Program Updates

I believe that whilst you are reading this email, most of your daughters are already back with you and have started recounting their experiences of their trip.  This time I won't attach any
pictures, firstly because the "originals" (the girls themselves) are now with you and secondly because I have given each of the girls a CD with a slide show, comprising a selection of 70 pictures taken during the trip.  In addition, they all have their own photos to show you…

The last time I was in touch, the girls were just about to leave for their free Shabbat.  On the Thursday, a few hours before they left, the  girls had a guided tour at Yad Vashem, which was conducted by the Rebbetzen Vicki Berglas from Midreshet Moriyah, who is a leading authority on the Holocaust.  No doubt you will be hearing from the girls how moved and affected they were by this tour.

Following their return from their free Shabbat, we paid a visit to the Har Herzl Cemetery, where the girls were interested to see the graves of Herzl and other Zionist founders of the state and also the graves of some of Israel's leaders.

We spent the two days of Shavuot at Midreshet Moriah with shiurim and a splendid atmosphere.  On the Monday night, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the girls made “Aliyah LaRegel”, by "going up" to the Kotel , thus commemorating the old tradition of visiting the Temple during the festivals. Once at the Kotel, the girls joined in with thousands others at Shacharit prayers.  Davening Shachrit at the Kotel was surely a highlight of their Shavuot Chag in Israel.

On the Tuesday night, motzei-Shavuot, we had a unique experience, when we went to the tunnels of the Kotel, where we reached the closest spot to the Beit Mikdash site and felt we were getting close to our ancient roots.

The following day, we went back in history when we visited Hebron and went to Me'arat Hamachpela, which was purchased by Abraham some 4,000 years ago.  This was after visiting  Kever Rachel, the burial site of Rachel Imeinoo, who is "waiting for our children to return from the exile".   Kever Rachel is situated near Bethlehem .Jumping forward to the present days, we visited Gush Etzion and heard about the heroes from the Wars of 1948 and 1967, when it was lost to the Arabs (in 1948), then subsequently liberated.

The same night, Wednesday night, we traveled north to the Golan Heights, where we remained till the last day.  There on the Golan, we saw old and new history by visiting archeological sites from the days of the Talmud, and by visiting battle sites from the 1967 and 1973 wars against Syria.

Returning from our last Shabbat on the Golan, we had our final summing up sessions in Jerusalem on the Sunday (Yesterday).  In the summing up sessions, your daughters shared their beautiful and profound thoughts with us all about their experiences throughout the trip, and no doubt you'll feel the influence of our programme on the girls for a very long time to come.

On a personal note, both the madrichot and I myself felt that this group was quite unique, showing an immense amount of natural curiosity, intelligence and enthusiasm, which made them indeed a pleasure to work with.

Thank you for giving us your trust, and here's hoping that we may meet with you and your lovely daughters in the not too distant future here in our homeland, Israel

http://www.yadvashem.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Herzl
http://english.thekotel.org/
http://www.hebron.co.il/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel%27s_Tomb
http://www.etzion-bloc.org.il/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golan_Heights