Straight From the Camel's Mouth Blog
Hear about Israel Unplugged Straight from the Camel's Mouth.
On May 23, 100 community members will start their eight-day journey in Israel with Israel Unplugged. We invite you to follow along on our trip from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to the Golan Heights and the Dead Sea by reading our daily Israel Unplugged Blog.
Day Two and Three: Tel Aviv and Haifa
WOW! Days two and three on the ground in Israel have been packed! The entire group visited Independence Hall and really got wonderful framing for our experience together in Israel - especially after a brief history lesson on the streets of Tel Aviv. Check out the pictures below! After Independence Hall everyone had some free-time shopping and browsing Nachalat Binyamin. YAY Seattle for jump starting the Israeli economy!! During the lunch hour, our group toured the Hiriya Environmental and Recycling Center in the Ariel Sharon Ayalon Park and learned about JDC - the Joint Distribution Committee (see photos). For our afternoon breakouts, the group visited the Yitzhak Rabin Center and Museum, walked through Tel Aviv's gorgeous Bauhaus architecture and experienced the Palmach Museum. Dinner was free and our afternoon activity included a performance by NaLaGaat Theater Company - the ONLY deaf and blind acting troup in the world.
We headed up north towards Haifa bright and early the next morning. With our bags packed and our time in Tel Aviv coming to a close, the group enjoyed its last unbelievable breakfast spread at the Carlton Hotel and began the next stage of our journey together. Some travelers drove along the Trans-Israel Highway for a close-up view of the security barrier with a special presentation by an IDF Spokesperson. The other group experienced the Hadassah Neurim Youth Aliyah Village and learned of innovative ways Israel and JAFI (Jewish Agency for Israel) work together to bring at risk youth into the mainstream Israeli society. It was AMAZING! This group then visited Caesarea and went back in time to King Herod the Great's period of ruling while the other group visited Given Imaging - a biomedical engineering company which develops and produces ingestible micro-cameras for medical examinations. Everyone came together again for a memorable and VIP visit to the Haifa Naval Base and heard from Zev Almog - former head of the Israeli Navy and close friend of Seattleite, Herb Bridge (Thanks for arranging our visit, Herb!). One group went up to S'fat to briefly experience Israel's center of Jewish Mysticism (Kaballah) and its known art galleries while the other group learned of an amazing JAFI program in Israel. Everyone reunited at Kibbutz HaGoshrim Guesthouse, ate a delicious dinner, Israeli danced and collapsed into bed. On to adventure day in the north! Hopefully with a good night's sleep under our belt.
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| Our entire group together at Independence Hall in Tel Aviv | Bus Two (called Chaverim) learning about Tel Aviv's history just after visiting Independence Hall. |
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| Visiting Hiriya Environmental and Recylcing Center | Recycled artwork in the Education Hall |
Tel Aviv
I am writing you from Tel Aviv. One of the great opportunities we have during this trip is to see some of the projects we help make possible in Israel – and experience first-hand the impact we can have through community support.
We started off the day at Independence Hall, where the State of Israel was declared. And then, as we drove through Tel Aviv, Israel’s financial and cultural center, we saw how far Israel has come in the past 62 years. This is a thriving society, which has become a haven for Jewish refugees from around the world, and even a beacon for others at risk around the world – such as thousands of non-Jewish refugees fleeing Darfur in Sudan.
I was struck by the indomitable spirit of the people of Israel, from the early pioneers who built a modern state out of swamps and desert, to those today who embody the value that all Israel is responsible for one another, helping to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots and to aid Jews at risk wherever they may be around the world.
It is also clear that the job of building a healthy and just Israeli society is far from complete, and our partnership with Israel, through the vital projects we support and the people-to-people connections we encourage is so very important.
We saw an amazing performance tonight, “Not By Bread Alone,” from a troupe of deaf and blind actors, called Na LaGaat (which means: please touch). Providing for physical needs is important. We do that in a number of very important ways. But it takes more than bread alone – and connecting on a personal level, making sure others are welcomed and respected…and have hope for the future, is an integral part of caring for our extended Jewish family in need around the world. And, as one of the participants in this program shared, “Our greatest strength is you.”
Thank you for helping make our work possible.
Greetings from Israel!
After a long day traveling from the Pacific Northwest to Israel (with a stop on the east coast), our Seattle group can finally say, "Israel Unplugged has officially begun!"
97 participants have descended upon Israel and are now lodging at the waterfront Carlton Hotel - Tel Aviv. Our first 8 hours together have been exciting! Travelers checked into their rooms and were immediately off and running! Participants enjoyed two hours of free-time on the Mediterranean coast where everyone strolled, swam, shopped and snacked (or napped). Travelers were welcomed to Tel Aviv (translation Hill of Spring) by Assaf Zamir, Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv at our welcome reception, followed by our first dinner together as a community. Jacquie Bayley, Israel Unplugged Chair, shared her excitement about our journey together and prepared all travelers for a fabulous 8 days in Israel. This was followed up by our first speaker of the week, Rachel Korazim, PhD - who compared Jerusalem to Tel Aviv through works by Yehuda Amichai and Naomi Shemer.
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Israel's coast from the plane just before arrival |
Michael Feinberg and Margy Crosby have landed in Israel! |
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Assaf Zamir, Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv, welcomes everyone "home" |
Our first bus ride together |
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Group Departs Seattle for Israel Adventure
Boker Tov! 5 a.m. on Sunday morning at SeaTac is a surprisingly vibrant hour! Everyone is bright-eyed, friendly and excited, especially the 60 seattlites traveling together to Israel this morning. We can't wait to meet the other 40 traveling on their own, in Tel Aviv! So far, so smooth, everyone's had their coffee and can't stop talking about how excited they are to see Israel, especially the first timers. There is a collective feeling that on some level we're truly going home. Here we go, all on board and time to power down and begin the first flight to JFK.
Israel Unplugged Leaves on Sunday
This Sunday, May 23, the largest local trip to Israel and one of the largest in the country, Israel Unplugged, will be heading to Eretz Yisrael! 100 members of the local Seattle Jewish community will be traveling on an eight-day exploration of Israel's culture, politics, history and people.
"This trip is one-of-a-kind," according to Jacquie Bayley, our trip's volunteer chair. "We are doing things you can’t do traveling alone."
We will be posting daily from May 23 - June 1. You can follow along on our blog "Straight from the Camel's Mouth" at www.JewishInSeattle.org/CamelBlog.
Israel Unplugged! 123 Days AWAY!
We leave for Israel in 123 days!!
For those of you already registered for our trip, we are thrilled to be traveling with you this May. If you who still need to register for Israel Unplugged, please do so as soon as possible. Our spaces are filling up fast.
Register for LAND here.
Register for AIR here.
We are well into our third bus of Israel Unplugged participants and that number keeps climbing.
Our next Israel Unplugged information session is tomorrow evening, January 21, at 7 pm in Bellevue. If you have not already attended one and would like to attend tomorrow evening, please email me and I will provide you with the address/contact information. AND, if you know of anyone who would like to find out more information about our trip, please let them know about tomorrow night.
We have many exciting things planned for our trip this May.
Check out these two trip highlights. More to come soon – including our updated itinerary.
- http://www.nalagaat.org.il/theater.php
- http://www.hartmaninstitute.com/Fellows_View_Eng.asp?Fellows_Id=33
Please call or email with any questions you may have. Look forward to traveling with you soon.
123 days and counting.
Yalla! Let’s GO!
Anna
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