Israel Week 1
Letter from Director
What a whirlwind of a week!
I cannot believe that we are already at our second Shabbat together as Biluim Israel 2022. It feels like just yesterday, we logged into our first pre-program and I was confronted with over 100 new faces. But we surely have been building an incredible family of participants, staff, and tour guides!
This week, our participants were pushed out of their comfort zones as we headed into the Northern parts of Israel to participate in a 3-day camping trip. What a time it was! As a chevre the three buses made camp at Goren Park in Western Galilee. The chevre cooked together, slept as a community, pushed each other to complete tiring hikes, and most notably conquered their repelling course!
As we closed up camp and said goodbye to the amazing trip staff, we headed to Kinneret where we cooled off with free time to enjoy the beach and freshwater! From there we split off into three Kibbutzim, our participants are getting a taste of Kibbutz life, furthering our Hadracha programming, and exploring more of the amazing Northern region. What could be better than spending the morning learning about co-existence in the region? Doing so at an Ice Cream factory!
Our week closed out with a visit and tour of the Mystical City of Tzfat. Our buses met artist Avraham, where we had a conversation about Kabbalah and our connection to faith and religion. You may know that Tzfat is home to some of the greatest art in Israel, and some of the participants may be coming home with a souvenir… or two!
As we wind down from this hectic week, I want to commend the participants of Biluim Israel 2022 on their willingness and excitement to jump into every new experience. Despite the heat, and busy schedule the group has, and continues, to be energized to learn and experience everything Israel has to offer. I cannot wait to see what our next week brings.
Shabbat Shalom,
Ellie Gamliel
Camper letter
Dear CYJ,
This week in Israel we finally were all together. The Poland campers met up with the rest of the campers from Canada in the Ben Gurion airport for a happy reunion. Once we were all together as a chevrah, we ended up going on a camping trip like many of you do. We started at the Mediterranean and ended at the Kinneret. For three days we hiked up mountains and slept under the stars. Through this experience we were able to bond as a chevrah.
After our camping trip was over, we split up to live in different kibbutzes and started exploring the North of Israel. As our second week is closing out, we learned to lean on each other for help. We encouraged each other to keep climbing the mountain, to challenge our fear of heights and go repelling, and to stay hydrated in the heat.
So as camp continues, remember to treasure your friends and lean on them for help when you need it. Shabbat shalom CYJ
From Maya Alvo (solelim) and NJ Sokoloff (kinneret)
