The four pictures above are from our class on Hellenism and the Greco-Roman culture. I put these in because I want to show you how interactive the classes are. We were all told to come to class in togas, and to demonstrate the Olympic Games, my friend and I wrestled in the middle of the classroom!







From where I last left you, I was about to leave for my first free weekend with the Madani family. Liron Madani was Lauren's exchange buddy and lived with our family for three months. She also visited us two summers later. I had only met Liron and her mom beforehand but I felt so at home with their family. On Friday, I toured their neighborhood, had an incredibly meaningful Shabbat dinner, and later in the night explored Tel Aviv with Liron and her sister Inbal. On Saturday, I went to lunch with their relatives. Later, Liron took me out to dinner and to the market to get some food for my dorm. I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot, but that's the jist of the weekend. Even though Lauren was the one that got to live with their family, I felt like I had known them my whole life. Like Liron said, this really is a lifelong connection between the two families.





Last week, we spent a day in the Old City of Jerusalem. In the picture above, you can see the remainder of the destruction of the Second Temple, the Beit HaMikdash. Below, etched into the wall, is a hebrew phrase. I might be mistaken, and I have to check, but I believe that it is from Ezekiel's Prophecy of the Valley of Dry Bones. It indicates that the spirit of the Jewish people will remain forever and outlive attempts to destroy it. It was so meaningful to see that phrase; even with the destruction of the Temple, the wall remains and more importantly, the Jewish people remain.





While in Jerusalem, we also went to the Israel Museum. Among other things, we saw the Dead Sea Scrolls. The above pictures show models of Jerusalem in the time of King Herod. While near Jerusalem, we did a hike in Nahal Rahaf, a beautiful area in the Judean Desert.













After Jerusalem, we spent the night in Ein Gedi, only to wake up at 3:45 the next morning to start our hike up Masada. The hike up was definitely challenging, but seeing the sunrise atop Masada was so beautiful. After a few hours exploring Masada and learning about Herod and the Zealots, we descended to the Dead Sea. At first, we were hesitant to go in (the water was freezing) but how could I not experience floating in the Dead Sea? It was so much fun.





The above two pictures are a sampling of the rest of my week. We spent a couple days roaming through caves and doing archaeological digs to learn about Bar Kochba and Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai.









On Friday morning, we went to Beit Shearim, where we learned in the same Beit Knesset that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi used to compile the Mishnah. Later in the day, I got picked up for my second open weekend. I spent time with my relatives in Tel Aviv. It was so exciting seeing them; I haven't seen most of them since I was two! It was a very relaxing and enjoyable Shabbat.

It was so much fun celebrating Purim in Israel! Saturday night, two of my friends and I dressed up as Moroccan warriors (or something close to it). There was a dance on campus that night. The next day, six friends and I tried our best to dress up as the Seven Dwarves. We spent the day at a major Purim celebration in Holon and later did community service, picking oranges for the poor.