I have been here 10 days and have already learned so much, not just in class but about myself too. This Alexander Muss experience has been everything I hoped for and more, academically and personally.

Academically, my goal on this trip is to expand my knowledge of Jewish history.

Muss Magic sits down with students from Wohl Dorm during the Summer of 2018!

I am really looking forward to the AMHSI Educators' Seminar as I have never participated in something like this in Israel!

My first week in Israel in the town of Hod Hasharon seemed like a figment of my imagination. It all started with loading the cars and driving to the Hartsfield Jackson airport. My family and I pulled into the parking lot after the drive there and went in to check my bags. Thankfully they made the weight limit at 45 and 47 pounds. My family walked me to the line where we hugged goodbye for the last time for four months. Security was a breeze, and so was the flight to New York. Once I landed in New York along with the other three Atlanta students, we went to baggage claim to get all of our belongings, then meet up with all the other student from around the country.

It’s been a week since we flew here and everything is so different!

It is a week into my experience on AMHSI. So far it is great. I love the core class because I can get really involved with it and it is interesting. The other general classes have heavy workloads but I expected that. I am surprised that I have gotten so close with people so quickly. I already think of them as brothers.

This week was a whole new experience of its own. The week started off pretty normal with everyday core class and then general studies classes. Our first week was completed and I was starting to get the hang of things. We had our first overnight tiyul this week, spending the night in Jerusalem. Before our departure, we were told the hike that we were about to do was canceled because of bad weather and that a backup plan was in process. Starting our tiyul off at 7:15 in the morning, everyone was excited for the adventure we were about to endure.

Second week is complete! 14 days in a different country, 14 days with different people, and 14 days with a new perspective on life. I am loving it here in Hod Hasharon, this past week I checked something off my bucket list: the Western Wall, I’ve been waiting to go there for five years. It was such a surreal experience, it’s nothing like I thought it was going to be. We were only there for a short while but it was still an amazing feeling, while I was there I noticed so many different things like how much smaller it was in person, all the people crying and praying. Also how it was separated by gender and the men’s side was larger than the women’s. Also it was freezing! I was wearing four shirts and a jacket and still I was cold but it didn’t matter.

This week has been so fun! So far we have all bonded so well and I have met so many new friends! This week we went to Jerusalem.

Each week is so exciting. Whether we’re in class or on field trips, there’s always something to see. This week we spent the beginning of it in classes. In core we learned about King Saul and King David . Mid week we left and headed towards Jerusalem. While originally we were going to do a hike then swim in a spring the weather was much to rainy and chilly to make that fun. Instead we went to Tel Azica, Aloha, the valley where David and Goliath fought, a philistine museum, where we had a picnic lunch, a cave filled with stalagmites, then to Jerusalem itself. We stayed overnight in a hostel which was cool. We did group activities and bounded it was nice to get to know more people.

All the kinks seem to be settling out, now that we are two weeks in. There are still some bumps, but everyone is amazing and so is the entire environment. We went on our first overnight trip this week. We started the trip by going to Tel Azeka were there was a beautiful overlook and we continued to read from the Tanakh and learn the history of our ancestors. After going to the Tel we pulled over to an area on the side of the highway where David beat Goliath in the most famous battle in history. Since we were learning about the philistines, we went to a museum about the history of the philistines. We saw parts of their culture through pieces of pottery and art. I also learned that the philistines used opium and nutmeg for euphoric effects.

We are three weeks into my adventures in Israel. I don’t know how to encapsulate the feeling of being here. It seems that we have already been here for 20 billion years, but at the same time it feels like we have only been here for a day. My bonds with everyone are growing stronger day by day and I have made a conscious effort to talk to everyone. My classes are finally beginning to settle down as well. I seem to understand what the teachers expectations are and their styles of teaching vs my teachers back home. I’m beginning to miss my family and friends a lot as well. It’s not that I have been gone for so long, but more the idea that there is so much longer until I get to see them again. That’s okay though the people here are becoming my second family. Even though we are supposed to have more free time here at Muss it seems like the days bleed together into one giant adventure.

This week was amazing! One of my favorites so far. It started out by waking up at 4:30 in the morning and going on a four hour bus ride to Eilat.

Having one-on-one classes is good but really intense. I had double of both math and APUSH this week. I meet with them every day, but to make up for field trip days we have a few double classes, where we meet twice in one day. For math, we break it up with lunch in between. For APUSH we have a review then a test or quiz later in the day. My math teacher is going really fast trying to cover all the material. Being the only student is okay, but it means that if I don’t get something I always have to ask and no one else can really help explain it. It also means that he also goes fast as he think that I already get it, even when I don’t. It’s hard having to continually make him stop or slow down. He gives lots of homework. This is okay but it’s really stressful trying to complete it before class with so much going on. I typically have to give up going out or hanging out to try get my math finished. There’s so much happening around me that it can be really hard to focus. I took my unit one test today so I am hoping it went okay.

The week started off pretty normal with every day core class and then general studies classes. Our first week was completed and I was starting to get the hang of things. We had our first overnight tiyul this week, spending the night in Jerusalem. Before our departure, we were told the hike that we were about to do was canceled because of bad weather and that a backup plan was in process. Starting our tiyul off at 7:15 in the morning, everyone was excited for the adventure we were about to endure.

We are three weeks into this amazing semester and wow has time flown.

We woke up at about 4:10 am to get breakfast at 4:30. I laid in bed for a while, then dragged myself up to get dressed. It was so cold in our room as we forgot to turn on the heat. Whoops. I woke up my roommates Rachel and Abby Glass, then went to the bathroom and put on socks and shoes. I finished packing up all of the things I would need for the day and grabbed my CamelBak. I headed down the ramp from the room and saw some of the boys, then turned and went to the area where people were gathering. I went to Lisa’s room to grab my breakfast bag. It had two slices of cheese, an egg, two rolls of bread, a cucumber, tomato, and a chocolate wafer bar. I put butter and cheese on the bread and ate the cucumber as well. There were some random sauces and jellies at the bottom of the bag. I didn’t eat the egg or tomato. There was a juice box which I saved, but when I tried it later, it tasted exactly like cough syrup, awful. We ate breakfast on the stairs waiting for the bus driver, then we got on and drove about 29 minutes to Masada.

We are a month into our semester now. The days are flying by quicker than ever. My bonds are growing stronger with all the people here.

This week started off with hours of core and general studies, preparing for our upcoming overnight tiyul. During core we have been focusing on king Herod and the impacts he made throughout Israel. Our first tiyul started off in Jerusalem. We went to the Israel museums and got to look at the dead sea scrolls that are older than 2000 years. It was very interesting to how far back the Torah goes and that it isn’t all made up, there is solid evidence of writings. Our next stop was the Wohl museum in Jerusalem. The museum had remains of houses back in Herod’s time, and it was cool to see how similar the layouts of them are to modern times. Once we finished learning about the houses, we had free time to walk around in the Jewish Quarter.