Weekly Updates

Shalom Chaverim!

Sorry that I didn't write sooner but we have been very busy here on USY High on many tiyulim (trips). This past week was incredible! We spent a lot of time in the Old City learning about Beit Hamikdash, the Temple. We visited the Southern wall excavations and the Kotel. Being at the Kotel was an incredible experience. While I have been there before, it was so much more meaningful because I have learned so much about its history. Seeing, touching and smelling the stone was indescribable. It was a very powerful experience.

For Shabbat I stayed at a family friends house here in Jerusalem. It was a fun and relaxing Shabbat and I got to spend time with and Israeli friend of mine who will be entering the army soon. It was so interesting to hear about her way of life here and her plans for the army and after the army. On Shabbat it even snowed! I never thought I would see a cactus with snow on it but I did!! Jerusalem was beautiful covered in snow although it melted very quickly.

We only had classes on Sunday and Monday this week because we headed down to the Negev for a great adventure - hiking Masada! We woke up very very early and hiked up the runners trail, which took us to a peak of a mountain below Masada where we davened Shacharit watching the sunrise. While the hike was hard, it was well worth it at the end. Then we walked all the way up Masada and spent hours learning about the incredible history of the mountain and having interesting discussions about the story. The hiking was hard but once we were done it felt great! My experience on Masada clearly shows what USY High is all about, bringing the classroom to the land. We learned about the very thing upon which we were standing and it all makes sense for we have learned so much about the history leading up to it. Of course we floated in the Dead Sea afterward and played in the mud of the Dead Sea which was a blast.

After a tiring trip we headed back to Jerusalem for a free night to relax and then woke up early on Thursday for another tiyul. We went to the Bar Kochva tunnels and crawled through narrow caves learning about the story of the Bar Kochva revolt, an interesting and inspiring story. We ended the day at an archaeological dig where we dug up artifacts from the time of the Chanukkah story. It was a lot of fun!

That is it for now but I am having and amazing time and would love to hear from you. If you have any questions about USY High or Israel just drop me an email. It feels great to be here right now and I am trying to take in every moment.

B'Ahavat Tzion,

Shoshie Sprague,
2004 Israel Affairs Committee