• Pushing Limits during Week of Gadna

    on December 8, 2016

    On Sunday my group was dropped off at an IDF (Israeli Defense Force) base in the middle of the Negev desert. Upon arrival at the base a commander in full uniform with an M16 ordered us off the bus. We were instructed to run and make a “het” (the shape of the hebrew letter which looks like a 3 sided square).


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  • Rabbi Loren Sykes’s Weekly Reflection: Relationship between the Shoah & Israel

    on December 6, 2016

    There is a logical fallacy known as “post hoc ergo propter hoc,” or “after it, therefore because of it.” Per Wikipedia, the fallacy is referenced in several television series like The West Wing (my favorite of all time) and Big Bang Theory. According to this fallacy, since y happened after x, x must have caused y.


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  • Post-Holocaust: Proof That We Continue To Flourish

    on November 22, 2016

    Waking up on Wednesday morning, the ground covered in sheen of ice and snow, I felt an immediate irk in my stomach. We were told the day would be the coldest. We were told the day would be one of the most intense. We were told to expect nothing.


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  • Parents’ Pilgrimage: A Letter from a Fall 2016 Parent

    on November 17, 2016

    Gary Wolinetz, the father of Fall 2016 student Steven Wolinetz recently returned from the Parent's Pilgrimage and wrote the following letter about the experience:


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  • I Am: A Poem By Fall 2016 student Em Samuels

    on November 15, 2016

    Yesterday I was in Israel, learning about the devastation of the Holocaust. Today, I am in Poland, visiting the places where the devastation happened... where my people lived and died. I wrote this poem today while reflecting on my time in the Warsaw Ghetto.


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  • #WomenOfTheWall: Practicing Judaism The Way We Want To

    on November 8, 2016

    Waking up Wednesday morning, I had absolutely no idea that I would take part in history. At 5:30 in the morning, my roommates and I rolled out of bed, and by 8, I was doing a Hakafah, holding and dancing with one of 14 of the torah scrolls that were brought into the Women’s section at the Kotel by a parade of pluralist Rabbis, including Rabbi Rick Jacobs.


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  • Significant Scholarship Dollars Available for Future Students

    on October 31, 2016

    Thanks to a generous gift, NFTY-EIE now known as URJ Heller High: Isaac and Helaine Heller EIE High School in Israel is able to provide substantial need based scholarship support for Summer 2017, Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 to ensure that many more students are able to participate in the program.


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  • Simchat Torah at Kibbutz Hannaton

    on October 28, 2016

    One of the most exciting things taking place at Hannaton today is the "Mechina", a gap year program for high school graduates preparing them for the army while they study, volunteer and travel around the country.


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  • Middle Eastern Neighbors: Jews, Christians and Muslims

    on October 27, 2016

    “Love your neighbor as yourself. I am God” (Lev. 19:18). These are the words of God that tell us to love our neighbor as we would love ourself, but who counts as our neighbor?


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  • Yom Kippur in the Holy Land

    on October 13, 2016

    Yom Kippur is the designated time of year where we repent for our sins and ask for forgiveness, from ourselves, God, and each other. Experiencing Yom Kippur in Jerusalem for the first time was amazing.


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