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Dear NCSY GIVE Parents,
As crazy as it seems, we are about to enter our last Shabbos together on NCSY GIVE 2016.
We are humbled by the opportunity to spend these next few days in Jerusalem, welcoming in Shabbos at the Kotel- the last reminant we have of the Beis HaMikdash. Ironically, this year, though we commemorate Tisha Ba'av on Motzai Shabbos/Sunday, the date Tisha Ba'av actually falls out over Shabbos, meaning that we will actually be standing at the Kotel on Tisha Ba'av this year, gathering together in song as we welcome in Shabbos with Jews from all backgrounds and walks of life. It is our hope that we not have to mourn this Tisha Ba'av, and that our singing and unity can continue into Motzai Shabbos, as we welcome in the coming of Moshiach.
Reflecting on this past week, we have seen so much growth and enthusiasm from our GIVErs. We started off the week with a visit to Shvil HaSalat, the Salad Trail, where we discovered (and tasted!) some of the most delicious, creatively grown fruits and vegetables we've ever seen! From there we headed to Sderot to learn about firsthand the hardships our brothers and sisters face on a daily basis, and then made our way back to Mevaseret for an Ask The Rabbi session with Rabbi David Katz of MMY. The girls were so enthralled that there was literally a line of girls with questions after the session ended, lasting over 2 hours longer than the initial 1.5 hour session! Our girls love their Torah!
Monday morning we woke up bright and early to prepare our booths for the Sderot Carnival! This carnival is something we host annually for children from Sderot to have some time away from their day to day craziness and enjoy themselves. Our GIVErs put on an awesome morning for the kids, filled with costumes, balloons, tye-dye, pickle-eating contests and so much more! We then traveled to Ammunition Hill to learn about our country's history, visited the Maaleh film school and traveled to NCSY Michlelet for an evening of food, Torah and basketball! We ALMOST won, but either way, we had so much program pride, NCSY pride and we played an awesome game of ball. It was an amazing evening!
Tuesday morning we packed up and made our way to Hashomer HaChadash, an organization which works to protect and care for the land of Israel. While there we chopped down branches to make space for olive trees to grow, learned how to cook our own dinner, hiked to beautiful places and learned a lot about ourselves. We returned to Mevaseret on Thursday evening where we were visited by Hodaya Jewelry company, and had an optional mishmar with Rabbi Felberman. We then spent the evening packing up Mevaseret and saying goodbye to the campus that's been our home for the last 5 weeks. This morning we had our last breakfast at Mevaseret, loaded the busses and traveled to Kever Rachel where we had the holy opportunity to daven at the grave of Rachel Imenu. We hope that on her behalf, all of our prayers will be answered for the good.
The girls are finishing up some pre- Shabbos shopping in the Shuk right now and soon will be settled in our hotel, getting ready for another beautiful shabbos together.
With wishes for the geulah shelimah bimheirah b'yameinu, a beautiful shabbos for you and yours, and an amazing last few days together,
Erin the NCSY GIVE family |
