Yes... I am still here.

Hey all... so I know it has been over a month and a half since I last wrote.... so here I am. We are just one month out from being done with Shnat... and still as busy and enjoying it as much as ever. So what has Ethan been doing exactly... one may ask... and that is why I am writing once again. So...

Jerusalem Journeys, one of my electives has been great. Every wednesday afternoon, a intimate group joins Haggai, the director of our Machon on some off the beaten path sites, hidden treasures, and beautiful hikes in and around Jerusalem. They are definately a highlight of the week... as the afternoon is very relaxing, interesting, and every tour ends with an ice cream run before we head back home! Some of the places we have visited are: the Ethiopian church right near Mea Shearim, which is a beautiful Ethiooian Orthodox Church just off one of the main streets in Jerusalem, in which one can step into and feel they are in a completely different country, if not a completely different world. We also visited the house of and learned in depth about HaRav Kook, one of the great Zionist and Jewish thinkers of history.

Beautiful doorway near Rav Kook's house

The almighty Rav Kook

Shaun, a South African friend, trying to be Rav Kook

At the Ethiopian church (unfortunately no pics from inside)

On a separate a JJ (Jerusalem Journey), we hiked to Tel Tzuba, right next to Kibbutz tzuba, where NFTY's EIE High School Program takes place. Tel Tzuba is "the site of an ancient Jewish settlement.. and in 1170, a Crusader fortress, Belmont, was built there to guard the route to Jerusalem. Belmont was conquered by Saladin in 1191. The adjacent Arab village of Suba was the scene of fierce fighting during the 1948 War of Independence due to its strategic location overlooking the road to Jerusalem."

Haggai, our guide

Rob, an Australian friend in JJ's

Really cool house in Suba, the Arab Village where we ended our hike

In JJ's, we also had a tour of Mount Scopus, home to the world famous Hebrew University, and visited the beautiful Jerusalem War Cemetery, home to the graves of British soldiers who fell in World War I.  Each stone contains the unit insignia, soldier's name, age and date of death. We also visited the Museum on the Seam, a very edgy museum displaying lots of politically influenced pop-art. The museum, for the second time, challenged my opinions and gave me new energy to strive to understand not just both, but all, sides of the Israel/Palestinian conflict fostered in this region but which affects the whole world.

View of East Jerusalem from the Museum on the Seam

Beautiful half burnt tree near the cemetery

Incredible view from Mt. Scopus

On our most recent Jerusalem journey, we toured around our own neighborhood, Talpiyot. Seeing as we live here for 4 months it makes sense to know a bit about the exact land that we live on. Where we live, in Kiriyat Moriah, is actually just over the Green line, what was, pre-1967 {i.e. Six Day War,  an-Naksah (The Setback in Arabic)}, territory of Jordan. Especially with the current public intercourse between Israeli PM Netanyahu and US President Obama, it is a treat seeeing first hand how any land swaps could personally affect people, even gap year students from abroad. We were also shocked to learn that the apartment blocks right next to our campus was, at one point, an airport servicing Jerusalem. We ended the day at Ramat Rachel, now a kibbutz on the outskirts of Jerusalem, gazing upon the beauty of Jerusalem landscapes and examining in amazement how close we live to the West Bank and even Jordan.

Unfortunately what many of the original houses in the area look like... run down. But surprisingly, someone lives here

Used to be an airport

What happens when JJ's takes over a playground 

Jordan in the distance from Ramat Rachel

We have also had many Yommei Yisrael (Israel Days) where we learn about a different aspect of Israel as we meet and hear from speakers from Israeli society and take trips to visit different places which cause Israel to function the way it does. On our day of Israeli culture, we visited Beit Avi Chai, a cultural center who "addresses major issues and fields of thought and creativity in Jewish and Israeli society. Beit Avi Chai seeks to collect and publicize the various facets of Israeli-Jewish society, provide them a forum, and let them influence Israeli society and culture." We met with the director of Beit Avi Chai and learned how they work with foreigners and Israelis alike in order to help them understand and integrate more with the Israeli culture. Through movies, stage productions, classes, and arts workshops, Beit Avi Chai places its participants into Israeli culture and leads them on a path to better cultural integration in and out of the State of Israel. We finished the day with a session at the Cinemateque- a famous Jerusalem movie theatre, which often hosts special festivals as well as international films. During our special private screening, we learned a history of Israeli movies. Starting pre-1948, we watched portions of 12 different films made in Israel throughout its history and examined how Israeli cultural as a reality and in films, has changed thorughout the years. It was a very special treat to learn lecture style in a movie theatre in between screenings of movies from Israel's largest film archive.


historical epic which interweaves the story of the first wave of Jewish European migration to Palestine, at the end of the 19th century, with an unusual love story between Fania, a young Russian immigrant, and Yechiel, a native Jew. It was a great chance to learn a bit more about Israeli movie making and how much the history of Israel plays into what is shown on the big screen here. 


My Passover (Pesach) break was great and relaxing. Seder on a Moshav near Netanya with family friends was really interesting. I was challenged at reading the whole Seder in Hebrew and even some Aramaic, but the company was really nice. The days after were also great, as I saw some of the beauty of the Emek Heffer region of Moshavim (lots of villages, originally meant for farming communities to develop the land of Israel). I also spent lots of time in Tzur Hadassa seeing how it is to keep Passover when everything, from bread to cookies are made for Passover. I also really enjoyed spending lots of time in nature as we enjoyed the beautiful weather over Passover break. I ended my Pesach break in Kfar Saba, doing lots more relaxing, a bit of seeing the country, and hanging out in the area. The break was very refreshing and enjoyable, and I hope to be able to spend Pesach in Israel sometime again in the future

Tehila and Yedidia, with whom I had lots of fun over Pesach

The Alexander Stream, leads to the Mediterranean

And has huge turtles in it

Sunset in Kfar Saba

We have had some great experiences on many different Yom Yisrael tour days. We learned all about social challenges in Israel, as we met with a representative from a group who provides "Ethical Kashrut" certificates to lots of businesses around Israel. The whole idea is to provide places where handicapped people can dine, relax, and shop, without having to deal with daily struggles as a result of their handicap. With the same organization, I chose to take a handicapped tour of Emek Refaim, one of the main shopping and dining streets in Jerusalem. As we made our way up and down the street, we experienced what it is like to get around, in stores, on busses, and at banks, as if we were in wheelchairs, blind, deaf, with crutches, or a combination of the four. It was incredible to experience what this is acutally like and to observe people around you.


For Yom Hashoah, we had a Yom Yisrael all about the Holocaust. We met with some survivors, learned the role of survivors in Israeli society and in Jewish youth education, and ended the day by watching a movie about modern day anti-semitism. Focusing much on the US, it was very scary to see the reality of Neo-Naziism and how similar it is to what actually happened in the holocaust. Even though we often use the phrase "never again" when talking about the holocaust, nowadays, we let much pass right before our eyes without fighting for change.


The day of Yom Hashoah was incredible. Starting with standing out on a main street during the 2 minute siren for rememberence, we were shocked at how politicized the event is, as we watched many drivers, especially Arab cab drivers, continue to drive among the siren, during which everyone is meant to stand still and silent. We continued the day with a Machon ceremony and finished the day with a youth movement ceremony with people from all different youth movements all around Israel. It was amazing to see how so many youth came together from totally different political and religious backgrounds to remember one of the worst tragedies to the Jewish people in history.

When the siren goes off... some get out of their cars

Some stand at street corners

She broke out into tears

At the Youth Movement Ceremony

Even Tzipi Livni, a big Israeli politician, spoke

Ending the ceremony with lighting of memorial flames

We had a really interesting Yom Yisrael over the Green line. We started by visiting a settlement in the Gush Etziyon region of the West Bank. It was interesting and quite frustrating to see how many people move to settlements just for ideological regions, even though they may often be at risk in terms of safety. Nonetheless, we also met with many people who made the situation sound very attractive, because there are also many cases where Jewish Settlements get along with Arab villages who they neighbor. For the second part of the day, we went to possibly the most conflicted city, Hebron. In Hebron, there is a very strong history for the Jewish people, and there is a very strong and large Arab presence. We visited some of the histoical sites and met with students in a Yeshiva in the Jewish sector of Hebron. It was very sad to see the state of the few Jews who live in Hebron. The city looks like a war zone, with no commercial life whatsoever and with armed soldiers at every corner and with guns pointed from every rooftop to the ground and towards the fences that border the Arab sectors. The quality of life is horrible for both groups there, and it was really depressing to see how sad the conditions people choose to live in really are. 

For Yom Hazikaron, Israel's national memorial day, we attended two different ceremonies. On the evening before, we went to a MASA sponsored ceremony, for gap year participants, which was mostly based on immigrants from our own home countries who made aliyah and unfortunately passed away while serving in the Israeli army. The day of, we attended the national ceremony at Har Herzl, the National millitary cemetery. The cemetery was packed, with people and flowers and every single grave. As we joined in the ceremony and the silence during the rememberence siren, almost everyone was brought to tears. The power that masses like that have, when all standing in silence for the same reason, is huge. We all left shocked and many with new thoughts about Israel, its society, its security, and its army. It was one of the most impacting experiences, and difficult to deal with, that I have had this year on Shnat. 

Lowering of the flag

Flowers for the graves at Har Herzl

Hundreds of memorial candles

At the Navy Memorial, flowers floated upon a pool of water

The eveining after memorial day, Israel celebrates Yom Haatzmaut, Independence day. For this, I went back up to Emek Heffer, where I celebrated as we watched a community production, very similar to celebrations of the founders of the state. Almost everyone in the community got involved... from dances, to entertainment, to anything else you can think of, it was loads of fun. There was lots of Israeli folk dance, many of which I knew thanks to GUCI, and ended the night with a great fireworks display. The day of Yom Haatzmaut, I traveled to a Moshav near Kfar Saba with some friends from Australia to parttake in the ISraeli tradition of a celebratory BBQ. We ate tons of good food, relaxed in the pool, and had a great Yom Haatzmaut. We each ate enough to last us through a few days when we didn't have to eat the well below average food at Machon.

All in good fun for celebration of Israel's independence

Relaxing after stuffing ourselves at the BBQ

I'm really sorry... but for the rest of the post there will not be any photos because my computer is messed up. As soon as I (hopefully) fix it, I will post some pictures... because they help show my writing a lot more than just words.

Last week, we all headed up North for our last big tiyul (trip with hikes). We started bright and early sunday morning, and I will explain the tiyul day by day:


Sunday: Volunteering in Carmel mountains (where the big forest fire was) by cleaning up and clearing brush in strategic areas so as to prevent future fires.
Druze hospitality and learning in Osafia, one of the biggest tourist Druze villages in the Haifa region. The food was, as it always is, delicious.
Hike around the Carmel mountains, very close to the fire region.


Monday: Water hike near Mt. Meron and Tzfat. 
Tour and free time in Tzfat. I ran into a gap year group from Karmiel with a friend from Charlotte)


Tuesday: Roller coaster down a mountain in the North
Swimming and Ice Skating at the Canada Center in Metula
Visit to Lebanon Lookout point (really cool, learned about politics of living on a border kibbutz)


Wednesday: Big waterfall water hike- rappelling included... down the waterfall!


Thursday: Syria lookout point
Galita chocolate factory -yes we made ourselves sick from eating too much during our chocolate making (more eating than making) workshop
Visit the the Sea of Gallilee (Kinneret)




Thats all for now! Look out soon (not another two months) for a post about this past week and about the (almost) end of Shnat! 


Until next time- Ethan

What's Been Going On?

I am back. Hello. Here we go:

So in short, the rest of BFL was great. Some of the highlights were a day at Neot Kdumim, a biblical nature reserve, where we had a chance to herd sheep and learn about the outdoor practices of biblical times. I really enjoyed my class in Campus Entrepreneurship, where we learned about starting up non-profits on campus and beyond... and we also had a great musical performance by Matt Bar, who performs with Bible Raps, in which he tells biblical stories through rap. Its very entertaining, and he is a very talented and funny person. We ended the week with a very nice, but also a bit cheesy graduation ceremony in which we were all handed diplomas for our leadership training.

Director of MASA at the Opening Ceremonies

Our group building guide at Neot Kdumim- this was when we were taking shelter from the rain... in a snake house

Our new friends before we herded them

And after

Matt Bar : Bible Raps

Assistant/ Story Teller

After BFL, we had a closed Machon shabbat, during which we participated in group services, had a great Shabbat dinner with host families, and relaxed around Jerusalem together. It was a great weekend, with an afternoon full of Frisbee, and it was good to have a large amount of time just to relax with the Machon group.

The following week was a normal week, only to be followed by Purim. In Israel, Purim goes on for days. The streets are full of costumes, parties, and celebration for the Feast/ Festival of Esther. As a Machon group, we heard the Megilla read aloud, and on the eve of Purim, we walked around a lower class neighborhood of Jerusalem and handed out Mishloach Manot, or gift baskets, to allow people to celebrate Purim. The day of Purim was full of parties and street festivals, where children all over were shooting firecrackers into large crowds, which was quite scary. I also made a visit to the Ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim to see the craziness and wild ruckus going on to celebrate Purim.

The group before touring Mea Shearim on Purim

Entrance to the neighborhood

Oh yeah... we're in Mea Shearim

Part of the Purim Parade

In the center of town... so many people dressed up

I hope they were dressed up as crazy people for purim... at one point they were talking to the dog

Entertainment everywhere

At the end of the week, I attended a MASA cultural evening with a lecture by Israeli Short-Story Author Etgar Keret, who was very interesting and showed us a short film made of one of his stories. The event finished with a concert by Muki, a famous Israeli musician, who sings in lots of different genres, and gave a great concert. I spent a relaxing weekend after the concert with Ori in Tel Aviv. We ate some great Hummus in Yafo, and relaxed a lot. It is always great to be at his house, and every time I am there, I feel I am part of the family.

This past week consisted of a week long trip into the south. On Sunday, we visited Nitzan, where many Gaza settlers were placed after the disengagement. We met with some people, and heard their personal stories from the disengagement, and saw their current living situations. Unfortunately, because the issue is so politicized, many people have not moved out of their temporary government housing. Whether this is because they are trying to make a political statement or because of financial setbacks, it is very sad to see the conditions they are living in, especially when many tell of their past lives before the disengagement. Afterwards, we visited Sderot, the main border city with Gaza, and learned all about life on the violent border. We visited the police station, where every missile/ rocket which had landed from Gaza is taken. It was very strong to see so many missiles and see first hand the reality of the lives of people who live in Sderot. We also visited a park and a school, where everything is made to protect children from missiles. In the park, the play structures double as bomb shelters, as do many classrooms in the school. The city had developed to become a secure place where life can go on, even when being attacked by missiles from Gaza.

Police station in Sderot

Every bus station doubles as a bomb shelter

A spent grad missile up close

Ketushas, Qassams, and Grad Missiles- all which have fallen on Sderot in recent years

The playground, where the fish is also a bomb shelter

The sign on the fish, telling people "When the siren sounds 'Color Red' take protection behind the orange line (which is inside the fish)"

Bomb Shelters all through the school yard. When the siren sounds, you have a maximum of 15 seconds to take cover

Monday consisted of a beautiful hike at Nachal Peras, a camel ride, and an evening of Bedouin hospitality. We learned about the Bedouin culture, drank Arabic coffee and Bedouin tea (yum!) and had an incredible Bedouin dinner. We also had a chance to hear some Bedouin folk tales and music, which were beautiful. Before bedtime, we had a movement workshop and dance performance, which was very cool. We learned to work together in movement, and to express ourselves through relaxation.

You can see some of our trail at the bottom right side

Josh catching up the the group

The group was given a task to make the shape of a Star of David

At first, they had little success

We could see more once everyone sat down

Our sunset desert camel ride

Our camel guide

My first class ride

Sad to see us go

Tuesday, we hiked Ein Ovdat, which is right below Sde Boker, where David Ben Gurion is buried. The hike, which wove along a stream and waterfall, was beautiful, and though a bit challenging, lots of fun. At night, we camped out with a bonfire in the Eilat mountains. Our campsite was beautiful as we looked out at the surrounding mountains.  Wednesday was a huge hike at Mt. Amir and its surrounding, with some extra off the beaten path climbing and activities along the way. The group, which a few hours in shrunk dramatically because a lack of water (don't worry, we rerouted to a road for the bus to pick up, they weren't stranded) was great, and we had lots of fun and joking while hiking the beautiful trails and eating at our memorable lunch break. The break was at the peak of a mountain, and because everyone was so tired, anything anybody said was really funny. We had a great hour long laugh/eat/drink delicious tea session, and then finished the hike. In the evening, we relaxed at our hotel in Eilat around the pool for a bit, then enjoyed an evening on a disco party boat out in the Red Sea Gulf of Eilat. Afterwards, we all went back to the hotel for an incredible night of sleep after lots of hiking and camping.

Ibex at Sde Boker

Beautiful Ein Ovdat

We had to climb a lot

But it was worth it

My hiking group in the distance

A machon staff member excited for the big climb ahead

Yeah... that is what we went up

The Ramon crater viewpoint

We took turns on the highest point at the viewpoint. Some rested.

I celebrated

Our campsite at night

Our long hike started just after sunrise

A nice water break

Challenging, but fun, and always with an incredible view

We got to climb in these chimneys a little and up the mountain behind it. We weren't supposed to... but it was really fun!

Much of the mountains are sandstone, which forms amazing shapes when faced with water.

The group after we dropped some

Our hike guide and Machon educator building a tower for a mid hike game/challenge

Just towards the end of the hike

Thursday morning brought even more fun as we enjoyed a morning on the beach. We had water sports such as Banana Boating, Ocean Kayaking, and Paddle Boating, as well as an effort to throw a Frisbee while in the ocean. I was brought back to water polo days as I tried to tread water and throw a Frisbee, at which we were very unsuccessful. After the morning on the water, we cleaned up and headed back to Jerusalem. We were all pooped and had an early night followed by a sleep in. Friday evening, I had a great Shabbat meal and evening with the Perlman/ Bruders from St. Louis. We talked a lot, especially about Machon (which Rabbi Perlman also participated in) and enjoyed a great meal together. It was a perfect ending to a great week of adventure around Southern Israel.

One last quick comment: Which the Bruders came a great care package from home with some delicious homemade cookies (thanks Mom!) and a box of girl scout cookies.  I am worried about the radical changes going on  back in the US while I am abroad, because my box of Samoas are now called Caramel DeLites- there are blasphemous changes going on that I am not sure I am okay with. I have yet to try them, but if there are any changes to the cookie itself, I am going to have big problems with the Girl Scouts of America Association. That is all.

Shabbat Shalom. Miss you all. I'm out!