Field Day & Special Needs School

Community service - we started off our day by heading to the city of Afula.  There we went to Beit Yuvalim which is a special needs school for children.  We continued working on the mosaic that the ISTers last year worked on.  After a few hours of putting together the mosaic, we took a tour of the school and then had the chance to interact with some of the students.  They performed a song all together and then we all joined together in fun songs and most of us received some amazing smiles and a few of us even received some hugs.  After finishing up at the school, we returned back to Kibbutz Hannaton where we viewed the movie 'Pay It Forward' and talked about in Judaism what it means when we say when you save one life, you save the world.

Gadna update - Today the kids participated in Field Day, meaning they learned how combat soldiers work in the fields. For example, they practiced crawling on the ground soundlessly while carrying their equipment. The kids then learned the importance of camouflage as they rubbed dirt all over their faces in order to blend in with the nature around them. One mefakedet, or commander, even made the kids put dirt on their teeth.  They even ate canned foods for lunch and dinner taken straight from a real army base-delicious Halva and Tuna sandwiches. Afterwards they competed with the other platoons on who could build the most successful shelters using only rocks and leaves. To wrap up the day they went on a hike to use these techniques that soldiers use while in the field. Overall it's been a great day and the kids feel very proud of themselves!

Sea-to-Sea Update:  So far the group has had a fantastic time hiking in the Galilee.  They have gone nearly 23 miles on foot and will hike some more tomorrow and have the chance to dip into the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) to complete their trek across the north.

With a little help from my friends...

Community service participants started off the day by heading into Karmiel to the Pitchon Lev food bank.  The students put together boxes & boxes of food for the needy in Israel.  In addition some of the other students were sorting clothes in a goodwill center getting them ready to be sold.  From there, the students went to MAS Karmiel where they had the chance to work with adults with special needs.  The students helped immensely on the work that the adults at MAS Karmiel were working on and enabled them to make more money since they helped produce more items needed.  The students had the chance to laugh & smile with the workers and took a wonderful picture all together.  This facility has only been open for a month or so and the students felt honored to simply be there. Below are pictures of Community Service and some from Gadna as they also had a wonderful day in training.  (Sea-to-Sea pics posted later this week )

ISTer Blog Posts:

"At first I was kind of upset that I got put on the community service elective, but every minute I realize a little bit more just how amazing of an experience it really is. This afternoon we helped out at M.A.S. Carmiel, a place that employs mentally challenged people, and I can honestly say it was one of the most fulfilling community service projects I've done in my entire life. Not only did our group work hard, but we had fun doing it! Apparently, we did so much work and we did is so well we helped to increase the salary of the regular workers there. Rarely do people get to see the immediate effect of what they do, but today we witnessed the joy of the workers first hand. They walked around hugging us and kissing our cheeks, the biggest smiles on their faces, telling us they loved us. It was so hard not to smile right back, what an awesome feeling! I know I couldn't stop smiling. Truly a part of IST that I will never forget.  Not only are we giving back, but we're having fun doing it! Our group is so small, which is leading to the creation of some amazing bonds. I can't wait to see all that happens in the next two days!"  - Shelby Ginsburg

"It's hard not to smile when the people you're helping always smile. Today we were helping out mentally disabled people at this factory in Carmiel. I personally wasn't working with them but everyone I encountered was happy to have us there. We were helping package the containers you put turkeys in for thanksgiving. We were only there for an hour and a half but we were able to package enough that the people we were helping will receive a bigger salary this time around. Part of the reason this day was so great, was because we could see the difference we were making. At the end of the day we took a picture with the people working and it was so hard not to smile because they were cheering for us, smiling, telling us that they loved us and giving us non stop hugs. So far it's one of the best moments of this trip."

 - Maya Matatall

 

COMMUNITY SERVICE

***********************

Food bank - Pitchon Lev

GADNA

**************************

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sow; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

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

**************

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