When we go on our tiyuls it is always fun and I enjoy them a lot, just the thought of learning outside can be a weird thing to do. At my school we sit in the same seats everyday and listen to the teachers babble on. But when we go on our tiyuls I get a whole new way of learning. Going to Mt Gilboa where King Saul died or going to Masada where the Jews came up with innovative ways to survive the Roman siege or even going to the bar Kochba caves where the Jews almost beat the romans in the Bar Kochba revolt. The thing I enjoy most about having tiyuls is that I really get to know Israel in real life, compared to learning about it in a classroom. This past week we went to Jerusalem for Simchat Torah. I wasn’t expecting much but I decided to go to a Yeshiva and dance with friends and the people of that synagogue. The service was really boring so I wasn’t expecting to do much dancing and thought that everyone overrated it. But as soon as the first song was sung all the people sleeping and bored jumped up to life and all the other Muss kids were dancing with people we have never met before. My favorite was the yesh yesh song they sung, the rabbi would either say simchat torah or yesh yesh and you would reply with the one he didn’t say. I was so surprised by how much energy the old yeshiva men had, we all had such a fun time with the people there. When we got back we had no energy left to do anything from all the dancing we did. I instantly fell asleep. Simchat Torah was also fun because the day after I went to a synagogue where they dance with disabled people but the place was closed so I went back and had a fun time sitting in my room for an hour. But being here during the high holidays and being able to travel around the country learning about my ancestors and what Israel was like thousands of years ago.