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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Taglit Birthright Israel December 14, 2011 Trip

Hi Birthrighters,

It's so exciting to be sharing this amazing experience with you.



Sunday, March 14, 2010

Friday March 12



Early in the morning we headed down to Wainright Park. Even though we had had a long night the night before we all got up early to make it to the park on time. We where explained that the project would eventually lead to creating a nature trail for all to enjoy seeing as a lot of native and special plants of Florida reside there including a couple of extinct wild orchids. One problem they faced was that there were several homeless people living in this fenced in forest who with them brought a lot of garbage. Our task was to pick up the garbage so that the men in charge of the park could continue on to eventually accomplish their project goals. Earlier in the day a bus came to the park offering to take the homeless people to a shelter but most of them refused to leave. The director Juan said that once the homeless people start seeing that there is more activity in the park and that they are trying to maintain the park they will leave. It was quite amazing to see the variety in the garbage we found anything from staplers to bicycles and fishing rods. There was a lot of garbage and I believe our group all together did a great job at the park and got a lot more garbage picked up than what the four men could do alone. Juan and the other guys were really appreciative of our work and were very happy to see all we did.
-Angela Serna

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Thursday March 11



Miami never fails us and still manages to be beautiful, even in the rain. Today our lovely ladies visited the Salvation Army to help prepare meals for their soup kitchen. Our help wasn’t needed initially so we had a discussion that I think spoke to a lot of people. We discussed aspects of volunteering, focusing on where volunteering actually makes its impacts and how we can build a community that feels the responsibility to give back.

In volunteering at yesterday’s organic farm we planted only one row of eggplants and peas. Initially I didn’t feel as if I had made a difference but in group discussion we saw all the many impacts that our simple planting will have. The majority of our impact will come from the awareness that we will bring back with us to Blacksburg. We learned that if the US were to close all of its borders then we would be only 9 days away from no food. We discussed the importance of buying local, which also includes buying within the US, which will keep money circulating in our country, help the farmers businesses, and enable the US to be self-sufficient. By later telling friends, we help that farmer as well as American farms in general to succeed. Our single row of plants saved the farmer and his helper one days worth of work, an immediate benefit, but our newfound awareness makes a continuous impact. Another important point was that we established that volunteering is very important to us but much frustration was felt in the task of trying to convince others to join in our efforts. Lauren Fialkow pointed out that lecturing does not work; to move people to volunteer it is first necessary is to give them an experience which in turn makes them passionate to learn and then to act. Amanda Werner made a point that volunteering in her sorority is not only required but also accessible and fun because all of her friends are also doing it. Sororities are known for their focus on philanthropy work and from this I gathered that volunteering can be cultural. We should strive to create a community where volunteering is a fun and easy everyday act and social expectation. This way the feeling of responsibility to give back will naturally be incorporated. By having the discussion first, I think that there was more awareness and appreciation for our actions as we did that days tzedakah.

At the Salvation Army’s soup kitchen, we met girls from the University of Georgia who were also on an alternative spring break and helping out at the shelter. Impressively, their group of fourteen was completely student organized and run. Very sadly, the group of people that we served food to were all HIV positive. We prepared a meal of sandwiches, French fries, salad and popsicles for them. The average life time cost of medicine for the average HIV patient is 500,000$. This Salvation Army provides a one year drug-free stay at the shelter with the price of medicine paid for. Afterwards we socialized with the salvation army residents. I am always surprised with how honest the less fortunate are. I think that because they are less burdened with daily worries they can often see the essential points of life more clearly. One man told me that, “the battle is not with the physical, it’s in your mind and how you perceive the world to be.” This relates back to our frustration with the task of trying to heal a troubled world, a task that seems overwhelming at times. His point could be interpreted that though we can’t fix everything, our perception and belief that success can come from even small acts will help us win the battle.

Angela and one of her friends who lives in Miami are part of Salsa Tech, the competitive salsa team at school. At night we joined them at a salsa club where we talked with their University of Miami friends, learned some salsa moves and watched Angela and her partner’s talented dancing.
Erin Wolpert

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Thank you students for all you teach me

Never thought so much about how staffing alternative breaks impact me. So often it is 20 people and one staff and so a big part of the break is spent with logistics, planning and jumping from one urgent need to another. This break with 10 female students, 3 of the students part of the leadership team and another staff person, my husband Jeff, who is good with logistics allows the freedom to reflect and delve into the meaning of social justice, Judaism, and my responsibility to myself and as an educator.

When I was young, I wanted to change the world. I tried, but the world did
not change. Then I tried to change my town, but the town did not change.
Then I tried to change my family, but my family did not change.
Then I knew: first I must change myself.
R. Israel Salanter from "To Heal a Fractured World"

How can I develop initiatives, conversations and opportunities for others if I am not passionate and impacted myself? I don’t believe one can. That is why I am listening deeply to informal conversations and feeling within my heart a core belief that there is hope for this world, our country, our state, our university, our Hillel, and our family to change the world for the better.

Working at the Women’s Shelter, a safe place, where we could send off positive feelings of hope. We shared stories, smiled, brought happiness to the women. We made a job that would take 2 days get done in a few hours. When we were done, the ladies smiled. We felt great. “Come back any time,” they said. We were able to give them a new agenda for the day, to bring them something. We showed them people cared; we cared and we wanted them to have freedom and dignity to go out in the world and take control.

I thought of Cupcake Brown and her autobiography that so affected me when I read it. It thought of others who had insufferable situations, but kept their optimism. Anne Frank did not survive her fate, but her optimism continues to ebb into our culture and create a way of thinking that no one else could have evoked. Can I contribute to that strong of an impact and change within our world?

If not me, would someone that had an opportunity to grow, reflect, develop as an individual because of my influence be the catalyst to positive change. I am already seeing it………….. It’s strange, but I am doing community service to help others; to give them a better life and make a difference, but I am reaping so much. I say to every one of the people who allow us to come into their places and work. Thank you so much. They seemed surprised that I am thanking them. They say thank you for all your work and for taking time to come here, but it is me who must thank them.
It is me who must thank the students.

Wednesday, March 10,






Today we went and worked on an organic farm with Dan. The drive there was little long, it took us a little over two hours to get the farm. But once we got there it was gorgeous. It was in a very different location than where the Lotus House was yesterday. We were in Homestead and it was much more open, with vegetation all around us. While at the farm we planted basil, snow peas, and eggplant. Dan only works with a few people on the farm and the farm is pretty big. The worker that we worked with only spoke Spanish, so we had to get Angela to come a talk to him. What was interesting about this service work was that farming and planting is not something that you see immediate results with; you have to wait to see the full benefits. Dan was very knowledgeable and spoke with us about the importance and difficulties with organic farming. Organic farming is an important part of our world today and it was great to see how it is actually done and understand the significance first hand. After the farm we went to lunch in a park at an all-organic place (of course!). It was quite tasty. We met a couple ladies from an agriculture advocacy group. We discussed with them different ways to promote organic farms/farming. After that we made a pit stop on the way to South Beach for some milkshakes, which were also delicious. We arrived in South Beach, walked around the beach, had some dinner, saw the sights, and then called it a night after a very long day. Today was a very long, but educational day. One thing that I will take from today is that community service does not always come with immediate results and though you may feel that you are not doing any good, the fact that you are doing something to “repair the world” (t’koon olam) and that it is definitely worth while.
Rachel Lamanna

Tuesday - March 9,

After waking up much earlier than anyone should have to on spring break, we headed first to the Jewish Museum of Florida. We learned a lot about the history of Jews in Florida and how they had such a great impact on shaping Florida’s history and making Miami one of the most populated Jewish areas in the world. After touring the museum we met with a local Jewish woman who, along with her husband, founded a Kosher food bank that has grown to feed hundreds of families in the area. Her speech about how just one person can make such a huge difference was really inspiring and made us all really excited to start our community service. For the rest of the afternoon we volunteered with Lotus, a woman’s shelter. The shelter places an emphasis on teaching the women to be independent once they leave the shelter by helping them with their resumes, helping them to find job interviews, and teaching them basic skills such as cooking. Just seeing how much of an impact the shelter had on these women, many of them with young children, and hearing about the 2 month waiting list just to be able to live there, really made us appreciate our own homes as well as all the opportunities that we have that these woman may never get to experience. After dinner we went to the Jewish Federation of Greater Miami where we met Hillel groups from other universities that are in Miami doing community service over spring break. A panel of exceptional leaders talked to us about the importance of community service and how what we are doing has such an impact. One woman just got back from volunteering in Haiti two weeks ago and her stories of hope in such a devastated country were really touching. Today was just the beginning of our weeklong act of community service and already we can see the impact we are going to have on people’s lives.
Liana Farb
Amy Prager

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Monday - March 8, 2010

WE’RE IN MIAMI! But…it took us ALL day to get here! After a short wait in the tiniest airport on Earth, we boarded the Allegiant plane to Orlando for a rocky flight that lasted just over an hour. We claimed our bags and got our rental vans/car. Inexperienced Florida drivers braved the unfamiliar highways (and countless tolls), all the while being harassed by hungry girls, craving nothing but Wendy’s. Four hours and a million wrong turns later (and after hitting a couple posts in the middle of the road- thank goodness they were rubber), we finally reached our destination and checked into our hotel. Pleasantly surprised by the balconies, personal kitchens, and beds for each girl, we explored the hotel and enjoyed the 70 degree weather before making lunch and going to bed! We’re excited to begin our work tomorrow and experience the culture of Miami! We hope to gain a better appreciation for our own environment, in addition to opening our perspectives to other lifestyles and needs.
Amanda Werner
Rachael Kester

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Hillel at Virginia Tech’s Women’s Alternative Spring Break to Miami


This Spring Break beginning March 8 through March 15, ten women will be traveling to Miami to participate in an Alternative Break doing community service; “Hokies in Miami, Serving to Make a Difference”. We have Jewish and non-Jewish participants.
While we are there we will be meeting and learning from highly influential women. We hope the outcome will allow the students to have an action plan when returning to campus. We have a fledgling Rosh Chodesh Women’s Group beginning within Hillel. We are anxious to see how this trip impacts the group. We encourage questions like what does it mean for me to be a point of change; can I be? What did I learn about myself and was I only here to help others? How will/does that impact me –affectively, behaviorally, and cognitively? We have our long itinerary on our website at www.vthillel.org and we will have an ongoing blog where women will write about the experience that day that most impacted them.
We believe have many ideas that we will work on to highlight issues that impact the lives of women. Below are the top 16 (in honor of the Women’s Center at Virginia Tech’s 16th anniversary) things we will do to increase awareness of women's and gender issues, to educate others, and to make a difference for women and girls, locally and globally!

Discussions on women’s gender intertwined in 5 planned conversations and many informal discussions throughout our ASB.
1. Making a Difference
2. Jewish Memory (after Holocaust Museum)
3. Hope and Responsibility
4. Myself as a Point of Change
5. Integrating Our Experience
6. Readings from “ A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book” by Aliza Lavie
7. Work in a Women’s Center (Lotus House)
8. Begin the tradition of an orange on the Seder Plate for Passover – signifying lesbian, gay, women awareness
9. Meeting with Lori Drutz, Director of Greater Miami Jewish Federation Volunteer Center
10. Meeting with Toby Ash, founder of Kosher Food Bank
11. Panel discussion with Donna Shalala, President of University of Miami
12. Hands on work on Organic Farm, tour and discussion with farmers
13. Service work at Wainwright Park in Brickell
14. Museum visits, Portraits of 48 Jews Exhibit, History of Jews in Florida
15. Service work at Salvation Army in thrift store and facility
16. Women lead Shabbat Service and Havdallah

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Impact - Poem for Marilena Librescu

In Israel, we visited with Marilena Librescu, who is the wife of Liviu Librescu, the Professor who saved a classroom full of students on April 16, 2007. I wrote this for her.

Impact
What effect can one dollar, one person have on the world?
Liviu Librescu, an education, father, husband, companion, friend, proud Israeli, Hokie, and a Hero
Impact
Courage, more than just a word; rather an action.
A fraction.
Of what we will ever experience
The Holocaust, Immigration, and then the Ultimate Sacrifice
But, there's still life...
Within our souls, our minds, and our thoughts
Impact
On his students, on America, on Israel, and around the World
A choice, a voice.
His heart, a start
His passion, his action
His wisdom, our knowledge
Impact
Brilliant, yet humble, sincere, and kind
A family man who was genuine all the time
Honorable, the epitome of Ut Prosim
Time is frozen...
The past is never dead, it isn't even past
His memories will last.
Forever, living within our souls
Forever, growing our minds
Forever, realized in our thought
Our angel lives today
Impact

Brandon Carroll

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Returning Home

by Josh Spodick (notes) Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 10:49am

40 Students
8 Israeli Soldiers
1 Guard / Medic
1 Tour Guide
2 Staff Members
1 Bus (with an extra spare tire)
Countless unforgettable experiences

A bunch of best friends in a home that is always welcoming

----------------------------------------------------------

Upon returning to the U.S. after an incredibly long flight; after going through customs; after finding all the people in the group; after sorrowful goodbyes around the luggage carousel filled with promises of road trips to see each other soon; after stopping for breakfast on the way home; after giving gifts to my parents; after going through all of the pictures with them; I laid down in bed with the intention to take a nap after 10 days of sleep deprivation. I found myself unable to fall asleep despite the exhaustion. I was left with a feeling in my chest. It was an odd feeling. A hole; a vacancy that was difficult to fill. What could it be? Of course I’m sad it’s over, and I truly hope to remain close with everyone on my bus, but why do i feel this way now? Why is the absence of the group so overwhelming? Why can’t my exhaustion overcome the sorrow and just let me fall asleep and dream as if I were back? All of the people on the trip that I met have touched me in a way not easy to do. The collective experience we all shared is one that will live with me through to the chapter eternal. I now know the true price of this “free trip”. It comes with the cost of this vacancy; this longing to return to Israel with all of my new found close friends.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Day 8

When one thinks of a soldier, the idea of a strong, tough-minded person comes to mind. This didn’t seem quite so when most of our Israeli soldiers held tissues and shed tears at our first stop of the morning: Mt. Hertzl Cemetery. Yet, they were not the only ones – many in the group had glassy eyes, some even with sunglasses to hide them. But as we went from grave to grave, story to story, it dawned on me that the tears of our supposed strong companions were not only for the loss of those they knew and did not, but tears of thanks. Such a small country with so few soldiers faced so much adversity and won. Those soldiers who have fallen were their main source of daily strength. There was no more doubt – we stood amongst eight of the very strongest people this world could ever find us.
At the end of our tour of the cemetery, the emotions did not stop. It was time for us to say goodbye to our soldiers, our friends. Many of the kindest words were exchanged, followed by some joking and laughter to keep us all from feeling more of the weight of the heavy day. After many a picture, we were forced to walk away.
The bus was not quite the same after that. Eight seats were now empty that should have held eight integral parts of our family. The only thing that kept us going was knowing that Facebook would keep us together while we are an ocean apart. There were also promises that they would see us off at the airport Saturday evening.
As if Birthright did not see enough heavy heads, our afternoon stop was to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum. We first saw the nicest and sweetest old man from Holland who spoke to us about being a survivor. There were jokes throughout his speech which all found extremely refreshing in juxtaposition to his heart wrenching story. We then went on a guided tour throughout the amazing museum. The artifacts that they managed to collect under the roof of greatly-architectured building was astonishing. Due to time restraints, we were unable to see it all which upset many.
The whole day made each and every bus member thankful for their life and the way they lead it.

-Stefanie Kaplan, Binghamton University

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Day 6

When we heard that the wakeup call this morning was at 7:30 am, everyone cheered. Compared to 6 am the day before, this was sleeping in. After we ate breakfast and got all the luggage in the bus we left Ashkalon and headed south towards a kibbutz. This kibbutz was special because back in 1945 during Israel’s War for Independence, a group of 18-21 year olds lived here and secretly operated an underground bullet-making factory. We got to climb down into the basement where the bullets were made and learned about how despite the constant danger of being caught by the British, these people made over 10,000 bullets every day to help Israel fight the war. We then left the kibbutz and stopped at a roadside market where we ate a delicious lunch of schwarma. Afterwards we traveled to a bunch of ancient ruins and underground caves where some of the Macabes used to live. We climbed through a few of the caves and looked for pieces of clay on the ground that were from pottery pieces from that time. Finally, we rode an hour south to the desert! A tribe of Bedouin people live here and this is where we are spending the night. We walked out away from the tents to the middle of the desert just as the sun was setting. We all spread out and just sat on the rocky ground, not talking, soaking in the fact that we were in the Israel desert. Then we were given a presentation by a Bedouin man and then all sat in a tent on floor mats and were served dinner. Tonight we are going to a bonfire and then all sleeping in a huge tent. Hopefully we don’t freeze.

Tzedekah Day 5

Our fifth day in Israel showed us all a side we rarely hear about from the news; we called it Tzedakah (the Hebrew word for justice). The day began with an early wake-up in order to leave the hotel, followed by discussion time. This discussion involved the poverty in Israel that is rarely seen by tourists. Our first stop of the day was “Pitchon Lev,” an organization very similar to the Salvation Army. Here we divided into two groups, one was in charge of sorting clothing while the other group did inventory in the food bank. Then it was back on the bus to stop for a quick lunch before we headed off to the green house in Ein Shemer. Upon arriving in the greenhouse we were given a short tour. It was here that we learned that all the projects and experiments occurring in this greenhouse were conducted by student’s grades 7-12. We were then given some homemade tea and taken into a room where we talked about art and expression with one of the greenhouse workers, who is also a modern artist. After a short presentation we were all given the opportunity to create our own art on the canvas of hats. Let’s just say that we should leave the art to the artists. Our last and final stop of the day was to visit Marlena Librescu, wife of Professor Levi Librescu a Holocaust survivor who heroically gave his life to save his students’ lives on April 16, 2007. Marlena welcomed us with opened arms to her home located in a beautiful retirement community. We were also fortunate enough to meet Jamal, one of the students who Professor Librescu saved with his actions. After this heartfelt visit we got back on the bus and made our way to Ashqelon and our hotel for the night. Upon arriving at the hotel we quickly grabbed dinner and headed to the marina for an hour of free time, before heading back to the hotel for the night.







Sunday, January 3, 2010

Day 4 in Israel





Bob Loblaw’s Birthright Blog
Today was our fourth day in Israel. Our wake-up call was at 7:00 am, which naturally meant that no one got out of bed until 8:00. Immediately after eating breakfast we were introduced to our soldiers. We are given the privilege to be accompanied by eight soldiers. The girls swooned with joy when they were introduced to the five male soldiers. We then proceeded to the Golan Heights for our jeep tours. It’s a good thing we took last night easy because we can honestly say that we were in for a rough ride. We traveled along mine fields fenced off by signs that said in English and Hebrew “Danger, mine fields” and our tour guide proceeded to tell us that the Arabic translation on the sign actually said “picnic area.” We then were treated to a gourmet lunch at McDonalds. After which we went on a hike in the old city of Tel Dan, the ancient northern border of Israel. Our tour guide walked us through the steps that allowed Israel to identify the city as the one that was written about in the torah; this land was really given to us as our Jewish birthright. We then proceeded to go to a mountain that overlooked Syria in which we were able to walk through a bunker used by the Israeli soldiers. We then watched a short 20 minute film about the Yom Kippur war, although short it was a very intense and moving film. On the bus ride back everyone passed out due to exhaustion from our non-stop day. We look forward to spending time with our new additions of bus 857! More to come tomorrow…. –Steve Holt! (chechaw chechaw chechaw)
Written by: Jared, Allison, and Jason
Spiced up by: Maya and Hadas

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Zefat and Shabbat

On day two, we all woke up to an early start at 7 o’clock, still a little jet lagged. After a hardy breakfast, we hopped on the bus and took a 40 minute windey ride up to Zefat. From the top of the mountain, we got a beautiful view of Lake Kineret, the only lake in Israel and all of Tiberias. The mountain was covered in a white rock with green grass, in between, which looked really neat. Once we got up to Zefat, the weather was a little on the chilly side with a little rain. We learned that Zefat was one of the four holy cities in Israel. The streets were made of stone with a draining system and there were tzedakah boxes all around, in which all of the students donated. First, we strolled the narrow streets, peeking in the alleys and dodging the hasidic Jews who came our way. We made our way to a grotto where all sat and listened to our tour guide tell the story of how Kaballah (which began in Zefat) grew. We then went to the synagogue named in honor of the creator of Kaballah which was absolutely unique. Inside the temple, there were shrapnel holes in the beema from where bombs exploded right ourside.
Next, we got a little break to look inside the shops and finally, the fog started to rise, showing a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. A man on the corner was selling delicious pomegranete, which most students got and were raving about. The candle shop on this street was incredible, selling beautiful havdallah and hannukah candles. After our shopping venture, we checked out another synagogue and learned its history. we got another break in which we roamed the streets, looking at different shops that sold beautiful Judaica gifts. I (Ari!) got a two hundred year old Siddur on the street for super cheap.
On our ride back down the windey road, we had fun times on the bus before stopping for a delicious lunch of falafel and shwarma. Our next stop was the cemetery in which many famous Israeli heros were burried. The view overlooking the cemetery was beautiful as we listened to some of the life stories of the diseased.
We made our way back to the hotel for Shabbat candles and dinner. We joined together with the other buses we are traveling with in order to celebrate our day of rest in Tiberias. After candles, we went into our respective services and called it a night. We spent the night together with our group and getting to know others. AHHH what a trip….more to come tomorrow!!!

Friday, January 1, 2010

Taglit Birthright Bus 857 Begins the Journey








Birthright Bus 857
After facing 15 degree New Jersey weather, getting questioned at the airport, searched up and down, we learned firsthand how thorough El Al security can be. Aaron Punim and Justin Gorkawitz were randomly chosen by El Al security to switch ID’s to test the gate interrogators. Aaron’s interrogator picked up on the falsified documents while Justin successfully fooled his with the assistance of Aaron’s sister, Danielle.
After being reduced to canned sardines for 10 hours, we finally landed in the beautiful land of Israel.... 70 degrees. Hello there parents, this is Chad Meyers, Aaron Punim, and Rachael Kester reporting from Israel on Day one.
It was a rough day to say the least, with our day starting as soon as we got off the plane (it was 7 am when we landed). To those who slept little on the plane (this guy (chad)) it would be a struggle. We started in Jaffa, an old Arabic city that existed before neighboring Tel Aviv was more than sand. With a beautiful view of the sparkling Mediterranean, we took our seats and were introduced to our tour educator, Gal, and our security person Shirom. With the smell of a cool spring air in our noses, we were left with half an hour of free time after our initial welcomes, and explored the surrounding area with glee.
We started with Jaffa, with its churches made it feel just outside the realm of true Israel, and soon departed for the beginnings of Tel Aviv. The first Hebrew city, Tel Aviv sprouted literally from the sand to becoming the thriving center of culture it is today. We watched/passed out a video on how the city came to be, and visited the room where Israel was officially declared a country. It was very surreal to leave the building after seeing pictures of that house in the middle of the desert, to viewing towering skyscrapers that stand today. It truly brought a new meaning to the building of a nation. I believe that many of us have a new connection to Eretz Israel; as Ben Gurion said, Israel is a state that belongs to ALL Jews! (meaning us too).
Rewarded with an hour of free time, we soon explored the open markets and festive activates of the city. Haggling was done, falafel was eaten, and no one got lost. Mission accomplished. We ended our long day with a trip to one of the most historic areas in all of Israel, the spot were Prime Minister Rabin was shot and killed. Rabin, the leader of Peace with Palestine, was close to finally solving the conflict and bringing calm to the area. With his death brought continued violence and no clear solution in sight.
3 hours in the bus later, we arrived at our hotel in Tiberius to celebrate the New year and Schluff. Day 2 tomorrow!