Just some photos before we come home!

Gabs' Closing Post

Gabez’s closing

2 weeks, 1 day and more or less 4 hours ago we landed in Israel. Since then we’ve been to Jerusalem, the Golan, the Negev, Tel Aviv and many sites and cities in between. We’ve hiked, swum, danced, learned and seen lots, and created tight bonds with new and old friends. It feels like we have only been here for a couple days, yet we’ve done so much. All of us are sad when we think about how there is only one day left of our trip, but who knows how much time that one day might be worth.

Two things that I have learned and seen on this trip seem emphasized to me over all the other lessons. The first is the value of a day. One single day, 24 hours, 1440 minutes, 86400 seconds, can be so eventful and meaningful. A person could say we haven’t had enough days in Israel, but I think we had enough days for the experience we needed. Each one was unique and exciting. Some we learned a lot, some we had a ton of fun, some we cried, and every one we had helped make our experience what it was. Without just one of those days, the whole trip would have been completely different, not as special. Thinking back, each individual day seems to have been so long even if the whole trip doesn’t. And tomorrow, being Shabbat, should be extra special. So instead of using the day to be upset about our departure from Israel, we need to put meaning and character into our last day, because if we do, just one more day here will be enough.

The second thing that’s stood out to me so strongly is the concept of all the Jews being one family. One of the first things Hadar, our tour guide, told us when we got to Israel was that she’s going to call us Mishpucha- family. Because from the first day of our trip until our last, we will be one big family. But that’s not it. We were family before and will be even closer family after. We’re a 12 hour flight away from our homes, but if we need family they will be here, whether we’ve met them or not. No matter where we go, if there are other Jews there we have family. All of B’nei Yisrael is a Mishpucha. So many people here welcomed us warmly, like family does. So our Shabbat song tell the truth- you’re never alone when you say you’re a Jew. There will always be another Jew to be with you. My classmates and the kids who came from Calgary are all my close Mishpucha now and we’ll miss each other terribly, but even in different cities we’ll be the same Mishpucha.

Well, this is it. The end of our amazing Israel experience has arrived. But we’ll make the best of our last Shabbat and day here, and stay as one family. I guess we’re a little bit happy to come back to Edmonton and see our families. And be in the snow that’s supposed to fall there on Saturday (let’s pray it doesn’t).

My last thing to say is a big thank you to Hadar for being the great leader of our Mishpucha and Moreh Ari for chaperoning us, giving us stickers and being the coolest teacher. You both made the trip awesome!

Our Day in Tel Aviv- Roey

After a scrumptious breakfast, we loaded the bus and drove north to the Palmach museum, were we experienced the lives of ten Palmachim, an elite group of Jewish soldiers that were trained by the British. We experienced many of their failures and triumphs and it was very powerful and meaningful.

Later we drove to Shuk HaCarmel, where we had over two hours of time to explore it. We ate lunch and bought many gifts and foods. Some of these items were even bargained for by the Israelis in training (us). Though it was very crowded and noisy, we all had an amazing experience and a great time.

We then drove south to Yafo, where we got out of the bus for an hour and a half and toured the old city. We went through many streets and alleys and we learned about the long history of Yafo. Our group also got the chance to go into an art gallery where we saw one of the smallest clay images and also archaeological remains. Finally we got to the old port where we took a few pictures and made our way back to the bus.

At the end of the day the Edmontonians organized a Shabbat evening. We had that meeting on the roof of our building and it was a lot of fun. For me and (hopefully) everybody else, it was another amazing, fun and interesting day in Israel.