I have been to Israel before. Actually this trip to Israel is my 27th visit. This is my seventh Youth Israel Trip. The teenagers I took on my first Youth Israel Trip are no longer teenagers. They are now pushing 40.
This Youth Israel Trip will be a new experience for me because I get to share the experience with these young people. I get to see Israel through their young eyes. They will be looking at Israel, I will be looking at them.
We will encounter the land of Israel, the state of Israel and the people of Israel at this key time in the development of their sense of personal identity. We will present experiences which will open new possible responses to the key adolescent question, who am I?
We do not just go to Israel on our own behalf. We go as Shilchei Mitzvah, Mitzvah agents of the members of the congregation. We asked for gifts from the congregation to purchase new boots for a unit in the Israeli army. Zach Weiskopf grew up here at Etz Chaim. He has made Aliyah and is serving in a combat unit, Orev Nachal, in the Israeli Defense Forces. As a congregation we have adopted this unit. By buying boots for these soldiers, we are supporting Israel in a direct grass roots way. Members of the congregation have been very generous. We have enough money to purchase boots for the twenty soldiers in Zach's unit. We will also be able to help with rebuilding in the wake of the recent devastating forest fires.
This will be a very active trip. We will hike up Massada and Mount Simcha, float in the Dead Sea, swim in the Red Sea off a yacht, ride camels in the Negev and jeeps in the Golan. We will climb through caves in Jerusalem and the grottoes at Rosh Hanikra. We will sort through archeological finds on Mount Scopus.
We will learn about the Jewish past, experience the Jewish present and consider the Jewish future I get to share.
We will encounter the land of Israel, the state of Israel and the people of Israel at this key time in the development of their sense of personal identity. We will present experiences which will open new possible responses to the key adolescent question, who am I?
We do not just go to Israel on our own behalf. We go as Shilchei Mitzvah, Mitzvah agents of the members of the congregation. We asked for gifts from the congregation to purchase new boots for a unit in the Israeli army. Zach Weiskopf grew up here at Etz Chaim. He has made Aliyah and is serving in a combat unit, Orev Nachal, in the Israeli Defense Forces. As a congregation we have adopted this unit. By buying boots for these soldiers, we are supporting Israel in a direct grass roots way. Members of the congregation have been very generous. We have enough money to purchase boots for the twenty soldiers in Zach's unit. We will also be able to help with rebuilding in the wake of the recent devastating forest fires.
This will be a very active trip. We will hike up Massada and Mount Simcha, float in the Dead Sea, swim in the Red Sea off a yacht, ride camels in the Negev and jeeps in the Golan. We will climb through caves in Jerusalem and the grottoes at Rosh Hanikra. We will sort through archeological finds on Mount Scopus.
We will learn about the Jewish past, experience the Jewish present and consider the Jewish future I get to share.
