David here. Rabbi Hachen will be back tomorrow. Today was another incredible day with sunshine all day long. We were on the run from the very start. We heard speakers about the success and struggles of Reform Judaism and I was very proud as Rachel received a mounted certificate acknowledging the Butterflies she collected from our Religious school. There is a program here where they are trying to collect 1.5 million drawn paper butterflies, decorated by children to remember that same amount of children who perished in the Holocaust. While this is not a pleasant subject it is gratifying to see my daughter begin to learn the importance of not forgetting this horrible time. From there we went to the old city and before going to the Jewish quarter we saw the place that is recognized ... read more

Just a few days to go and another group from Temple Beth El will be heading off to Israel for a tour. As we did back in February of 2005, we hope to have access to internet and post entries so friends and family can follow us on this journey. We will arrive just in time on Friday, December 22, for the last night of Chanukah! There are 9 of us from here in New Jersey; we are meeting up with three other families - a couple from Baltimore, a mother/daughter from Alexandria, VA, and a family of four from Prince Edward Island in Canada. There will be 6 young people in the group -- from ages 8 to 15, but mostly 12-13 year olds. We are taking some special items on the journey: baby/children's clothes ... read more

Good morning! We had a late morning -- didn't leave Kfar Blum until 8:30 pm. Great breakfast. The fresh croissants and marmalade were yummy.... We had a jeep ride in the Golan Heights -- close by but up the hill. Saw some of the spots that were Syrian outposts before the 67 war. In addition to great history of 1948 and 1967, we also came at the right time of year to see the wildflowers. So beautiful -- the kalaniyot/anemones and much more. Missed the lupines by a few days. After the jeep tour and a talk by Roi (the main guide), we were dropped off down at the Banias. This is another park, at the place where one of the main sources of the Jordan River (the Banias) comes down a huge waterfall. We hiked ... read more

Mon. Feb. 21 Slept through the night - so jet lag must be fading finally. Had "toast" for breakfast - in Isreal that means cheese between two pieces of bread, then pressed and cooked, like a panini sandwich back in the U.S. Yummy. With tomato, cucumber and avocado salad on the side. A little after 8 am Dan (my brother) driove me out to the main road from Yahel to meet the tour bus bringing our group back up from Kibbutz Lotan where they spent the night. In general, they found the accomodations spartan. No accolades. Enough said. So we headed north from the Arava (the edge of the Negev along the border with Jordan) and drove up to the Dead Sea area. Went past Har S'dom (Mount Sodom) which is a salt mountain (brown on ... read more

Well, we took off Thursday night from JFK on El Al. They did ask us about the extra bags of clothes we were taking over for tzedaka (charity) but then sent us through with a smile after making sure we were who we said we were. Met up in the airport with Peter from the Rye Community Synagogue, as we are three temples sharing this tour. The rest of the Rye group was on the plane; I sat next to the rabbi my friend Dan. The third group, from Barnert temple in Franklin Lakes, NJ, went on an earlier flight. The flight itself was full; and as uncomfortable as a 10 hour flight is expected to be. Did see a fun movie, then slept a bit. Landed around 2:30 pm at Ben Gurion airport in Lod, ... read more