Wednesday we woke up before the sun in order to hike Masada and see the breathtaking sunrise. We then visited a development town and, even later in the day, saw one of the biggest naturally occurring craters. Thursday we hiked up a canyon, visited Ben-Gurion’s home in the desert, and ate a lot of salad (and hot peppers) at the Salad Trail.
We ended the night in the coastal city of TEL AVIV! Today we pretended to be spies and saved the city! After that we explored Jaffa and ended our second week in Israel with the best kabbalat shabbat service ever overlooking the sunset on the Mediterranean Sea. 
On Monday, we started off our day with a quick drive through Eilat before spending the morning at the beach to cool off in the 110 degree weather. Next, we ate lunch at the Ice Mall, and in the afternoon we went on a bus tour through Timna Park, a former copper mining area. We saw the beautiful landscape there, as well as Solomon’s Pillars, ancient hieroglyphs, a copper mine, and early Israeli copper ovens in the Negev. We finished the day spending time as a group along the docks of Eilat.
The next morning, we visited the beautiful grounds of the Israel Museum, where we were able to see the Dead Sea scrolls, many old and new pieces of art, and the world’s smallest bible! Then, we headed over to the shuk (market) where we experienced culture, shopped, and ate some really good food. We then took a bus tour to other neighborhoods of Jerusalem, including the neighborhood of Gilo and the wall dividing Palestinian land from Israeli land. After the tour, we traveled to our new hotel, Eyal Hotel, and Vadim (our tour guide) said it was worth mentioning that the hotel is lovely; from the food to the rooms, we feel comfortable and have begun to make Israel our second home. That night was Shabbat, and we spent our evening at the Kotel; we had our own camp-style service, not forgetting to sit in a circle and sing hippie songs. The city was alive, with it being Shabbos, and hundreds of people took to the streets. We had never seen anything like it. We ended the spectacular night with an oneg (celebration) of our own (only the staff has a Friday night oneg at camp), and we went to bed with a nice, warm feeling having spent our first Shabbat together in Israel.
We landed at Ben Gurion Airport at 6:17 am on Tuesday morning and greeted our friends, Elinor and Tomer.
We then met our guides, Vadim and Shera, as well as our driver, Igor. We headed to Neot Kedumim, where we tested our our sheep herding skills and learned about Israeli history.
Then we drove to an archaeological dig, where we were guided by the archaeologist, Nimrod. There we dug to find 2200 year old artifacts such as pottery and coal. We explored an ancient cave that was used as a basement for keeping pigeons and other animals.
Driving back to the hotel, we said shehekheyanu on a vista looking out over Jerusalem.
On Wednesday, we woke up bright and early, ready to explore the Old City. But first, we listened to Reconstructionist Rabbi Steve Burnstein, who talked about the history of progressive groups in Israel and the conflicts that arise. After, we explored the walls of the Old City.
We then walked around the Jewish Quarter and ate delicious shawarma among other things. We toured more parts of the Old City and viewed the Dome of the Rock. Then we visited the Western Wall and discussed some of the inequalities surrounding it. Getting back on the air-conditioned bus after a hot day touring was a relief!
We’re all looking forward to learning more about Israel and exploring Jerusalem.
