Hello! As the buses pulled up back at Midreshet a new sense of unity was palpable to all. The Lech Lecha tiyul has left its mark on us. Towards the end of our trip on Thursday, we woke up at 4am for a beautiful sunrise hike up Har Tzofchot, and took a journey through the Bar Kochva caves. Then, in groups, we identified what Eretz Yisrael means to us individually. On Friday we watched a memorial video for a lone soldier Michael Levine and got a sense of what the Jewish nation means to us and the sacrifice it entails. 

The trip came together with Shabbat in Ramat Shapira. The davening, Dvar Torahs, and beautiful zmirot only added to the already new established sense of achdut we all felt. Again, in our groups, we were able to verbalize what Judaism meant to us. Escorting Shabbat out with havdala, we danced with our arms around each other, until finally the buses arrived to depart to Midreshet. After the trip, getting back into learning was much anticipated. After verbalizing and experiencing all that Israel and religion meant to us, it's been amazing to actualize it through our learning. We're so excited to continue our journey! 

We're excited to announce an event the shana bet girls have been working on to fundraise for Job Katif. Job Katif is an organization helping to find jobs for the remainder of people from the disengagement who can't yet support themselves. We are organizing a fundraising concert on December 15 at 8pm at YU Israel.  

Please contact Leora Bednarsh for more information at leorabednarsh@gmail.com

Sylvie Sapadin, Shana Bet