Author: Sarah

Our second stop in Jerusalem-the last full day of our trip.   We spoke with Yuri, a recent friend of our Rabbi. Yuri talked about life in the days just after October 7th.  There was chaos.  The soldiers didn’t have bulletproof vests or helmets.  But civilians-parents-friends-couldn’t just start buying them on the internet.  They needed quality…

This is our last full day in Israel Schedule for the day: Poem of the Day by a woman living in Shvaim Kibbutz in 1969.The poet is a woman in her 20’s capturing her feelings after the Yom Kippur War Early early in the morning Suddenly a man wakes up in the morningHe feels he…

Hostage Square If you recall, this morning (EONS ago) we had hopes that Blinken’s trip would lead to an end to the fighting and a plan to return the hostages as well as begin rebuilding in Gaza. We were told by our guide Y, king of improv, that there might be mass protests at Hostage…

It’s been a few weeks since my last post, so to recap. This morning we contributed to food rescue and anti-hunger, and met with families of hostages. This afternoon’s experiences described today are visiting the blood bank/emergency services of the people on the front lines during October 7th and a meeting with a Professor of…

Day 3-Wednesday morning Poem for The Day Y shared a poem by Lea Goldberg, one of the first female professors at Hebrew University. Not officially in English, the poem was translated for our guide by his friend who also wrote this blog post about what is happening right now in Israel. https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-golem-awake-the-golem-amok/ Poem: Towards Another…

OK, my last post was focused on documenting and witnessing. Today I am infusing a bit more of my personal observations into the blog. Bear with me. On our ride back from Rahat to the hotel. Remember, in one day, we went from talking with the Rabbi in Sderot, to the kibbutz, to the Nova…

Rahat The title of today from the initial tour was “Bearing Witness”. Thus, our fourth conversation of the day was again focused in part on another community’s experience during October 7th and before and after.  This afternoon we are hearing from a community leader that works with some of the poorest Israelis in the country.…

Best breakfast of my life in the hotel.  Not just a buffet.  THE vegetarian buffet.  And this is after being treated to the buffet at the 5 star Broadmoor where my brother works as a chef. I have lots more photos of the buffet. I’m going to work on a photo journal to expand each…

This was my first time to Israel.  My grandmother had wanted to take me, but she got too old before I was old enough.  And after that, I felt like I couldn’t just be a tourist, it had to have Meaning!  It has to be special.  And also, until a few years ago, I never…