This weekend, our dorm celebrated Shabbat in Jerusalem. This truly was like a Jewish awakening for me and an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. Starting with going to the Shuk during the Friday Rush and getting a taste of Jerusalem and all the yummy food, to interacting with all the other people of different backgrounds who were rushing to get everything they needed to prepare their Shabbos meals.

An amazing aspect that is part of the Alexander Muss program is the outdoor learning. Almost three times a week, our teachers make the outdoors our classrooms. We learn about the historical concepts of each site while actually standing on them. We do this through classes while on hikes, in parks, and on top of mountains. We also go on tiyulim (field trips) to museums, archaeological sites, and historical sites to have our lessons.

Israel has been my outdoor and living classroom. On June 20 I went to Tel Gezer. One of the things I saw there was Abraham’s gate. On this tiyul we walked around and saw some history of the Babylonians and heard the story of why Judaism was created. The gate that we were at people could exit and enter the city.

On June 26 I helped volunteer with Leket. Leket is the biggest organization in Israel that helps feed the poor. They ask different places such as grocery stores, restaurants, and even the army to give the extra food they have to them that would otherwise go in the trash.

June 25th, 2019, we started our day off in Sataf. Sataf is a modeled town during the times of Shaul and David. Located on the mountains of Jerusalem. This trip helped us focus on the day-to-day life during ancient times. We learned about the several agricultural laws as well as the water system this terrace style village used.

With my first week at AMHSI already finished, I have an idea of what the next five weeks in Israel are going to be like. In this first week alone, I feel as though I've lived a month worth of experiences. I've already learned so many new things about the land of Israel and its physical history as well as its biblical history. I've also been already on two amazing trips to brand new places that I have never seen before.

The object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. Goals. It is important to make goals in your life. I have some goals that I would like to accomplish by the end of this trip in the one and only Israel. I have seen so many great places already in Israel.

After a week has passed since I have embarked on this adventure, I have already experienced changes in myself. In all terms, maturity, for example, I feel as if I have already been able to develop myself and grow through my short time thus far at Alexander Muss High School In Israel Summer Program.

Before I even got to Israel, there were goals that I knew I wanted to meet and now that I am actually in the land of the chosen people, I have even more goals that I now want to accomplish. Before I got here, I knew I wanted to become more open to trying new things with new people. I knew that in order for me to achieve this I would have to step out of my comfort zone and be more willing to do things I had never done before.

This location was the well in which women would go to get water in order to in their village. This serves as drink, one of the four main necessities for new settlers, along with dine, defense, and drive. This well also served as a meeting place in which men often found their wives.

I have so many high expectations for this trip. I don’t know much but I expect to learn about the history, culture, lifestyle, and food on this trip. I hope to learn how people live in a different country.

As someone who has never really had the experience of such a long summer camp, applying to Alexander Muss was a scary decision although I know it is one I won’t regret. Despite the fact that I travel regularly to Israel, I still feel that this trip will open my eyes to a new aspect of the country.

I am so excited to embark on this once in a lifetime opportunity. I am filled with thrill and anticipation as the day comes closer and closer and closer. Of course, thousands of questions are also swimming through my mind, such as “Will I enjoy myself?” “Will I learn something new about myself?” “Will I learn something new about Israel?” “Will I be happy about the decision I made on how to spend my summer?”

Anticipation. It’s my overwhelming emotion right now. Of course there is fear and maybe a little anxiety, but that’s usually expected. Right? I leave for six-weeks in t-minus 12 days. I can’t even fathom how excited I am. I can’t wait to experience everything Israel has to offer.

This was such a fun tiyul! On Tuesday, the first day of the tiyul, we started the day by driving to Tel Facher and learned about the amazing Eli Kohen. We learned about how much of an inspiration and incredible person Eli was.

This photo was taken at a kibbutz while we were learning about the history of conflict in the Golan. This was maybe my favorite tiyul. Going on the hike the next day was such a great experience that reminded me of how beautiful Eretz Israel can be. I really admire the north due to its incredible beauty.

We spent the day in Tel Aviv learning about the history of the city. In the 2nd Aliyah period, two men came to Yafo and decided to build a Jewish city. Aharon Chelouche had the money and Shimon Rokach had the ideas.

This picture was taken on 4/11/19 at kfar hanokdim of the camel I rode there. We had a very interesting tiyul in the Negev desert that lasted over three days. The first thing we did was we visited Ben Gurion’s desert home in Sde Boker. We learned a little about him and we also learned about the importance of the Negev Desert.

This photo was taken at the bus station that looked run down and abandoned in Tel Aviv. This tiyul was interesting to me because it gave me a new perspective of Israel. We learned both about modern Israeli identity issues. We also learned about the situation in Israel with refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers.

This picture was taken on 4/3/19 at Rose Haniqra. Today we started the tiyul day off by having class at the beach near Atlit. There, we learned about how the Jews had a struggle because David Ben Gurion said: “We will fight the white paper as if there is no Hitler, and we will fight Hitler as if there is no white paper”.