Wishing you all a good and sweet New Year!

I’m writing to you from the road, on our way up to Jerusalem, on the first cloudy day of autumn. This morning even brought us a short but powerful (and slightly early) rain shower.

We began our week on campus, continuing our journey through Jewish history. We explored the return from Babylon to Israel and rebuilding the Second Temple, as well as Israel’s history with Alexander the Great during his conquest of the ancient world. The challenge and inspiration of Greek thought and culture forever changed the Jewish people—both threatening and renewing Jewish tradition.

For Rosh Hashanah, our students departed to celebrate with their families, and now we are all back together on the bus. Today, we are traveling back in time to Jerusalem of 2,000 years ago: a thriving city of the Roman Empire, filled with rabbis, priests, political revolutionaries, and would-be Messiahs. It was a city of great beauty, tradition, and wisdom—but also one of deep internal divisions that would eventually lead to the Great Revolt against Rome in 66 CE.

While the Romans ultimately destroyed the Temple and the city, our tradition teaches us that the true downfall was caused by Sinat Chinam—the destructive social hatred within the Jewish community itself.

At the Israel Museum, we explored the breathtaking scale model of ancient Jerusalem and visited the Shrine of the Book, home to the Dead Sea Scrolls—the oldest known copies of the Tanach ever discovered. This afternoon, we’ll step onto the streets and ruins of that same Jerusalem, walking in the footsteps of its people.

Tonight, we plan to sleep at the Ein Gedi youth hostel and rise early to catch the sunrise atop Masada. Most groups climb Masada for the sunrise and enjoy a short tour—but here at AMHSI we begin with morning prayers together and then set out for a deeper exploration of Masada’s hidden corners and its powerful meaning in Jewish history. Afterward, we’ll cool off with a float in the Dead Sea before heading back to campus for a much-needed Shabbat rest.

Shabbat Shalom, and wishing you all a blessed New Year!