I left for Israel on June 4th, excited to be exploring and learning about Israel, the Israeli people, and my home for what I thought was going to be the next 10 days.
We started our trip in Tzfat, learning about the Kabbalah, spirituality, and taking in this beautiful historic town!
We spend our first Shabbat together singing, drinking wine, and getting to know the people we will be traveling with! Our first Shabbat together as a group was clearly a sign that our group was extremely special!
After Shabbat, we made our way to Tel Aviv, where we shopped in the Carmel Market, swam with the jellyfish in the Mediterranean, and ate some of the best food on the planet! Our group went from being 40 to 47 when we added Israeli soldiers to our bus and started a new journey with them! We then began to make our way towards the South, stopping in Sderot to begin preparing for our time at the Nova Festival sight.
It’s hard to prepare yourself for the heavy and emotional
environment of the Nova sight. I got the opportunity to walk
around the sight with Yaeli, one of our Israelis, as she shared
stories and memories of her loved ones and friends that were
at the festival on October 7th. Her ability to share the stories
of the others just goes to show the strength and courage
of the Israeli people!
After that, we began to make our way toward the Bedouin Tents. Masada, and the Dead Sea. All three in one day is crazy and exhausting! We then made our way to Jerusalem to finish the last four days of our trip in the Holy City. We explored the Old City and tried to see the Western Wall…emphasis on tried! Since the wall was closed that day, we made our way back to the hotel to get ready for our night at Ben Yehuda!
As a group, we had the best time hanging out on Ben Yehuda Street all together, oblivious to the fact that this would be our first of many nights in the bomb shelters.
Little did we know that our birthright trip was about to go from 10 to 15 days…my birthright experience was definitely one of a kind!
Thank you to Becca Friedman, a YPD Advisory Council Member, for sharing her Yael Birthright 2025 trip experience.
We are thankful she is home safe along with so many others who had their trips disrupted.