Summer Onward - Israel 2013

CLIP-NY Onward Israel. A group of 39 college students living in Tel-Aviv, Israel for two months.

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Upon Arrival in NYC

The two months we spent in Israel were amazing.  Full of interesting, fun, and new experiences.  I feel so luck to have met all 38 other students on our program, in addition to our amazing leaders Hillel and Einat.  I am forever grateful for the times we shared.

 My internship was a great chance to learn something new, and create new connections and build skills that I will definitely take advantage of in the future.  As I prepare to go back to school I know that I will be entering my junior year with a new skill set that will help me succeed when planning campaigns using social media.   

I also am very happy that this trip gave me a chance to make Israel my own.  I was not being constantly fed information regarding Israel's perfection, but rather got a chance to learn and then form my own opinion.  Before this trip I felt that I had no right to get into a debate regarding Israeli politics and now I feel more involved in the conversation.  Additionally, I got a chance to become emerged in the culture in ways. I spent time with some of my friends and some family who live in Israel and they made me feel so comfortable.  

Being home is a complete change for me.  I actually took the bus the other day in Brooklyn and it was strange to understand the bus driver and all the stops.  Also I am still not used to the fact that everyone can understand what I am saying and I can understand them.  

There are a lot of ways in which I am still stuck in Israel, including still being a bit jet lagged.  I definitely was used to being there, but also very happy to be home and look forward to the adventures this school year brings. 

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The people who haven't left yet :'(

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A group shot finally! 

Although, everyone is paying attention to our great tour guide for the day.  I was finally able to snap a group photo! 

Thursday we took a trip to Tzfat.  The day began with us picking onions for the homeless at Leket Israel's fields.  We picked 1 ton of onions, which was pretty cool.  Then we all ran back to the bus to escape the heat of the day.  

We drove to Tzfat where we learned a bit about the history and why people choose to live there.  Although many of us have already learned a lot about the area on Taglit or other trips to Israel, I think we all picked up something new.  

We had an interesting debate on the difference between doing something good and doing Tikun Olam.  Not sure if there is any true answer to the difference between the two, however, both sides made great points and really got us thinking.

We then got to enjoy the artisans market.  Most of us took that time to get a snack or a cold drink before heading to the bus for the brutally long ride back to Tzidon.  

It was a good start to a peaceful weekend. 

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omg

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Some photos of the windows of the Azrieli buildings, only a twenty minute walk from our apartment. One of the things that we love so much about Tel Aviv and Jaffa is all of the cool architecture. Everywhere we go there are unusual, different, and exciting buildings! 

-Zach Schaffer

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I work here!

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Probably one of the greatest photo I have ever taken.

This Thursday us CLIPpers boarded a bus at 6:50am and drove down to the Negev.  We visited two different sites.  

The first was a solar park, where we learned about solar energy.  We ate lunch as if we had never had a meal before and will never eat again.  Then boarded the bus for another hour and a half.

On this bus ride between sites our Madrich Hillel filled us in on some interesting information about the Negev and we got to look over into Egypt (although had to turn the bus around at one point because the road that travels next to Egypt is closed at the moment).  

We arrived at what seemed like the middle of no where (evident from the picture), and learned about carrier pigeons.  Why should we care?  Because it is a very interesting part of Israeli history.  Carrier pigeons aided in many wars by sending messages from the north to the south of Israel, before radios, phones or anything of the sorts existed in the country.  The birds could fly from the north to the south in 6 hours, they go as fast as any car can now (when following the speed limit).  

We got to release our messages and send them to our next stop, a farm located in the only logical place to have a farm - the desert.  We learned a bit about the farm and then got to go pick an unlimited amount of tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, carrots, herbs and strawberries.  We filled backpacks.  It was an absolutely amazing experience.

Not sure how the bus ride home went because I slept the entire ride.  But it was an amazing day full of new experiences and new tastes for all of us.  

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Pictures of the group taken from a really bad vantage point.

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Nice try Rebecca.

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Snackin' on peach iced tea and Bisli at work.  

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Thanks Dan and others who suggested this awesome potluck dinner!

Using our CLIP Onward Israel Facebook page we were able to organize a group for a potluck dinner.  Everyone brought one thing, there was an awesome selection of homemade foods and drink.  It was lovely to eat together as a group! We hope to keep up the Monday night potlucks for the rest of our time here.

What was brought to the potluck:

Shaksuka 

Cabbage salad

CousCous salad

Rice and lentils 

Chicken, vegetables and tomato stew 

Vegetable Curry

Hummus and Pita

Meditarrainian Nachos

Fried eggplant and tomato sauce 

Champaign 

Lemonana 

Grape Drink

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Check out the newsletter written by our madrich Hillel with stories submitted by participants, including Participant of the Week: Leah! 

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Doug Kandl

This week has been filled with surprises and changes. Just a week ago 39 students made about a day’s journey to Israel from New York. The week has been filled with meeting new friends, Shabbat, orientation, moving into the apartments and becoming accustomed to a brand new environment.

This summer I am interning for Checkmarx (application security company). I have only been there a few days but I already feel like a valued member. One of the videos I created for them is on the front page of their website.

For Shabbos I was able to have dinner with my extended cousins. It was an amazing Shabbos dinner, the challenge for me was that not all of them spoke English so it was difficult to communicate. Despite the language barrier I was so happy to be able to spend my first Shabbos with my family.

Last week most of us had never even met but this week we were able to perform havdallah together on the beach. It was absolutely my favorite havdallah service I have ever been to.

During our Havdallah service on the beach we had trouble getting the candle to light so with the help of total strangers we huddled together to stop the wind from extinguishing the fire.

A group of students went to Herzl Memorial Cemetary one of the graves we saw one of my role and family friend Golda Meir. This week I have been driven by her words:

“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.”

 Doug is a senior at Pace University in NYC studying computer science.

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We are currently at the Birthright Mega Event at the Nokia Stadium. It's warming to sit in a room with 7,000 other Jews. Thank to those who have protected and fought for the Jewish people since the beginning of time. Without those heroes we wouldn't be able to sit here proud, young and free.

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To close our weekend in Beit Sh'an the Onward Israel groups came together, put our arms around each other, said good bye to a lovely weekend together, and hello to a new week; with the Havdala ceremony. 

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We went to Beit Shean with the Boston, Pittsburgh and Israel groups.

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This thing is cool.

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TGIW: Thank god it’s Wednesday! Enjoying a night out with the group before waking up early Thursday for a the Onward Israel Shabbaton.