This past month I have been blessed with the opportunity to learn in both my classroom in Hod HaSharon, and archaeological sites all around Israel.

This past month I have been blessed with the opportunity to learn in both my classroom in Hod HaSharon, and archaeological sites all around Israel. Just last week in my Israel Studies class, we discussed about when the Romans planned to lay siege over Masada, but the Jews took their own lives before the Romans could reach and enslave them. That same week, we hiked up Masada and watched the sunrise from the top of the mountain. We then explored the remains of the once great fortress with many ancient works from the time, that showed the contrast in culture of the Romans and Zealots. We also saw the broken part of the wall where the Romans had rammed through, and the ramp which the Romans had created in order to make it up the mountain in great numbers.

Today we went to Zipori. The historical lesson to which this tiyul was related to was adapting Judaism as a minority. We learned about the Sanhedrin, and explored the caves which Rabbi Hanasi was buried. This Tiyul made me think about how we were persecuted, and became a minority in our own land. We survived the Hadrianic decrees by adapting our Jewish oral law to the environment and culture around us. My thoughts on Judaism have changed because I know that I am so lucky to be a jew after we have been through so much. I most enjoyed exploring the caves with all the sarcophagi. They showed the ancient burial rituals of our ancestors and it was fun to see the hints of Jewish culture of the time period sprinkled throughout the caves.

Using Israel has my classroom and seeing the remains of our great cities, wars we’ve won and lost, and many other sites has given me a much deeper understanding of what the Jewish people went through and made me feel extremely connected to my Jewish history. I’m so excited for the next three months here in Israel.