• #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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  • Destruction of the Second Temple and Significance of Mishnah

    on October 10, 2016

    After a wonderful Rosh HaShanah in the South, students returned to their home at Kibbutz Tzuba to continue their studies.


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  • Rabbi Akivah and the Bar Kokhba Rebellion

    on September 28, 2016

    We visited the Bar Kochba caves of the 2nd century. In 115 CE, Jews in areas of the Hellenistic Diaspora began staging small scale revolts around the Roman Empire. The Trajan Rebellion was shut down, but it was around this time that the Jews living in towns outside of Jerusalem began to prepare to stage their own revolt.


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  • The Glory and Destruction of the Second Temple Period

    on September 23, 2016

    Rabbi Loren Sykes is the Principal of the NFTY-EIE High School in Israel. In these weekly postings, he gives a description and rundown of what the group is doing day to day, which he hopes sheds some light on what the EIE experience is like.


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  • Reimagination and Reinvention of Jewish Life

    on September 16, 2016

    Rabbi Loren Sykes is the Principal of the NFTY-EIE High School in Israel. In these weekly postings, he gives a description and rundown of what the group is doing day to day, which he hopes sheds some light on what the EIE experience is like.


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  • Tiyul to Sataf National Park

    on September 14, 2016

    Maxim Sparks, a Fall 2016 student, is a sophomore from Napa, California. He is a member of Congregation Beth Shalom, is a participant in NFTY-CWR, and has been a camper at Camp Newman.


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