I loved this tiyul. In the old city our story was brought to life, and I felt deep pride in my ancestors. I had this voice in my head “you can’t kill us!” I adored the meditation up in the desert. I felt to deeply connected to myself and the earth, and I felt clarity about God. At the hostel, the moon was full, and this clarity I felt, about connection, continued.

Today was a long day. We began with a lesson and then a hike. This image exemplifies the difficulty of the hike and how it was a communal experience, with everyone involved.

Har Gilboa was our first full Tiyul! It was a long day with a lot of activity and adventure which I loved personally.

So, yet again, I have a new favorite experience on Muss. On Tuesday, February 12th, we went to Jerusalem to continue our learning on the second temple period. In Jerusalem, we first visited a completely proportional and accurate model of the second temple and Jerusalem during that period. We learned that Herod, a crazy lunatic paranoid ruler wishing to be remembered, built this incredible city for the Jews.

The Tiyul that we took today at Megiddo was definitely one of the more beautiful tiyuls that we have had so far. Personally one story that we heard today was the story of Eliyahu the prophet and Ahav.

This photo was taken on February 6th, 2019 at the Kotel in Jerusalem. The Kotel is a significant part of the lives of many Jews, as it is one of the holiest places of the Jewish Religion. Being here made me really emotional. Although I had already been in Israel for a couple weeks, being at the Kotel made me feel like I was at the heart of Judaism.

This photo was taken on February 5th while we were hiking down Mount Gilboa. On the mountain we took a few stops. The first stop we took was before we began the actual hike where we learned about the Israelites’ need for a King, and Gideon’s attempt at uniting them.

This trip has been filled by hikes and spiritual awakenings.

At Mount Gilboa, we heard the story of Orde Wingate, who connected to the Jewish people’s holy text on such a level that he could defend their ancestors and then them. His story parallels my own in some ways.

The photo I chose today is actually not my favorite photo of the day but it represents something extremely important. To me this photo represents branching out, for me as a person, and for our entire group.

Dear Reuven, Thank you so much for making this tour so inspiring. The site we went to, on February 3, Gezer, made me bond with my roommates and friends so much more because I wasn’t as close with them before.

Today, on February 3rd 2019, we went to Gezer for our first tiyul of tiferet. Gezer was home to the Canaanites 4,000 years ago and home to the Israelites 3,000 years ago. We climbed many hills and learned about the people who lived there and what they did and the significance of Gezer and like how it was in the crossroads of two of the greatest trading routes in Israel.

This picture means a lot to me, it was when we were on our hike in Gezer with our core class. On this hike, I got closer with all the people and it was really nice to connect with people and learn about our history.