From the South to the North to the South

Tuesday 

After a good sleep and nutritious breakfast, we headed out for a long bus ride towards the North of Israel. Looking into Jordan most of the way, passing by the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, we finally made it to the Kineret Cemetery. Many people who shaped how Israel is today were buried there. From the cemetery, we continued to Tiberius. We ate delicious schwarma and falafel and then visited the grave of Ram Bam. The group travelled by bus to the high altitude city of Tzfat. We proceeded to climbing over a construction sight and then made our way to a couple of orthodox synagogues. Full of excitement, we headed off to Metula. We played ball hockey and went ice skating with Israelis from various religions (I.e. Druze, Jews, Muslims, Christians). We can't wait for the rest of the trip!
-Yafa


Wedneday

At 6:00 a.m. we woke up in a kibbutz in the north of Israel with one of the best breakfasts we've had the entire trip. We then hopped right on the bus for a three hour drive; or should I say a three hour nap. On the bus ride we slept, played bus games and after a long, long drive we finally arrived at our first stop. The first stop was an archeological dig site where Jews lived over two thousands years ago. After an interesting story, we finally understood how so many artifacts were preserved after such a long time. We proceeded to dig and dig and dig and dig some more. Apparently, this site is the most abundant dig site in all of Israel; with these odds it's no wonder we all found a series of broken vases, plates and even some animal bones. It was incredible to think that we would be the first people touching these artifacts in over  2000 years (WOW!). In the afternoon we reunited ourselves with the Yozma teens (the Israeli teens we met a few days earlier). We got to know them so much better and it was such an incredible afternoon filled with leadership activities; we even got to herd sheep and goats. The sheep were so cuddly, soft and really needed to be sheered. Today truly was an incredible day!
-Aaron

Pictures from the Morning

Our first glimpse of the Kotel plaza.

The Southern Wall steps. Ascending with a Psalm of Ascension

On the women's side at the Kotel.

Our Morning in the Old City

This morning we started off with an early start with the help of our jet lagged body-clocks. We then embarked to the western wall where we visited the archeological centre and discussed the history of the area with our tour educator, Jeremy. After some reflection on our 'gifts' we can offer to the world, we wrote our own wishes and/or prayers to put into the wall. This was the first time at The Wall for a lot of us, making it a very special experience. At the wall we inserted our wishes and had a moment to feel the wall and have a moment of thought. We had a tour in the tunnels under the old city and the exposed lower part of the wall and then headed for lunch in the old city where we enjoyed some nice schwarma. Jerusalem and its history is incredibly interesting and it is mind blowing to think that where we stood were visited by Jesus, Muhammad, the Romans, Sultans, Abraham, and many more. 

-Miles Hoaken

WHAAAAAT a great time!

Time Travellers

Saturday was, for most, the longest flight of their lives. The morning sunrise greeted us from the plane as we descended through the clouds for our first glimpse of the Holy Land as a group. After a cheerful welcome from Jeremy, our tour educator, we headed to Jerusalem. From the Goldman promenade, our opening "shehecheyanu" was accompanied by the sights of new and old Jerusalem and the sounds of the Muslim call to prayer. We were already singing with the land!

We got back on our mini bus to explore the Old City and most importantly, have our first, authentic falafel lunch. Toronto's Israeli food will never compare!

We climbed the stairs to a rooftop at the center of the four quarters. The domes we had gazed from afar were now just before us. Christianity, Judaism and Islam represented by golden, black, grey and white domes. Only in Jerusalem!

From here we explored the Christian story. While not our own, realizing that visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the spiritual goal of millions of faithful made our visit very interesting. A favorite moment was descending to the cistern below the Coptic Church for a musical, echo delight. We heard our own voices reverberate again and again off the walls of this ancient site.

As jet lag set in, we spent time in a park playing games and having fun, lead by our shin shinit, Yuval. We had a blast! As the sun set on this very long day, some of us are already asleep and the rest not far behind. What a great first day!

Welcome to the 2015 Temple Sinai Teen Israel Trip Blog

Countdown to Israel:  12 days!

Check back here frequently for updates and photos from our trip.