Guest Blogger on Our Last Day of GIVE: Sarah Rosenblum

Hi my name is Sarah Rosenblum. I’m 16 years old and I live in West Hempstead, NY! The last day of GIVE came so quickly. It feels like just yesterday we all landed in Israel for the Best. Summer. Ever. On our last day, some of the girls woke up at 3 am to hike Massada, while the rest of us woke up at a regular time and headed to Ben Yehuda. It was a truly amazing experience to be able to explore Israel in the middle of all the hustle and bustle with all of my friends. After lunch we walked to Ma’asharim. Many of us got new siddurim to remind us of our experience in Israel. Following our day out we went back to our hotel, packed up, and got ready for banquet and the ceremony preceding it. At the Ceremony we all sat in a circle passing around a candle, sharing our memories and thoughts from our time on GIVE. It was simply beautiful to hear everyone’s experiences. Seeing a lot of the girls get emotional was truly inspiring. After listening to everyone’s meaningful words we headed to the banquet where we shared our last few d’var torahs for the summer. My favorite part of the night was when the advisors selected books from the beit midrash to give to each girl with a personal note inside. We then said our goodbyes and headed to the airport. NCSY GIVE was truly the most inspiring, spiritual, and over all amazing summer I have ever had. I know the connections I made with everyone will last with me for a lifetime and beyond. GIVE 2014 will without a doubt be part of me forever.