Wow! What an exciting week we had here at Midreshet! For the first time in our, and most of our fellow classmates lives, we had the amazing opportunity to celebrate Purim in Israel!

Thursday night after the fast, we prepared hamentaschen in our brand new kitchen with our Madrichot.  They came out great!

On Sunday, we started off our fun filled week with “Bar Hopping” in the Gush, where we were joined our teachers and their families living outside of Yerushalayim as they celebrated Purim.

Our first stop was Leora's house in Alon Shvut where we had a yummy salad bar and heard an excellent Dvar Torah from Rabbi Bednarsh. Our next stop was Bracha’s house in Efrat. There we had a potato bar where we were able to top baked potatoes with any topping of our choice. We were also able to get a glimpse of Rav Eitan at his house in Nevei Daniel from Bracha’s backyard in Efrat! Our last stop on our adventure in the Gush was to Shelby's parents who also live in Efrat. There we had an awesome ice cream bar, the perfect way to end our fun pre-Shushan Purim morning.

Since we are lucky enough to live in Yerushalayim this year, we celebrated Purim on Monday. Therefore, on Sunday night we had the honor of joining Holocaust survivors and their families in Yad Vashem to hear the Megillah reading. The reading was done by the head of Sharei Tzedek hospital. The Megillah reading was truly inspirational, and what better way to leave Yad Vashem on Purim night, then right in to the Purim celebrations  Yerushalayim, Ir Hakodesh.

Once we returned to Midreshet after hearing the megillah, we celebrated Purim with a spectacular chagiga! We had an incredible BBQ dinner, along with personalized hamantashen, face painting and mishloach manot making for children in the hospital; and of course, what would a chagiga be without tons and tons of dancing! The ruach was amazing, and all the girls had such a great time dancing and celebrating the chag with their Midreshet family!

Monday morning Midreshet’s early risers rushed down to the Kotel to join in the festive Purim davening at the Vatikan Minyan. The rest of us (not such early risers) shuffled down just in time for davening and megillah reading organized by the school in the Beit Midrash.

Following Megillah reading everyone teamed together to transform the Beis into an elegant dining room fit for our Purim seudah, where are our guest of honour was Rav Ron who performed a brilliant adaptation of “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk and various other songs for us all to enjoy. Rebecca Rahmey gave an enlightening Dvar Torah and then we all tidied up and headed off to Shaarei Tzedek to share the Purim joy with the patients. Millie Marcus and her ukulele accompanied us as we walked around the hospital handing out mishloach manot and singing Purim songs.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent soaking in the fantastic Yerushalayim Purim atmosphere at the Kotel and other places around town. A great time was had by all!

Sarah Chubak and ZeeCee Vorchheimer, Shana Alef