Dear Parents,

Two nights ago as Shabbat ended, we made Havdallah with our brand new gigantic bus havdallah candle that we bought in Tzfat on Friday. It occurred to us that the next time we make havdallah after Shabbat together as a group it will be the day before we leave back to America – how quickly this trip passes by!

The bus as a group is doing so well – your children are all getting along as one big group! We change rooming every hotel and everyone is always happy to spend more time with people they haven’t met until that point. Everyone is excited about each day’s activities… and it’s been really fun!

Last week was so full that by the time we reflected on it on Friday night we needed everyone’s help just to recall what we actually did! We overcame increasingly challenging hikes at Nachal Hakibutzim, Jilabun, Zavitan, Hatsbani and more. Each one shows the group different shades of beauty that Israel has to offer. At one point we considered taking a friendly crab that we met for a bus pet. We decided against it.

We saw ancient cities like Katzrin and modern complexes like Aquakef water park and De Karina chocolate factory. We merged past and future with our amazing present of a trip. At Misgav Am and Ben Tal we saw the reality of the border conflict and felt the pain of our Jewish family who have lost loved ones when we met Elaine Hoter whose son was lost many years ago due to that conflict. We went to the holy city of Tzfat to feel the spiritual energy of a place built to find connection to a higher plane of existence.

In the evenings we bonded, played games, and learned together. This past week our major topics included the power of asking questions about the world, learning more about Shabbat, and the moral dilemma of prisoner exchange concept and what it means about our connectivity to our fellow Jews.

This week is going to be great, too, and I look forward to updating you more as we go along. Have a great week! Please continue to reach out to me if there’s anything specific you feel we can do to help your child have an incredible experience! Thanks!

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