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4/22/07 - Sunday   Hey y’all!  Right now we are on our way to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem. For Tidewater and NEMJDS, we will not return to the holy city again, but we know that we will always have memories of walking the Old City wall, visiting the Wailing Wall, and shopping on Ben Yehuda Street.. This morning (on Sunday, we think) Tidewater and N.E. Miles took a tour of Yad Lakashish, an institution for elderly immigrants of Israel. This organization gives these people something to keep them busy by providing workshops and stores so they can make and sell products as a team and earn a monthly salary, which lets them be independent. The Judaica items that we saw were so beautiful, not just because they were so well crafted, but also because they were made with love, care, and hard work. Afterwards we bought some of their items in the gift shop, and we can’t wait for y’all to see them! After that, we went to the Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem. The museum displayed videos of people telling what happened to them during the Holocaust. It makes us feel grateful to have food, freedom, and shelter. Near the end of the museum, there was a large circular room. Thousands of books surrounded us and in each book, Holocaust victim’s names were written. Over 3 million names were written down in total. At the end, there was a bright light shining from the nearby window which portrayed the Jews in the present in comparison to us during the Holocaust. After, we walked up stairs towards Mt. Herzl. There we saw many Israel soldiers’ graves and we even saw Hannah Senesh’s grave, who everyone from our school has read about in Hebrew class. (Hannah Senesh volunteered for the British army to help her fellow Jews in World War II. She became a paratrooper, but was caught and killed by the Germans.) We sang her most famous song (Eli, Eli) when we gathered around her grave.   Last Thursday was also a very busy day. First we started out with the archaeological dig where we hiked through a cave, dug for ancient artifacts in another one, learned about the sifting and processing  methods, and even got to take home a piece of ancient pottery from the digging site. All of this took place in the ancient city of Maresha, where there are many, many caves yet to be excavated. The coolest part was digging because it felt like we were actually getting to see these items for the first time in  many years. Josie found a handle and Remy found a bone (don’t worry – it was an animal bone, not human!), which was really cool. Holden and Nathan were especially intent on using the tools to dig deep.  For lunch we received coupons to get our own lunch at the Beer Sheva mall. Later we visited the Israeli Flight Museum, we saw many air crafts and learned a lot about the Israeli Army in general. We also learned that pilots are very respected in Israel because it takes 9 years of hard work to become one. Then we drove towards the desert to take a camel back ride and receive the Bedouins’ wonderful hospitality. To perk us up after camel back ride, the Bedouins gave us very sweet tea and bitter coffee. Then we enjoyed a traditional Bedouin dinner (but it was Kosher!) and slept at a nearby Bedouin campsite, where we had s’mores (a notably non-bedouin treat) and lots of fun sleeping in a traditional tent. There’s lots more to share—Sunrise Hiking and Tefillah at Masada, Shabbat Services planned by Ilana and Remy, the Yom Hazikaron commemoration at a Naval Base (Ethan, Sara, and students from each school read in Hebrew before a crowd of over 1000), and a daily dose of falafel, hummus, pita and some interesting looking vegetables most of which we’ve tried).  Mrs. Griggs is making sure that everything in these 10 days helps us appreciate and understand Israeli culture...we’re just hoping she’s not planning to test us.   With lots of love and learning, Ilana, Jared and Mr. Greenberg

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April 24th, 2007  Hey y'all, it's the NEMJDS Gang:             Monday was Israeli Independence Day (Yom Ha’atzmaut) and being in Israel for it has been so amazing! We are on the bus right now on our way to Cesaria. We just visited the Israeli Independence Hall where Ben Gurion first declared Israel as a Jewish State in 1948. Being there, especially on Yom Ha’atzmaut, was a really great experience.             Yesterday morning we got to sleep in! We woke up at 7:00. We drove about 20 minutes to Rosh Ha’ayin and met our pen pals. We went with them to their library and played some games to get to know them. It surprised us how well they spoke English! Then we split in to two groups:  Group 1: Amory, Holden, Remy, Ethan, and Nathan and Group 2:  Ilana, Josie, Sam, Sara, and Jared. Each group went to a different junior high school in Rosh Ha’ayin for their memorial service for Yom Hazikaron (Israeli Memorial Day). Both ceremonies had dances, poems, letters, and songs to commemorate the soldiers who died in Israel’s wars. Both of our NEMJDS groups read the poem, “The Silver Platter” in English and in Hebrew. Group 2 also presented the book about Birmingham our class made to “Hayovel” Junior High School. Then our whole class and our pen pals went to Rosh Ha’ayin’s Memorial Monument where we made two wreaths covered with beautiful flowers. WE put them in two different spots. The first one we layed at the monument and the second we layed at the spot where Rosh Ha’ayin was captured. We also ate falafel with our the kids from Rosh Ha’ayin. After, we went to Rosh Ha’ayin’s Kimerling Center, which represents the generosity of the Kimerling Family and Birmingham’s close relationship with our sister city.  We keep seeing old friends—Mrs. Goldstein, our Video Conference Teacher; Rabbi Ayala Miron and her Bar Mitzvah students, whose reform synagogue now holds a Torah given by Temple Emanuel of Birmingham; and native Birminghamian Michael Reagan, who has spoken to us about his time in the Israel Defense Force. Alabama has a strong presence here! On Monday evening, many of us walked the streets of Tel-Aviv to enjoy Independence Day Celebration…music, fireworks, and all kinds of lively activities (silly string and shaving cream seem to be favorites around here, and we were prepared). Our guide, Arik has a wealth of information and energy to keep us going for 18 hours a day…we may need a few extra hours to sleep when we get back, so be ready.  As always there is more to share than we can cover in an email—we are beginning to talk about the learning, to discuss with Mrs. Griggs and Mr. Greenberg the historical information spanning 2500 years; the cultural experiences, reflecting diverse groups like the Druze, Arab, and various Jewish traditions; and the social experience of exchanging with Israeli students, and speaking Hebrew with Israelis.  We are on our last two days…but the experience (and photos) will live on for a lifetime.             Ilana, Amory and Mr. Greenberg

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April 26th, 2007  Hey everyone in B’ham! We cannot believe we’re coming home tomorrow! Our days here have been packed, so we’re sorry we haven’t had that much time to write! We just visited and shopped at the Naot shoe factory in Israel. We’re on our way to Zefat right now, which we can’t wait to see. Last night we slept at Kibbutz Gonen , where we got to see what life is like on a kibbutz. We ate in their dining hall and Nathan and Jared even played soccer with some of the kids from the kibbutz. Even though we’ll see y’all in a couple days we want to share some thoughts about our trip so far:   Remy: “I am so happy that I have made a connection to the holy land! Most of all I made a connection to Jerusalem and the Western Wall.” Holden: “Closest to god I have ever been especially at the Western Wall.” Ethan: “This was a very exciting and memorable trip to Israel, which I hope will be the second of many!” Sara: “I think that it is cool that we have been able to go to all of the special places in Israel, like the Kotel and the Old City of Jerusalem, and I feel that it has been a wonderful experience…especially all of the shopping!” Josie: “I’m so happy that I got to go to Israel and feel more like a Jewish person. My favorite thing in Israel was visiting the western wall and shopping in all of the stores”. Amory: “Israel is so sababa (cool). I loved shopping in Zefat where there were tons of little street shops with so much jewelry”! Nathan: “I am very happy to be here in Israel, it is very cool. I loved the western wall because it made me feel spiritual.” Jared: “This trip was an incredible experience. It provided me with a new perspective on life and culture outside the U.S. I loved every minute of it and I hope to come back again soon.” Sam: “Now that I’ve spent time in Israel I feel more connected to my Jewish religion and people! I can’t wait to come back!” Ilana: “This trip has been so much fun, so meaningful, and it has made me want to come back many more times! The Israeli Independence celebration was great and it really showed me how amazing it is that we have Israel today!” Mr. Greenberg:  I have been inspired by the strength of the Israelis, who combine socialism and hard work to build a beautiful, diverse culture.  I have also been inspired by the range of Judaism that exists—from Sephardic Orthodox synagogues of Zefat, to the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem, to the new Reform synagogue in Rosh Ha’ayin—we have seen how Judaism has changed over time but remained strong throughout.  Of course, I have also been inspired by the students of our three schools, who given Tzeddakah and shown Derech Eretz like no others I have seen.   We will be leaving tonight from TelAviv…can’t wait to see our fellow students and families.   Lehit,   NEMJDS Students and Staff!