Day 9

             Today we all woke up at 6:30 after staying up late last night celebrating Yom Haatzmaut in Tiberias.  We woke up and trudged over to tefillah. Tefillah was a little long, but spirited, led by Avi, Yaakov, and Julia. Yaakov, Ben and Avi read Torah from the reading for Yom Ha’atzmaut, we headed over to breakfast where many of us once again enjoyed “the wonders of the hot chocolate machine,” as expressed in yesterday’s blog. We just can’t stop talking about that.

            After a brief breakfast, we took a drive to the Israeli air force base where we met up with last year’s emissaries, Assaf and Yuval. We toured the base, met with its commander and viewed all types of planes, helicopters, and jets (Oh my!). There was also a fascinating air show where we saw F16s. It was also very interesting to see the actual “Iron Dome.” It was a once in a lifetime experience that won’t be forgotten.

            After looking through the air base and saying goodbye to our old friends, the class took a rather lengthy bus ride in which Avi was screaming most of the way (not an uncommon phenomenon.) When arriving at Kfar Blum we went rafting on the Jordan River. We divided into groups of four and went on our way through the rapids. Also, we, very proudly, were able to push Morah Amalya over into the river. However, she would like us to mention how she put up a big fight. There is quite a list of kids who went over the edge too: Rachel, Ben, Zachary (great job, Rabbi Amanda), Yaakov, Yoni, and Julia. In fact, Morah Amalya’s raft, the Tamale Trolley, all went down.

            We then took another long bus ride back to our hotel. During this drive most of the students slept while others took a more unique approach and sang songs the whole ride home. (Thanks, Avi, Jennifer, Yaakov, Josh and Ben.) Well, actually they defined it as “singing” while some of us characterized it more as “noise.”