Jan 1, 2014 | Miscellaneous
What a day! We started off with a long bus ride to Tzfat (two hours!) and spent more time on the bus later in the day, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t have fun! The bus is always filled with chatter about what we’ve seen during the day or talked...
Dec 30, 2013 | Miscellaneous
We had a lovely night in the Bedouin tents! We received a warm welcome of spiced coffee, traditional songs, and an insight into the lives of the Bedouins before enjoying a communal dinner. After cookies and sweet warm tea, we cozied up in our tent to hear more about...
Dec 29, 2013 | Miscellaneous
It’s been an eventful few days! We spent Shabbat exploring the gorgeous Ein Gedi nature reserve. The bravest of us went for a swim in the waterfalls, which were cold and wonderfully refreshing. We had time to relax before Havdallah and the bus ride to Eilat. On...
Dec 27, 2013 | Miscellaneous
After a long day of traveling, it was amazing to see how many of us were not only willing but excited to wake up at 4 am this morning to hike up Masada. With the promise of a beautiful sunrise awaiting, we loaded the bus with our luggage while the moon still shone...
Dec 26, 2013 | Miscellaneous
Well, after almost 24 hours of travelling, we have finally arrived in the holy land. It’s been quite a day. Things begun normal enough, with everyone getting to know each other with some ice breakers before we boarded our flight in NYC. But we hit a little bit...
Dec 22, 2013 | Miscellaneous
The recent decision by the American Studies Association (ASA) to boycott Israeli Universities has set off the most recent round of debate about whether boycotts are an acceptable reaction to policies of the Israeli government that are perceived to be unjust. I think...
Dec 16, 2013 | Miscellaneous
Less than 10 days to go until we leave for the Holy Land. If you have been following the weather in Israel, you know that Jerusalem was blanketed with snow and that some roads are just now opening up after being closed for a couple of days. Because of that, the...
Dec 6, 2013 | Miscellaneous
Thanks to the initiative of Federation Director Rabbi Susan Talve, and the collaboration of Rabbis Jim Bennet and Carnie Rose, the Federation Board of Directors is co-sponsoring the visit by Yossi Klein HaLevi on Monday and Tuesday nights, December 8 and 9. YKH will...
Nov 18, 2013 | Miscellaneous
Our mission returned last Friday from a whirlwind of the JFNA General Assembly and our own community trip. I had promised to update the blog but got very sick during the time we were in Israel. I will be posting some reflections on what I saw and learned over the...
Nov 13, 2013 | Community Impact, Miscellaneous
Susan Mlynarczyk gives because she hopes that she can make a difference. “Hopefully, by volunteering and giving, I can help make the community a little bit better,” she says. “I give to certain charities that I believe do really good things, but with Federation I am...
