Summer 2018

August 7

Today was super fun! We started off our day by a mountain called Masada. A cable cart lifted us to the top of the mountain. The view was breath taking. We then learned about who built on top of the mountain and the history behind each structure. We then made our way to Ein Gedi. We hiked to a waterfall and then had a chance to enjoy hanging out by the water. It was great to cool off and was really so beautiful. Then we went to the dead sea. This was really cool because the water is filled with salt so it causes everyone to float. It was fun to hangout by the beach. Some of us even played volleyball which was super fun. We then for night activity had fun challenges to complete. Lastly, we watched all the videos from the program together. That was really special to see how far we’ve come in only a month. And was also cool to see all the different friendships developing. Was the most amazing summer ever 🙂

Written by Shayna Travis

Shabbat August 4:
This week was our last Shabbat of the summer. We enjoyed every minute of it by eating, singing, and hanging out together. It was really special because we are a family at this point and therefore it was a really meaningful last shabbas together. We got to hear from an amazing Hatzalah couple who shared their experiences and wisdom with us, giving us a deeper look into what being part of hatzala really is. Hearing about how these people dedicate so much of their time to helping others is truly inspiring and motivates all of us to continue to help others as well. After Shabbat we got to have our final color war competitions with team aichud/united/ white team winning. Color war gave us the opportunity to work as a team while having fun competing against each other. The competitions included guessing candy flavors, creating a fashion design out of a garbage bag and news paper, giving the best bracha/blessing to one of our advisors and more. It was a really fun experience. 

By Batyah Jasper

Today we traveled to the beautiful city of Tzfat. In Israel there are four holy cities that each represent one of the four elements. Tzfat is the city of air. This is because tzfat is a mystical city that is in the clouds. Tzfat is rich with art of all types and therefore today was filled with shopping. We explored the streets of tzfat in order to find the most beautiful jewelry, paintings, and candles. We then drove to the kineret where we met up with the hatzalah water team. We took turns riding in speed boats in order to replicate the procedure we follow in case of a water emergancy or accindet. After we got off of the speed boats we relaxed under the sun and really enjoyed just spending time with one another in the clear and warm water of the kineret. 

By Fay Koyfman
Today was a funfilled day. We started our day off with greeting our new Israeli Madrich, Zev. We then went to Mt. Bental and there we heard the heroic stories of the men that fought in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. It was so interesting to hesr the personal stories of these soldiers. We then traveled to De Karina, a chocolate boutique in the Golan Heights. There we saw the history of this third generation family tradition of chocolate making and even had the opportunity to see how the chocolate is made, taste the chocolate, and even create our own chocolate treats. After De Karina, we went rafting down the Jordan River where some of us got a workout and others got some rays of sun. After which, we enjoyed the first Rescue Israel talent show. We saw tons of talents ranging from dancing, juggling, singing, and so much more. It was a sight to see. 

Written by Esti Polotsky

Wednesday, August 1st, was an eventful day on Rescue Israel. We started off the day down south in Eilat and drove all the way up North to Tel Aviv. Our bus ride was full of laughter, music and enjoying everyone’s amazing company. We then traveled to Tel Aviv and arrived ready to water ski! We suited up and stood in line while wobbling on our water skis. After the wait, we all had the chance to prove ourselves on the skis. Some of us fell right as we got into the water, while others water skied around the lake more than five times. We all had a blast and we were ready to go onto our next adventure. We then got on the bus and prepared to go to Save a Child’s Heart. Save a Child’s Heart is an phenomenal organization geared towards helping children with congenital heart diseases. Children from all over the world come to Israel to have a chance at a new life. These precious children travel to Israel from Tanzania, Zanzibar, Ethiopia, etc. This foundation has given these children a chance to be saved without having to worry about how to pay off medical bills. We visited the kids and let them fill our hearts with love. We played with them, danced, sang, colored and had an amazing time spending quality uninterrupted time with them. We came expecting to help them out, but we left with a connection built only in an hour. We hugged and had emotional goodbyes soon after just meeting them. The connections we made with these children will stay with us forever. All we needed was a smile on our face and positive energy and we made connections to last a lifetime. After this wonderful experience we traveled to our next location near the Kineret, Ohalo Manors where we would be staying for a few days. Overall, this day was all sorts of fun and meaningful experiences. We had opportunities to be in the water and enjoy the sun, while also giving back to the land of Israel and spending time with children from Save a Child’s Heart. I want to thank NCSY Summer for giving me this incredible opportunity to better my relationships with my Rescue Israel community and also my love for the land of Israel. August 1, 2018 was a memorable day that I will look back upon for days to come.

By Eliana Oshinsky:
Tuesday morning we woke up in Eilat with the sun shining through the windows and the palm trees blowing with the breeze. We started off the day with extreme water sports. From zooming through the sea on a tube, to riding on a banana boat, the Eilat waters kept us nice and cool. After that, we took a boat far into the bright blue waters and went snorkeling with the beautiful fish surrounding us. The boat ride itself was an adventure with the blasting music and the stunning view of the Red Sea. After lunch at Burgers Bar, we took a bus ride to scuba-diving. Scuba-diving was the most amazing experience! We swam through the blue waters surrounded by the beautiful coral reefs and exotic fish. Among those were eels, lion fish, and crabs. It was truly incredible, I highly recommend going. Our day in Eilat was very memorable and I will definitely be back for more! 🙂

Written by Lee Kaylie

Our last Thursday of the program began with our first wake-up, davening, and breakfast at our new hotel on the Kineret shores, The Ohalo Manor. Soon, however, nearly all of us journeyed to the eastern shores of the Galilee Sea to partake in something few, if any, of us have ever done: raft building. This consisted of building an 8-10 man raft out of bamboo, barrels, wooden pallets, and a lot of rope. After splitting into two teams, we each helped build our respective rafts, and then raced to the sea to recover one of our fellow campers from the sea and take apart our rafts. Our next amazing activity was a hike through a river. We had a blast trying to take each other down under water by means of deception and raw brute strength. Lastly, we ventured onto a party boat, listening and dancing to amazing songs by the likes of Miley Cyrus and Post Malone. However, the person who stole the show was our very own advisor Shabtai Peesin with his fluid and graceful moves to the “Cha Cha Slide. “

Today was such an amazing day! First of all, we were all so excited to be together again after our off weekends. The off time was fun and relaxing but we missed each other so much! We’ve really become a family here so it was hard to be away from everyone for even just a few days! 

This morning we learned about a city called Yerucham. It is a city in the middle of the desert. We also visited a robotics center and learned that Yerucham is the most advanced in robotics in the country and has even beaten America in competitions. 

Next, we visited David Ben Gurions home! This was so cool because we were learning about the first Israeli prime minister! To see where he lived and learn how he started this country was extremely meaningful. We learned how he began to make huge changes to the world at the young age of 20! We can do anything of we put our minds to it!

we then went camel riding which was a really cool experience. And then had a drill/hike at night which was nice because it wasn’t hot because of the night time. 

We settled our stuff in the Beduin tents because we will be sleeping there tonight. So cool to have this camping like experience in the middle of the desert! Can’t wait to see what the night brings! 

written by sam kolber

With early wake up, day 16 of Rescue Israel began. After davening and a quick breakfast we all climbed on the bus and promptly fell asleep for the hour drive to the Blind Museum in Tel Aviv. Spending an hour “blind” was an eye opener to many of us to the difficulties that blind and visually impaired people go through and how they have to adjust to a harsh situation. During the Q & A session, we got to ask questions to our guide with the best being “how are blind people able to drive”. After coming out of the museum we made our way to Jaffa were we took a walking tour of the old city in 90 degree sun, obviously with water and hats! Our guide, Yoni showed us the history of the city and how new and old buildings combined to create what we saw in from of us. After the tour we went to the Tel Aviv mall to get some lunch and relax. When we were done with that we got on the bus expecting to head back to Yerushiliam to get picked up for our off Shabbat but instead got told we were going to a surprise activity which turned out to be a scavenger hunt around Tel Aviv. Although we were exhausted from the day the competition between groups excited us giving us a boost of energy. Finally as things were slowing down on the ride back to Yerushiliam, we all managed to take a much needed nap. As our off Shabbat began we knew we were gonna sleep well that weekend.

Written by Ella Shapiro

Today I had a realization, the past, present and future all rely in ourselves and you may wonder how can that be, to see my point of view I will take you back into the past of the day. we first traveled to the maarat hamachpelah in chevron where Jewish history began and where our ancestors lived and died, we walked around and really took in the ideas of our partriarchs and matriarchs we then moved on to gush etzion were we learned about the people who fought for and died on Israeli land in order to take back the land that was rightfully theirs. We also experienced a drill where if there was a terrorist attack how we can respond medically to the victims. We also trained and really experienced the skills soldiers have in order to protect the country by learning krav umaga, the israeli style of defense. And of course we got to see some puppies training to become rescue dogs in the process! and finally we had a drill with rescue atvs which was so much fun, as we left the drill we witnessed the end to the day by watching a beautiful Israeli sunset. Explaining my point before we witnessed all of the stages of this world , we learned about our past which made us feel a connection in the present then leading us to be inspired and passionate to spread the amazing history of our country to future generations. Today was really an amazing and inspiring day and I feel that everyone really got something out of at least one activity if not all!