Right now we are sitting at Alon Moreh, at an unbelievable spot overlooking Shechem. We are spending this erev Tishah B’Av touring the Shomron. We began by going to Givat Molam where the majority of the organic eggs in Israel are produced.  We saw how an empty mountaintop can turn into the source of an industry when someone has a dream and acts on it.

Our next stop was Itamar. We had the opportunity to go to the yeshiva building that was built in memory of the Fogel family. Part of the Fogel family was murdered on a Friday night in 2011.  We watched a movie that taught us about how special the Fogel family was. The building is simply beautiful, with an Aron Kodesh that is indescribable.

After a windy drive, we made if to the top of Alon Moreh. We are sitting here listening to the history of this spot while looking at the breathtaking views of Shechem.

We will make one more stop at Har Grizim to see Shechem from a different angle before going back to Mevasseret, for what we hope to be a meaningful and inspiring Tishah B’Av.

Visiting an absorption center for the first time for many girls was an incredible experience.

An absorption center is a small community catered towards the Ethiopian community that made Aliyah to Israel in the recent years.

The girls highly enjoyed hanging out and getting to know all the various ages of the children in the center. The children there had so much fun playing all different types of games and activities with the GIVErs.

From painting their faces, playing sports, and just giggling together while getting to know each other, the GIVE girls made a huge difference in the center today as well as learning important things about different sects in our Jewish communities. By the time it was time to leave, both the Ethiopian children and the GIVE girls had such a hard time saying goodbye to their new friends! Each girl walked out of the center so excited about the experience they just had. It was an incredible day that everyone is sure to take back home with them!

We met for candle lighting and all of GIVE walked through the streets of Yerucham into the desert. We davened mincha, followed by a beautiful Kabbalat Shabbat with dancing as the sun set. It was so special to be all alone in the desert, with just our GIVE family.

We moved into the light of the nearby yeshiva for maariv, then walked back to our hotel for a delicious dinner. After singing, dancing, and Divrei Torah, some went to bed, while others stayed for an amazing and inspiring tisch.

Shabbos morning we woke up, davened, had kiddush, and divided into our chaburas to discuss the lifelong question: “Why are we Jewish?,” had lunch, followed by menucha time filled with friends, sleep, and learning. We met again for mincha and hilarious icebreakers. Then we had Beit Midrash-learning in groups, with friends, or with advisors. After shaleshudis we extended shabbos by 50 minutes for ebbing (as Shabbos ebbs away)- hearing our amazing advisor Aviyah tell us a story, followed by slow singing. Then our GIVE tatte, David Steible, made Havdallah, and we continued to dance and sing.

We met again 15 minutes later, and walked back into the desert for one of the most meaningful experiences so far this summer. Surrounded by only sand and the starry sky, our advisors Erika and Chen shared personal experiences, then we walked off into the desert alone to think and talk to Hashem in our own words, not the ones that we say from our siddurim every day.

Even though Hitbodedut is a personal, solitary, experience, it started many conversations on the way back to the hostel, where we were met with amazing pizza for dinner. Many boxes of pizza, conversations, pictures, and ping-pong games later, we were sent to bed to rest for an exciting day tomorrow!

After a long trip down south and sorting clothing in a local charity organization we are ready to begin our Shabbos in Yeruchum. There’s something special about being in a community that is in the middle of the dessert. We will have the opportunity to connect to both the land and to each other in ways we haven’t done before.

We had a phenomenal week of chessed and we can’t wait for another amazing week on GIVE!

Have a great Shabbos!

For the 85 girls on NCSY GIVE (Girls Israel Volunteer Experience), this summer is an opportunity to give back some of the good that they received in their lives. Over the next few weeks, the girls will contribute to the many needs of Jews living in Israel. But this week, they focused primarily on giving to the children of Israel.

Today we started off the morning going down south on a two hour bus ride to the city of Be’er Sheva. When we got to the school for disabled children, we got to decide between two options, painting the school to make it more beautiful or to work with the kids who have disabilities. I personally choose to work with the children! We split into groups of ten and made our way into different classrooms of varying ages. To walk in and see their smiling faces was just a truly amazing experience. At first I thought that it was going to be hard because not only were they handicapped but, there was also a language barrier. But just by playing with them, we were able to overcome those very challenges. My group colored, passed a ball around, played an indian chief type game and danced and sang. As the bell rang and it was time to end, we all went down to the main area and danced and sang with everyone…disabled or not!

After that we went to a field to participate in a special organization called Leket. There, we picked crates upon crates of  tomatoes that are then given to soup kitchens or to the poor. Between goofing off and throwing and juggling the tomatoes around, in the end it was really a cool experience to help out. In total, we gathered 1,600 pounds of tomatoes! Doing that made me feel like I’m really working the land in order to give back to people of Israel!

-Topaz Golan, Cleveland, OH

The full video is coming soon. But for now, enjoy this!

This morning we had the chance to learn how to be medical clowns from the hilarious expert, Jeff. He explained to us the best ways to make the patients laugh. He taught us many different skills such as how to make balloon animals, how to juggle, and how to walk and act like a clown. Once we perfected these techniques we were crowned with our red noses and ready to set out.

After having an inspiring chaburah in a beautiful park in Modiin we went to the Icholov hospital in Tel Aviv. The first room I went into had a young solider and her friend. We went in with smiles on our faces and with the hopes of brightening their day. We sang the song she requested and even gave her some stickers and a balloon animal. The smile that she gave in return made all the practice worth it! Overall the experience was inspiring and I can’t wait to go bring some happiness to many other patients!