Let Spring Begin!

Shalom

I hope everyone had a wonderful Pesach! The rest of my Pesach was spent up North with the group. After I picked up the bus in Tel Aviv on Wednesday we headed up towards the Kinneret for Yam L' Yam (Sea to Sea). Although we were technically suppose to hike from the Kinneret to the Mediterranean, we rarely saw the sea. The hike was condensed due to Shabbat. On our first day we hiked (waded) in water up to our thighs. We also helped prepare meals, as you can see by my photo. While I enjoyed hiking on Mount Meron, the evenings were pretty miserable. Even though it was hot during the day, it was freezing at night! I was not at all prepared for such cold weather, and sleeping(or lack of) in tents with only the sleeping bag they provided didn't help the situation. So, to say the least it wasn't the best three days of my life. Friday afternoon we ended our hike and headed to Kibbutz Hanaton for Shabbat and the rest of Pesach. Kibbutz Hanaton is the only conservative kibbutz in Israel and only has around twenty families. After going bankrupt several years ago, the kibbutz is now trying to rebuild itself in the Northern Galilee. I didn't really feel like I was staying on a kibbutz, but more like a close-knit community. During our stay at the kibbutz we went to the Kinneret Cemetery where the famous Hebrew poetess, Rahel, and Naomi Shemer, who wrote Yerushalyim shel Zahav, are buried. We also toured Tel Hai, which was important as an Israeli border outpost in 1918, and went kayaking. On the way back to Jerusalem on Wednesday we had "minority day" and met with Arab teens, visited a Druze village, and spent a short time at the Bai Hai Gardens in Haifa.

I was really happy to finally return to Jerusalem! While I love seeing other parts of Israel, the trips away from campus are always stressful with different roommates and so much time spent with all the kids. After three weeks away from the Chava, It felt good to get back into academics on Wednesday. On Thursday we went to Mount Herzl where we saw soldiers rehearsing for the Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) ceremony. Each unit, including the police, sends one soldier to represent its unit for the ceremony. It was really neat to see them rehearsing and setting up for the ceremony. Mount Herzl looked completely different. We also went to the multimedia museum about Theodor Herzl. In the afternoon we did a zionism project in which we discussed and learned about the different zionism movements throughout history.

This past Shabbat I went again with my friend Bri to Modi'in. First we went to the Shuk (Mahane Yehuda) Friday afternoon. It was so hectic and crowded! My Dad would have been in heaven with all the fresh breads and pastries. The rest of Shabbat I have been working on homework and AP prep. The tests are quickly approaching, and I need to do most of the prep on my own time, which I only have on Shabbat. Next week looks fairly calm with Yom HaShoah on Monday.

More to come next week!

See you all in less than two months!

Lots of Love!
חנה