there), and the Negev desert. There are many cities and towns in the Negev desert (Beer sheva, Eilat, Yerucham, Arad), but most of the land is either nature reserves or firing zones for the army to practice in. Before the State of Israel the Negev wasn’t very developed, however after Ben Gurian declared a state, he made a goal to “make the desert bloom”, which is exactly what happened.

  For the past one and a half weeks I have been hiking on the Shvil Yisrael (Israel National Trail), with around ten other Year Course kids (number fluctuating depending on injuries), our incredible guide Yoav, and another logistics guy named Tom. “The Shvil” is a famous trail, which starts in the greenery of the North, comes down to the coast, cuts right to Jerusalem, and then finishes straight through the deserts of Israel, and down to the party town of Eilat at the Red Sea. The Shvil takes about three months for a normal seasoned hiker to complete.

 Because this semester is centralized in the desert, we hiked the lower half of the Shvil.

 Week two (or one for me because I was in Poland), was a big circle around Sde Boker, the Kibutz that Ben Gurian lived at. A normal day of hiking started at 6 A.M. We would pack up camp, make breakfast, and then hit the trail by around 8. We would hike for eight hours, covering different terrain each day. It was very challenging and hot. Our guide Yoav was an amazing leader and kept things lively. He taught us different Hebrew words for farting, and taught us about nature.

 Finally at around four o’clock we would see Tom’s truck in the distance, with a hot pot of soup waiting for us. We would then put up tents, make dinner, hang out by the bonfire, and then go off to bed. But the day didn’t end there. Just when we thought we could sleep, we had to wake in the middle of the night for Shmira (guard duty), which lasted about one hour each night.

 Trekking through the desert was an incredible and life altering experience. The long hours of walking gives you time to reevaluate and think about anything. The terrain itself challenged me both physically and mentally, but each time I was able to achieve whichever goal set forth, whether it was putting up a tent or climbing a gigantic mountain. At a glance there is no life in the desert, but after spending some time there one will find much beauty in the simplicity of things. And of course you go to the bathroom, eat, sleep, don’t take showers, and live all in the wilderness.

 For the last week of Shvil we hiked from our Kibbutz through the Eilat mountains, all the way to Eilat. The views were incredible! We also hiked along a fault line, and saw many different kinds of rock.

 On the last day we woke up 3:30 AM, and followed Yoav through the darkness up a mountain. From the top we watched the sunrise over four countries (Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Israel), as well as the scenic Red sea.  What an amazing way to end the three-week journey. It was also very ironic to be walking basically through Egypt and then to the Red Sea (which is the sea that Moses parted), with the Passover story just a few days away. After breakfast we made the descent down to Eilat, and spent the rest of the day snorkeling.

 I’m off to Tel-Aviv for sports day, and then with Boston families for Passover. Over vacation I will be testing out my new hiking skills with my three best friends Jacob, Hershel, and Danny, as we journey from the Mediterranean sea to the sea of Galilee. And then to top it all off, a three day cruise to Cyprus! Happy Passover,

 Alex

Yoav peeing

Timna National Park.

Shmira Sunrise.

The Shvil symbol.

Canyoneering

Returning to Israel from Poland

Returning back to Israel from Poland was one of the most interesting experiences of Year Course. Our flight landed in Tel Aviv at around 4 a.m., and from there we immediately drove to Jerusalem to go the Kotel.

 It was still dark when we got there, and to be honest no one was really into it. People were done with the stress of the week, and just wanted to go back to their regular Year Course lives. Our guide, teacher, mentor, and father Allen stopped us at the Zion gate, and explained to us “that if this were any other trip we would just go back to our normal lives, but after the week we just had, we have the responsibility to bring all the stories of the lost soles to Israel”.

Walking down to the Kotel I started narrating in my head what it would be like for someone who had lived through the holocaust dreaming of maybe coming to Jerusalem one day, and was now doing just that. Every step was special. Seeing an Israeli soldier with long payot and a hefty M-16 for the first time almost made me laugh. For a whole week we saw pictures of Jews being murdered, while at the same time we ourselves didn’t feel entirely secure in Poland, with drunk guys pointing at our keepot and so on. All of the sudden it was just the opposite; a Chasid Jew holding a gun. Hitler(May his name be obliterated) would turn over in his grave if he could see that.

    

We all stood motionless in a circle in the Kotel promenade, Israeli flags waving all around us. Choking back tears the director of Year Course Adam told us how he had just met his old friend from the army, and that this moment was one of the most Zionistic moments of his life. After one week of seeing many sad things and never shedding a teardrop, hot tears rolled down my face. I was crying because a gigantic chunk of my people were murdered, and now their memories were with me. I walked to the Kotel and put my face to the 2,000 year old stones as so many Jews of do, and felt the future of the Jewish people on my shoulders. European Jewry was essentially wiped out in WWII. Now the focus is on Israeli Jewry, and of course American Jewry as well. It’s up to me; I’m it. Six million people are depending on me. The future of the Jewish people is in my hands.