Welcoming the Israelis

Welcoming the Israelis

By Jordan Schmidt, Bus 8 Participant Throughout our time in Israel, our entire bus has bonded, reinforced old friendships, and made new friendships that will last a lifetime. This week, we welcomed seven new members to our group: native Israelis. Something that I...
Kishrei Noar – Youth Connections

Kishrei Noar – Youth Connections

By Hannah Mink, Bus 9 Participant I wasn’t totally sure what to expect before meeting the Israelis. I was worried that it would make our whole group dynamic awkward, and considering that we started the summer not knowing each other I was even more worried. But as soon...
An intense four days 

An intense four days 

By Rebecca Wycoff, Bus 8 Participant For four days, a couple of my friends and I spent time on an IDF army base. The chavaya (or ‘choose your own experience’) that we chose was Gadna, an army experience designed for Israeli high schoolers. Gadna allows you get a sneak...
Meeting Our New Israeli Friends

Meeting Our New Israeli Friends

By Paige Wright, Maddy Cherry, Maya Greenstein and Kaleigh Silverstein, Bus 6 Participants This past Friday we had the amazing opportunity for eight Israeli teens to join our group for the next week. At first we were nervous about them joining us on our trip, but our...
Jewish Self Reflection

Jewish Self Reflection

By Evan Bazel, Bus 6 Participant I feel Judaism in America is a concept and practice plagued with superficialities and grey areas. Speaking from experience in both the Conservative and Reform sects, I can declare with the utmost confidence that the religion itself, an...