Ammunition Hill - The Six Day War

During this Tiyul, we traveled to Ammunition Hill, the site of one of the most important strategic battles in the entirety of the Six Day War. Before the war began, Israel had one huge problem - they didn't control Jerusalem. This was the one thing that really mattered to them, after thousands of years of trying to get back to Israel they still didn't have the holiest place in the world. At the time, there was division within the country, with Jews and Jordanians fighting against each other at every corner. It was truly a divided nation. The Six Day War began with Egyptian troops moving along the border of Sinai, with Israel responding. Yitzhak Rabbin launched an offensive strike, which began the war itself. Ammunition Hill was the site of one of the most important battles during this war, being the location from which Israeli soldiers could capture Jerusalem directly. There was high intensity trench warfare fought there, with soldiers feeling the pains of the battle directly. At the end of the battle, Israel lost 36 troops, Jordan lost 71. At the end of the entire war, Israel gained Sinai, Giza, Golan Heights, the West Bank, and most importantly, Jerusalem and the Kotel.

My question to you is: why do you think that Jerusalem was such a powerful incentive for Israel to win the Six Day War?

Poland Shabbat

Celebrating Shabbat in Poland was incredible. After spending a week learning about the flourishing Jewish life in pre-1940s Poland and the genocide which almost eradicated Judaism from Poland entirely, it was an amazing opportunity to be able to celebrate Shabbat there.  

On Friday night we celebrated with a small congregation in downtown Warsaw. The beauty of this service was in the realization that in our prayer, we were bringing the Judaism back to a place where it was virtually destroyed less than 80 years ago. Another notable aspect of this service is that although the service was in English, Hebrew, and Polish, the melodies we sang were the same. This is a beautiful representation of the connection Jews share from America to Israel to Poland. 

On Saturday morning we held services in a private room Sossier (a restaurant in Warsaw). For me, this tfilah seemed to mean more than just a regular Saturday morning service. It was a group of American, Jewish teenagers saying “we’re still here.” We prayed in Warsaw where our ancestors had prayed for centuries before. It also symbolized an end to our Poland pilgrimage and an opportunity for emotional, if not physical, rest. 

Shabbat in Poland was an experience incomparable to anything else I have ever experienced. Despite tremendous sadness regarding the content of the preceding week, we were able to come together and pray. 

Sidur at Poland Synagogue

1. How did it feel to attend a service that was conducted partly in a language other than Hebrew or English?
2. How did you feel about having service in a restaurant?

Tiyul Chalutzim- Kfar Tavor + Kinneret

On the Chalutzim Tiyul, we learned about the 3 aliyot. The first of the aliyot were farmers fleeing antisemitism. This aliyot is often labeled as the agriculture aliyah. The second aliyah was fueled by further antisemitism and violent acts called Pogroms, which killed many jews in Russia. These jews made the HaShomer, which later became the IDF. The second aliyah revolved a lot around defense of the new land, rather than agriculture. The third aliyah could have been a result of the Balfour Declaration and success of the previous two aliyot. Those in the third aliyah were mainly chalutzim, or pioneers who built up the infrastructure in Israel.

Later in the Tiyul, we went to the cemetary of the Kinneret. The grave of Revka represented a lot of hope to me as her poems were about love found while in Israel. What were your impressions of the chalutzim and their actions?

tel aviv: graffiti tiyul

which artist and/or graffiti that we saw was your favorite and why?

Israel Museum: Middle Ages

On October 22, 2018, the best Jewish History class, Kitat Kinneret, went to the Israel Museum. Shortly after most of us arrived by bus, we were shown the model of the Old City of Jerusalem. Afterwards, we walked inside the museum to look at the different customs relating to Life Cycles. Those Life Cycles were Birth, Marriage, and Death. For Birth, we looked at the double seat from Germany used during a circumcision. The seating was arranged where on the right side the baby was held by his godfather and the left seat was reserved for Elijah. For Marriage, we looked at a Huppah Stone from Germany that was used to break the glass at a wedding. For Death, we talked about a Chevra Kadisha. Chevra Kadisha was an organization of men and women that would sit with the deceased Jews until they are properly buried. Then, we roamed over to glance at another exhibit, which was the Illuminated Manuscripts. These manuscripts were extremely fascinating to look at. It was interesting to think of how old they were and how they were still in such good condition.

Once we finished viewing the manuscripts, we went over to each of the four different synagogues. This was my favorite part of the Israel Musuem tiyul. The first synagogue we learned about was the Horb Synagogue. The Horb Synagogue was from Germany and made out of wood covered in paintings and scriptures. The next synagogue we were taught about was one that was originally located in India. The Kadavumbagam synagogue had beautiful wooden carvings on the ark, which held a Sephardic torah. The third synagogue we looked at was the Vittorio Veneto Synagogue from Italy. This synagogue was the most elegant and decorative out of the four. The Tzedek ve-Shalom Synagogue was the last and my favorite synagogue that we went in. The fourth synagogue was initially located in Suriname, formally known as Dutch Guiana. This synagogue was very simplistic with little decoration and actually had sand on the floor for acoustic reasons. Although, the synagogues were all unique in their own way, they each had an ark for the torah and Hebrew scripture. That showed how every synagogue is connected even in all the different parts of the world.

What was the most interesting thing you saw from Jewish life around the world?

The double seat used for circumcisions

Horb Synagogue from Germany

Kadavumbagam Synagogue from India

Vittorio Veneto Synagogue from Italy 

Learning about the Tzedek ve-Shalom Synagogue from Suriname

Oral Law Aaron

I chose the commandment on line 11 if Leviticus 19 which says, “You shall not steal;you shall not deal deceitfully or falsely with one another...”  because this commandment seems to be dealing with issues of loyalty and trust because how can you trust someone when they deal deceitfully and falsely? How can you consider someone loyal when they steal from you? So this commandment helps keeps trust and loyalty amongst the people which are two things that I value most in people.

There is supposed to be a photo of someone stealing something that isn’t theirs it doesn’t express the mitzvah, but it does express what not to do. And if you know what not to do then you should know what the right thing to do is.

Oral law assignment - Dani

         I chose the commandment, "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself" because I believe that you should always treat your peers as you wish to be treated. I interpret this mitzvah as, do not try to hurt others or get pay back for something that has happened, treat everyone one with respect. I try to fulfill this mitzvah in my daily life, especially at Heller, even though it may be hard at times. It is human instinct to want to hurt others the way they hurt you, but I am working on forgiveness. This can be a guideline for me as a Jew in the modern world because the world is still filled with anti-semitism and if I follow this commandment I can attempt to rise above that.

        I choose this particular picture because I believe everyone that I am surrounded with in it, is the perfect representation of this commandment. All four of the girls that I am pictured with are the nicest most caring people I have met and they treat everyone around them with respect. They have the ability to forgive quickly but still receive respect because they treat everyone else in the same way. They are the perfect representations of this mitzvah and the perfect model of how I strive to treat others and myself in the future