Blog

Farewell to Israel

By the 2016 Rubinites Our last day in Israel was a long farewell to our home for the past 10 days. We visited Orr Shalom, a wonderful foster home/community that's partially funded by Jewish Federation in St. Louis, ate excellent shawarma/falafel in the German Colony,...

Day 9: Past and Present

By Paul Sorenson On this incredible Rubin Israel Experience, I often felt like time had become unstuck -- mixing the past and present but only offering a hazy future for the Jewish State. We "climbed" Masada, learning about both the Zealot rebellion against Rome and...

Day 8: Into the Desert

By Dave Sweeney It is hard for me to believe we are already on 8th day of this amazing experience/adventure. We were out the door by 7am to head to Masada, an ancient fortress in the southern district of Israel. En route, we were informed of many interesting tidbits...

Day 7: Shabbat Shalom

By Katie Rice-Guter This trip has been spent exploring many facets of Jewish life and life in Israel, and I found that celebrating Shabbat in Jerusalem had a special resonance for me. We woke up on Saturday and had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel before splitting...

Day 6: Arriving in Jerusalem

By Lauren Gelber It's Friday morning. The lack of sleep on top of travel, with a side dish of busy schedules, equals the first morning some of us needed mom to wake us up. Traveling on our incredibly fancy bus (USB ports, lean back seats, and even party lights) we...

Day 5: At home in Yokneam-Meggido

By Jodi Glassman The theme of Thursday was tzedaka, giving back, and connection with St. Louis' partnership region, Yokneam-Meggido, in the fertile heartland area of northern Israel. We saw several service organizations that the St. Louis Jewish Federation funds...