Here’s Esti Samberg’s reflections on her highlights from another incredible week!

Two nights ago  night we went to Avnei Eitan, a camping site where we got to experience a taste of the great outdoors. Our evening kicked off with a great dinner and was followed by a bonfire where we roasted marshmallows and had a very inspiring kumzits. After the songs and stories, we each had an opportunity to speak about and reflect on the camp we ran this past week and a half. Everyone shared meaningful memories or talked about ways that they felt they made an impact, or how they were impacted. It was really special to hear everyone’s thoughts and reflections on the amazing Chesed that we were able to take part of, and I know it’s something we’ll all carry with us for the rest of our lives!

Wishing our extended JOLT Israel family a beautiful Shabbos and a meaningful Tisha b’Av! 

Shlomo Shaulian reflects on our last full day with Machaneh Hachi Achi-

Today, JOLT Israel and camp Simcha Layeled went to a robotic dairy farm and fruit picking. The day was ended by an amazing talent show, with performances of all different varieties. Aside from all of the fun and excitement, I personally felt that there was a deeper message to learn from all the acts. On the first day of camp, everyone was a little nervous to meet each other, but over the course of a week we grew closer and became like a family. The fact that we were all able to perform on stage shows the Achdut of the Jewish people and the great amount of love one Jew has for another.

This week was jam-packed with fun activities and leadership opportunities as the teens set up for and started our camp with Simcha La’Yeled, Machaneh Hachi Achi. As we look forward to another incredible Shabbos, Noa Drazin shares some of her favorite parts of the week – 

One of my highlights from this past week was going water rafting with the Simcha L’Yeled campers. Seeing everyone’s smiles and everyone cheering together impacted me greatly. The bus rides brought us together and helped us connect and make amazing friendships. On the raft we splashed each other and joked around. It was so much fun and I can’t wait to see what we do next week!

Three days into another incredible week, Daniel Friedman shares him personal highlight-

Yesterday we went to the Kineret and had team building exercises. We built rafts and had a race to see which one was the best. In the water, everyone got out of their rafts and splashed everyone and it was awesome . This activity made me realize that we are a mishpacha on Jolt Israel. I had a ton of fun.

Today was an awesome day! Here are some reflections from Sela Ratner-

Today we went on a hike to Nachal Amud. At first thought, in really hot weather, the hike seemed intimidating and way over my head. But after a 3 hour bus ride, the combination of beautiful scenery, great conversation, and overall bonding made the day one that I will never forget. The climax of the hike was the refreshing pool of water. Instantly everyone was comfortable and a giant water fight broke out. Nearing towards the end, Yoel spoke about the history of our surroundings and how everything in life has two sides- the shell and the core. Reflecting back, though the shell of the hike seemed overwhelming, once on our way, the core brought out the family within us.

After a late first night, the teens woke up early today for an exciting day of hiking in Ir David, davening at the Kotel, felafel lunch, and exploring the Shuk. As we look forward to welcoming in our first Shabbos in the holy land, Ora Hochberg shared some of her highlights of the day –

Today we had a really exciting tour of Ir David and the Chizkiyahu water tunnels led by Yoel. One of the amazing of it was that he used Tanach as a huge part of the tour. It really brought Tanach alive and helped me connect the stories to everything we were looking at. For example, we learned about a stamp that was excavated at Ir David that had on it the name of a scribe who is mentioned specifically in a pasuk! It was so cool!

Have a beautiful Shabbos everyone!

Yesterday was Tisha B’Av and we started with a very powerful Eichah reading and kumzitz at Herodim, the site where the final Jews remaining in Eretz Yisroel stood and watched the Churban, unable to help. It was really special because usually I am at home in Teaneck and I don’t feel as connected to what happened. But this year when I was in Israel, I felt the connection to the Jewish people and what we lost as a nation. Only 40 minutes away from the Kotel the holiest place in the world, it really affected me and made me feel part of the Jewish nation. The next morning we had a beautiful shacharit and kinot, made even more meaningful thanks to the English translations from Rabbi Weinberg that really allowed us to understand what we were saying and connect to the words even more. After a short break, we got to hear from a speaker who talked to us about Bnei Yisroel’s transition from the desert to Israel and tied it in to how we can step up and be leaders. Then we had mincha and some down time to nap or watch a movie. I ended up staying for the movie and we watched “Defiance” which was based on a true story about a group of brothers hiding from the Nazis in a forest where they manage to fight back and build a village for other refugees. We had the privilege to spend the rest of Tisha B’Av at the kotel. It was incredible to see the size of the crowd gathered there davening and singing. When the fast was over we all got back to the bus to go to Gush Etzion to break our fast on a delicious dinner. Not only was it one of the best meals I had while I was in Israel it was also a chessed to help support the Jewish community in the gush region. It was really a once in a lifetime experience and one that I won’t ever forget.

Orly Hahn

After a late wake up and a delicious breakfast, we loaded the buses and head out to an artifact dig in Emek Tzurim. We had a brief introduction by an amazing instructor, Frankie, who gave us the history of the dirt we would be sifting through. Since we are currently in the 3 weeks, we looked through dirt from a tunnel that went from the City of David to the Gichon water pool that was used as an escape route for the Jews as the Romans were invading Jerusalem. It was incredibly fascinating to be able to find pottery, glass, bones and metal from over 2,000 years ago, and help us understand this story on a more personal level. My group even found a coin from the Hasmonean time period!! Following the sifting, we all enjoyed our lunch in a beautiful park next to Yamin Moshe. Then, we loaded the buses and went to my favorite activity of the day- StandWithUs. There, we learned how to properly advocate for the state of Israel. This is incredibly important, especially as leaders, to know the importance of defending our homeland. It was an incredibly fascinating experience that we all enjoyed.  Afterwards, we spent time in Me’a She’arim, starting with Manny’s book store, where we were all given the opportunity to select one Sefer of our choice, up to 60 Shekel, as a gift. We were also given 2 hours of free time to walk around and go into the different stores in the area. Some of us enjoyed the best potato kugel and chulent in Geula, while others ate pizza and french fries nearby. We ended this busy day in a perfect way- a chill and relaxing movie night. Overall, today was absolutely amazing, each activity better than the next. I’m looking forward to spending Shabbat in Jerusalem!                       

 Reva Sanders

Today was totally eye opening. Every single part was jam packed with fun and new experiences. We started off early with 6:30 shacharit and had a beautiful davening. We then had an amazing breakfast which was a great start to our day. For our first activity, we drove to Tel Shiloh. We walked around the site and learned about the mishkan and how it relates to archaeological findings in that area. Then we learned about tefillat chana in the place where it actually happened. The girls had some time of reflection in the inspiring location while the boys had an uplifting kumzitz. On my way out of Tel Shiloh my cousin Maya and I met up with our mutual cousins who live in the area. We then drove to a makolet to buy snacks and drinks for soldiers who we knew we would see on our route. When we gave soldiers the snacks and cold drinks it was obvious that we made there day and it was inspiring to see large smiles from what seemed to us to be such a small act. We then stopped at a place to eat a variety of noodles and salads for lunch. Next we went to Shomron to hear the Samaritan “Kohen Gadol”. He taught us about the Samaritan culture and Ancient Hebrew. It was fascinating when he started to recite shema in Ancient Hebrew. We stopped at a lookout point overlooking Schem and Kever Yosef. It was really pretty and cool to look at. We then went sheep herding in Itamar. We as a whole family helped the sheep down a trail full of olive trees and thorn bushes. It was a hilarious and memorable experience which brought us closer together as a team and one big mishpacha. We came back to the hotel and had a beautiful dinner. We had chabura time with our learning groups and learned more ways to improve our leadership skills. Overall today was a great day filled with new experiences and I can’t wait to see what we are going to do in these next upcoming days!

-Yonah Steinberg