• Herodian Mansions and Southern Wall Excavations

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    By Lila Herzig, Fall 2019 student When learning about Jewish history in religious school, a majority of my education focused on the Torah and the Holocaust. All of that space between the two was only covered in my seventh-grade year. I knew two things: the Torah is stories, and the Holocaust is living-memory history. The […]


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  • Teaching the Biblical Period and Building a Foundation for Jewish Identity

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    By David Alon, Jewish History teacher Most of us remember the bible stories we learned in Hebrew school and file them away in our memory, bringing them out once a year on a particular holiday to remind us why we are feasting or fasting.  We often learned the G-rated versions of the actual text, but […]


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  • How Lucky Am I to Experience Heller High!

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    By Ellie Plisko, Fall 2018 student This D’var Torah was delivered at her synagogue’s Israel Family Shabbat Three years ago, if you had asked me what my life would look like now, my response would have been nowhere close to what my reality is. Even if you asked me four months ago, I couldn’t have […]


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  • Learning About King David in the City of David

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    By Shay Orentlicher, fall 2019 participant from Indianapolis, IN No teenager likes getting up extra early, but at Heller High, it tends to be worth it. When we stumbled out of bed at 6:25 am, it wasn’t an early wakeup for no reason; it meant that we would be going on a tiyul, or a fieldtrip, […]


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  • Our New Video!

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  • Yom Hazikaron & Yom Haatzmaut

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    The week of Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s Memorial Day and Independence Day, respectively, was an emotionally draining, yet spiritually invigorating experience. The drastic change from mourning lives lost to celebrating Israel’s existence created a unique and unparalleled atmosphere throughout the country. I am very grateful to have experienced it!


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  • A Journey Through Tykocin

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    Welcome to Tykocin! This quaint little Polish town is only a two-hour drive from Warsaw. If you park at the old shul (synagogue) like we did, you are at the center of the old shtetl (town).


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  • History at Our Feet: Birthright and Burial Caves

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    Have you ever taken the time to really think about where you are sitting? For me, this had been a challenge throughout the week, with the overwhelming number of new friends, teachers, classes, and experiences.


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  • Interfaith Learning in Ein Rafa

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    Coming from the predominantly Jewish area of Bethesda, Maryland, I don’t have many opportunities to interact with Muslim folks at home. I had never been to a mosque in the United States, and only a handful of students at my school wear hijabs.


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  • Victorious on Masada

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    The ascent up Masada was not an easy one. We began our journey in darkness, but when we finally reached the end of our trek, we stepped foot atop Masada to observe the gorgeous sunrise overlooking the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea.


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