Time for Electives!

Well, it's already time in the trip where the students split into three different electives lasting 3 1/2 days.  The first is Sea-to-sea in which the students will be hiking in the north of Israel for the entire time and reaching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galiliee.  The next group of students is involved in basic training (Gadna) in the Israeli army which is geared towards young adults to get a taste of the Israeli army, learn all about the IDF, etc. Lastly, another group will be participating in community service in a few locations.  Today the students did some activities, learned about kibbutzim, help build tables out of recycled materials and took a tour of Kibbutz Hannaton.  The Sea-to-Sea group did some hiking, swimming and will be up very early to hike and beat the heat.  (Most of the pictures in the next few days will be from Community Service, but will definitely be posting more on Gadna & Sea-to-Sea on Wednesday evening!)

Kibbutz Hannaton

Icebreakers

The mud house that IST 2012 helped build last year

Checking out the seats made out of recycled materials

Picking out trash for the tables

GADNA

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Shabbat in Nahariya & off to our electives..

Ah....catching up on sleep....after days of go go go, everyone had the chance to rest and sleep in for Shabbat.  Many students participated in a yoga/meditation program on Saturday morning to help clean the mind, body & soul.  We all took a relaxing day whether it was throwing the frisbee, going to the very rocky beach, time at the pool, basketball or just lounging around. We topped off the night with a havdalah all together as an IST community followed by a rousing gam of IST Trivia split up by our Family Groups!  No pictures from this Shabbat and the next few days will be minimal posts since our group is being split into three groups.  One group will be hiking from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee, one will be doing Community Service in the north of Israel and one will be doing basic army training (Gadna) and learning all about the Israeli army.  Stay tuned...

ISTer Blog Post
"The chance of landscape
switches in a matter of seconds.
This land which does this 
Lets people roam free
and when I hear
The praying and the silence
I realize why I'm here
for the history and to create new
history for future generations
I'm one of the few Jews in the world
I feel it when I feel the heat, hear the sounds, see the deserts, smell the different smells of each area, taste the food that we eat, and sense the future of this country as a peaceful place for all religions and people"  - Graham Epstein


"Having finished the first half of IST, I can already say that I am having the best summer of my life.  Israel has been absolutely incredible and the people here have been even better.  I have made so many new friends that I will keep relationships with for year to come.  Israel is much different than what I had envisioned it to be.  There is so much green here!  The other day we went to a nature preserve where we rode bikes and truly saw the beauty of the land.  Israel has definitely not disappointed and I cannot wait to see what the second half of the trip has in store" 
- Adam Butterman


"Israel, the land of my people, the land of my people's people and hopefully the same saga for generations to come.  IST has been extremely educational, I have acquired knowledge about Israel's history, agriculture, foreign affairs and other important aspects of a society in two weeks of just keeping my eyes & ears open and maintaining a sense of curiosity.  I never would have thought that I would've made these connections and bonds with my peers.  I'm extremely grateful" - Jason Miklin

Rosh Hanikra Caves, Acco & Shabbat

Today we left out home away from home for the last 4 days in the Alon Tavor Field School and headed up to the northern point in the western Galilee to Rosh Hanikra.  Rosh Hanikra are grottoes that have been formed by the sea and we had the chance to walk around the caves and seeing the waves crash against the rocks.  We learned about the area, chatted with an Israeli soldier who patrols the area and saw the beautiful view from the top.  From there, we went into the old port of Acco and had (what is supposed to be) some of the best hummus in Israel and it lived up to the hype with the line out the door of the restaurant.  We then toured around the Old City of Acco before heading to our next destination where we relaxed and had another special Shabbat service led by students followed by a delicious Shabbat dinner.

IST Poem - by ISTers Blake Sidon & Matt Gross
Intense
Sacred
Relationships
Awesome
Emotions
Laughing

Shawarma
Teamwork
Universe
Desert
Youth

Terrific
Outstanding
Uncleanliness
Religion

View near Rosh Hanikra

Tram that takes us to the Rosh Hanikra caves

Speaking with an Israeli soldier who works in the area

The famous 'Hummus Said' restaurant

Acco

SHABBAT AT BEIT KAY

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Biking, Hiking and Rafting

Today this beautiful day in Israel started off with a fantastic bike ride in the Hula Valley in the North of Israel.  We biked around the bird nature preserved and enjoyed the views and time all together.  From there we went on a short water hike and cooled off in the river.  We then enjoyed homemade pita pizzas and ate way too much since we were about to embark on rafting on the Jordan River.  Everyone enjoyed paddling down this special river, splashing, water fights, knocking some people off boats and especially just relaxing in the cool water of this river.  We finished off the day by going to the Naot factory and then back at our home base we celebrated a couple birthdays and some students watched the movie 'Syrian Bride'.

Excerpt from IST student on the Negev Desert Experience from a few days ago...
"We went to the Negev Desert for two days and two nights and I've never had a cooler experience. The hiking was definitely a "hot" experience.  We were all sweating so hard in places we never knew we could sweat but the rewards were amazing.  Watching the sunset and taking pictures in the dim light was so cool and different.  We arrived to to the camp site around 7:30pm and the sun was nearly setting over the desert horizon and the heat was fading on the first night.  I have never seen so many stars & constellations I can recognize as well as the occasional shooting star!   As I watched the stars underneath my sleeping bag, for a moment I forgot about the rocks jamming into my spinal cord which was indeed an Israeli miracle.

In the morning we hiked up a full mountain for a few hours that no one was expecting...at all, but it was incredible.  The climbing was frightening but easy to get used to.  We arrived at the desert springs and I actually threw off my sweaty clothing and jumped into the cool spring.  The rewards, once again, made the heat, sweat & exhaustion so worth it.   The Negev desert experience was my moment,"  - Sarah Kaplan

Entering the Naot Factory