Garin Greene in Israel – Bus 3

July 11, 2021 By Jake Bardack, Bus 25 Staff After I read a prior blog post to the participants, they adamantly voiced their disapproval of the term ‘the participants’ and suggested the term ‘my besties’ instead, which is what I will be using throughout this blog...

By Zach Snyder, Ben Levithan, and Josh Rueben The 160km trek, cut down into four days of action-packed hiking, biking, and swimming. The yam l’yam adventure began at the Sea of Galilee, or Keneret, as the locals know it. With choppy waves, the opening ceremony...

By Gabby Miller I really enjoyed the Taste of the IDF chavaya. From learning krav maga, to camping, to first aid, the chavaya was very fun. I personally love learning about self defense and what to do in emergency situations, so everything we learned in the chavaya...

By Jackson Strauss I stared in awe at the view that surrounded me; standing atop mighty Masada, I could see the massive mountains of the Negev Desert to the west and the blue shimmering waters of the Dead Sea in the east. Looking down from Masada, I could spot the...

By Abbie Lambert Sea to sea. Yam L'Yam. It’s in the name yet it’s still hard to believe. We physically walked across an entire country. We physically traveled from the Sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean Sea. Sea to sea. Yam L'yam. Going in to this experience my...

By Lauren Alexander For my Chavaya, or 4-day experience, I chose to participate in the Tikkun Olam program, which focused on “repairing the world” through community service. We completed a wide variety of projects during the trip, including volunteering at two...

By Rabbi Loren Sykes, Director of Israel Immersives The second of this week’s double Torah portion, Matot - Masei, opens with what could be described as a very dry travel blog. Occasionally, there is a verse that provides a small detail about one of the places visited...

During hugim time, small groups sat on the grass in circles and took big deep breaths. With a pen in hand, they wrote poems together, one line at a time, but in an especially creative way. Someone would write a line and then pass the paper to the right for the next...

July 6, 2021 I am impressed with the maturity of the chanichimot and very proud of the connections that they have been able to make. I love how comfortable they feel around me, especially when they ask to speak to me privately. My favorite thing to say to a chanich/a...