Warsaw & arrival in Israel!!

On Thursday, we had the chance to visit a tranquil & peaceful cemetery in Warsaw. This cemetery hasn't been touched much since the end of World War II and was incredible to see so many headstones and hear the story of some incredible individuals. We then went to visit the Nozyk Synagogue, which is still used today and had a wonderful ceremony all together. From there, we had the incredible opportunity to meet some Polish teens at the local JCC. The students had a wonderful dialogue with the teens, asked many questions, talked about how the Holocaust was thought in Polish classrooms and had the opportunity to just get to know them on a personal level. They joined us for the next few hours while we toured some monuments around Warsaw such as seeing part of the Warsaw Ghetto, Umschlagplatz, and memorial to Mila 18 and then ended up at the Warsaw Uprising Memorial in front of the Museum for Polish Jews. We concluded our time in Poland by walking around the old city of Warsaw, seeing the people, beautiful buildings and relax before heading to Israel on an overnight flight.

We arrived in Israel very early in the morning and everyone was just so thrilled to be in Israel it didn't matter that we arrived before 4am. From the airport, we went to the Palmachim Beach near Tel Aviv where we hung out in the beach, dipped our feet in the Mediterranean Sea and simply enjoyed being in Israel all together as one IST Community. People were throwing Frisbees, playing soccer and just having an amazing time. We all sang the Shehechiyanu blessing since this was the first time that our entire IST Community (including the Israelis) were together as one giant family. After some wonderful time on the beach, we drove to Jerusalem where we experienced walking through the water tunnels of Hezekiah's Tunnel. After exploring them, we walked together to the Western Wall where each student was handed their letters from home and just experience being at the Wall for the first time, hearing supportive & loving words from home and just being in the moment. Many of the guys wrapped tefillin for the first time and said their blessings in front of the holiest site in the world for Jews. Everyone had such a unique experience, but also knew they would be coming back later in the trip and take more of it in.

We left Jerusalem and went to Kibbutz Almog where we spent our first Shabbat together. It was filled with such joy, singing and magical feeling that you can only get from an IST Shabbat in the Holy Land. After so much traveling and plane flights, the students had the chance to rest & relax whether at the pool, going for a run, playing soccer or simply napping. We had a wonderful Havdalah service to end Shabbat before heading into Jerusalem for a night out on Ben Yehuda Street. What a start to our time in Israel!!!

Warsaw Cemetery