Alexander Muss is very different from my school at home in a variety of ways. The biggest difference between the two is the extreme amounts of travel we experience here in Israel. Instead of learning in a classroom everyday, we learn through nature and historic sights. In core class we learn about the intense Jewish history from thousands of years ago, up until present day Israel. Core is undoubtedly the hardest class I have ever taken in my life, however, also the most interesting and rewarding. Our inspiring teacher, Yossi Katz, excitingly makes our classroom come alive. I honestly feel that I learn more in his class in one day then I learn in one week at my school at home. He teaches in such a different way and lets us experience everything we learn first hand. When I think about how my classroom comes alive, I think of all the places we have traveled to in the past month. Each place we go to, we have class there and learn about what has happened in that exact spot.

One of my favorite trips that we have been on was the trip to Tzfat. Our first stop was Abuhav Synagogue, which we learned was a 15th century synagogue that was built to teach kabbalistic teachings. After learning about kabbalistic teachings, we continued learning about it by visiting Tzfat Gallery of Mystical Art. We visited a man who creates magnificent art by his knowledge and beliefs on the kabbalah. It was so interesting to learn about the different beliefs of Jews and how others think of religion. For lunch we had delicious Yemenite food. I had a dish that was called lahoh, which is basically a pancake baked in cheese and tomatoes. It was very different then anything I have ever tried before. The Yemenite women making the lahoh explained to be how she is an immigrant here and how she is trying to save money to buy a better apartment for her family. The food she made was unbelievable and I didnt want to stop eating, but we had to go visit a cemetery in Tzfat. Yossi took my class to the Ancient Cemetery of Safed. Here we learned about many Jewish leaders who have died. I loved learning about each of these heros and it inspired a lot that so many people would die for their country.

Our trip to Tzfat was only one example of how our classroom can come to life. We have had lots of other tips just like Tzfat, where we learn by going to the location. I believe this is the best way to learn, because it’s interesting and fun!. It’s so much better than sitting in a boring classroom with your teacher just lecturing you. I can’t wait to learn more about Jewish history and travel to lots of other places in the next four weeks that I have here.