The second and final Shabbat of Birthright was spent in a Kibbutz not far from Jerusalem. By this time, I was coming to the realization that my trip was coming to a conclusion, and that real life was just around the corner. I spent much of the day reflecting what I had learned. Spent other parts preparing myself for the
Day 8 marked an infinitely more lighthearted day than the darkness that lurked all around the day before. We explored two different places that reminded us that where there seems to be nothing but emptiness and death, life lurks not far away. Ein Gedi was our first stop. Situated in the middle of a vast desert, it does not
I have written about keeping the Shabbat before on my blog, but when in Israel, the day of rest takes on a whole new meaning. In the United States, Friday night through Saturday night is considered the weekend, which for many is still a work day. In Israel, the entire country basically shuts down. All the shops close. All business
Today I spent my first true day in Israel. Already seeing how amazing the country is, I was still not prepared for the splendor of the north. First I went Banyas and got very close to the Lebenon border. The waterfall was a spectacular sight as was the gorge created by the river that eventually becomes part of the Jordan
This weekend is significant for a large portion of the Human Population. For Jews around the world, Pesach, known in English as Passover begins at sundown. All around the world, Jews will be having their Seder dinners with friends and family while retelling the exodus from Egypt. There will of course be lots of wine (4 glasses) and of course
This past weekend was the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. This holiday is unique in Judaism for quite a few different reasons. The first of these is that this is a predominantly known holiday even outside of the Jewish Community by the rest of the world. A second thing to note that this is one of the two holidays that
As I continue to explore my faith with Judaism, I have been coming to terms with ideas I have been grappling with almost my entire life. First and foremost of these ideas is the belief that Torah is outdated and religion in general does nothing more than hold us as a species back. The more and more I understand