Shana Tova!

I spent this past weekend in a town outside Jerusalem called Efrat. Located in the West Bank, Efrat is riddled with controversy. It is beautiful, and filled with many American immigrants to Israel. The weekend was very relaxing and it was nice to spend time in a part of Israel entirely new to me. 

I will be spending Rosh Hashana in Modi'in, and I will update you on that experience when I have had it!

Shana Tova!

-Zach

Baguettes and Bagels

At first glance it might seem like a strange decision to start off my year in France. How can the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre contribute in any way to my knowledge about or appreciation for the state of Israel? Well, the truth of the matter is that those two particularly touristy sights did very little on that front. France, however, is steeped in history about the Jewish people and Zionism. 

I would learn over the course of my week in France that beneath the majesty of French culture hid an incredible tapestry of Jewish tradition. The Jews of France had prospered and integrated fully into French society, but despite their contributions the horror of anti-Semitism had repeatedly endangered their lives. We explored the Jewish Emancipation, French citizen collaborators to the holocaust, as well as the reality of anti-Semitism in modern France, and the strength of the Jewish community in Paris today. Towards the end of our voyage we learned about the Dreyfus affair and the secular Jewish reporter who would cover the trial and dream the state of Israel, Theodor Herzl. 

Having concluded the trip approximately a month ago, my memory is slightly hazy, but I can remember several highlights. I visited The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Mont Sant-Michel, the war-torn beaches of Normandy, a museum on France and the Holocaust, a museum on D-Day, the Pantheon (in which many famous French people are buried), and Napoleon's tomb. We also visited the very small Jewish community of Caen, and we spent Shabbat hosted by a very large Jewish community in Paris. When we went to Omaha cemetery (an American grave sight for those killed at D-Day) we placed stones from Jerusalem on the graves of Jewish soldiers. We visited the beautiful home of an assimilated French Jewish family whose son was killed in action fighting for France in World War I and whose daughter was killed at Auschwitz. We also sang Hatikva, the Israeli national anthem, in front of the hotel where Theodor Herzl staying during the Dreyfus affair and imagined a modern Jewish state. 

I'm certain that there were more experiences that my memory has prevented me from mentioning. Overall the people I met were amazing and I look forward to traveling again with them in 2 months, the staff was phenomenal, the trip was well organized, and it was an incredible way to start off a year in Israel. 

On a more current note, this weekend I am spending shabbat in Efrat, which is a small town outside of Jerusalem. I will let you know how it goes!

-Zach

The Belated Beginning

Those of you who know my mother will find it no surprise that my lack of written communication was quite frustrating for her. Therefore I am starting this blog so that those who are interested (which she claims is quite a few people) can have an easy way to find out about my year in Israel and the rest of the world. I apologize for my 4 week absence of update but I will do what I can to fill in the gaps of the past month over the course of my next several posts. 

Today I visited Atlit at which there was the remnants of a British detention center for Jews who came to British Palestine after the holocaust. We spoke to an American man who went to Israel to help get Jews into Palestine. It was an interesting field trip, and shed light on a difficult time in the history of Israel. 

Tonight I am going out to eat Ethiopian food in Jerusalem with a few friends.

Thanks for reading, I look forward to keeping this updated!

-Zach