We have been in Israel for about three weeks, and already you can notice many differences between Israel and America in many different things, for example, the culture.

Israel and America are two totally different places...

Greetings from Israel and l’shanah tovah. I have been having a wonderful time in Israel experiencing the country and its culture.

Israel and America have some clear differences, however, some are less obvious without residing in Israel for some time.

During my time in Israel so far, I’ve noticed the many differences between Israeli and American culture.

However, these past couple tiyulim it’s really hit me that I am standing in the places where history happened, and if I try hard enough I can picture it happening right before my eyes. It does take a little imagination to picture the grandeur of everything, as nowadays everything is in ruins, but it really is magical when you are able to imagine it.

Classes here at Muss are much different than back at home. Here my math class has two people, back home there’s about thirty. The way the classes are set up really allow for a relationship to be built between students and teachers. One thing that’s been a little hard to get used to is calling teachers by their first names, or having their personal phone numbers to ask questions whenever you need. You can tell that the teachers here really care and want their student to succeed.

In the Israel History class, we learn two and half hours about a story or something that happened, and in the week, we go to the place that it happened, making the story much more exciting and interesting because you are actually seeing what happened, in the exact place that it occurred. An example of a place we have studied, and also been is, Tel Eked.

I would like to start off this blog by stating the obvious: Learning at AMHSI is not conventional.

Here at Alexander Muss High School in Israel we have the opportunity to be in an outside visual classroom.

Thinking of Israel being my classroom, I think it’s amazing how we have tiyuls two times a week learning about Judaism and Israeli studies at historical sites. Since I’m a history freak, the idea of learning history at the sites that it happened is amazing to think about. This truly highlights how lucky I am, and other people who were accepted into the Impact Fellowship program, experiencing school in a completely different way than any of my peers may ever will.

I believe Israel is truly one of the most beautiful places on the face of this planet. It is so unlike anything else you will ever see in your life, and you can feel energy radiating from every inch of the country. I’m so excited to spend another eleven weeks here with my new family!

My favorite part was when we went to a synagogue for Havdalah. Everyone was jumping and singing and laughing; it was so much fun. That weekend we also went to an ancient water system and everyone sang together in the cave.

Ever since I got to Israel many things have been different from the States and could only happen while you’re here in Israel.

An only Israel moment, that I like seeing in Israel, is seeing all the religious Jews and the soldiers walking around in the street. This is very special, because in no other place you will see so many Jews and soldiers walking around, with such normality. All the soldiers either have their uniform on, or just dress like civilians. To know that they are soldiers, is that they always have their gun with them. The soldiers usually have to bring their guns everywhere they go. They even have to sleep with their guns next to them.

Before coming to this program, at the HSI events in Miami, I heard all about the traveling we do. Now that I’ve been here for months already, I know it’s true.

Israel is a truly beautiful and special country, but your experience will be what you make it. Upon arriving in Israel, you will definitely notice some clear differences between Israel and America. One of those is the history that Israel holds.

In my opinion, what makes AMHSI so special are the tiyuls we go on. Not only do they allow for more interactive learning, but they allow for the group to become closer. One of my favorite tiyuls we have done so far is Yam Le Yam, which translates to “sea to sea.”

Throughout the past two months here in Israel, we have gone on many tiyulim. We’ve hiked mountains, swam in natural springs, explored new cities, ate amazing food, you name it, we’ve done it.

While studying all these dates, and the history, we have been going on many tiyuls to actually see where the real thing happened of what we studied. For now, it has been a great experience where we learned many things.