(Formerly known as the East Bay Summer Youth Experience in Israel and the BJE Summer in Israel Youth Program)

2007 Journal

7/1/07

It's been 3 days, and each one has felt like a week. Day one we visited "tzfat", one of the holy cities the old stone buildings and kabala mysticism throughout the entire city finally allowed the feeling of actually being in Israel sink in after traveling on US-like highways…

I never really understood kabala before, besides it being "the weird Jewish branch that Madonna converted to", but the connections between the numbers, Hebrew letters, and Jewish ideas were really fascinating. Then later as we were walking around the city, we learned about the war of independence and it was intense amount of history that was associated with the city. It seems hard to imagine as we walk like the American tourists we are, that less then 60 years before, people had been fighting for their life and country. Shabbat came around, and swimming in the kinneret as really existing. Although we are only in the kibbutz we could still feel Shabbat. The fact that we had to face south to Jerusalem instead of east made me realize how close we were to Jerusalem. 3 days and already so many memories, I'm excited for the rest of the month!

~Laura Matloff~(bus 1)

DUDE, ISRAEL! AMAZING, HOT,
BEATIFUL. I'M MOVING HERE!
THE PEOPLE ON OUR TRIP ARE TIGHT.
BUS 1 IS AOWSOME. I LOVE IT HERE!
LET'S SEE HOW IT GOES!

Love, Sydney (bus 1)

"im lost in a place so far, far away ,it's beauty grows with passing dayIt is silent with nothing to say.
Yet in this silence such power it holds to all who behold its brilliant golds

Zach Simon (bus 1)

Busy days continue!
Left the campsite and went to meet some Druze people. The man was really nice and in amazing artist! He holds 4 Guinness world records for his sculpting and 5 for having the most Guinness records. He played his instrument while Daniel C. danced (ha,ha) Ori even sang.

Fast forward a bit and we met some Arab Israeli teens. It was a quick visit, but very fun. It was a little awkward at first, but we tried to make conversation, they seemed to have enjoyed themselves. We talked about teen- life in Israel, what they do for fun. We also shared our experiences from the trip so far and from home. We exchanged emails so hopefully we’ll have friends in Israel now. That’s what I call cool friends!

(Bus 2)

7/6/07

We just had lunch in the home of some Druze people. The food was delicious-the best we have had so Far, and after we ate we learned about the Druze and their religion. The woman was able to tell us very little about the religion itself because it is a secret religion and she is forbidden to tell us the secrets. This made me more curious not only about the answers to the questions but why it was a secret. Overall it was a very interesting experience and I enjoyed it.

(Bus 2)

7/12/07

We are now driving through the Negev, it is hot but not humid which is nice, we have seen a few camels and that made my day, so far, this trip has been amazing. The people are great, and so are the sights, the Israelis we had on our bus were so nice, it was great spending 5 days with them. Bus 3 has finally nailed the count off! Touring cities has been fun, and the hikes have been strenuous, but beautiful, I wouldn’t trade the hikes or heat for anything, Israel is better than the way I imagined it, and I couldn’t be happier,

Yeah bus 3!

Love, Jodie (bus 3)