The Anne & Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto

האקדמיה העברית ע"ש טננבאום

 

Check here for daily diary!

 

Parents, bubbies, zaidies can all post your comments as the trip continues -- email your comments to pshaviv@chat-edu.ca Click on the link to view the blog (or go to: g10-2007.blogspot.com )

10:25AM Thursday -- we spoke to the trip in the arrivals hall at Ben-Gurion -- uneventful flight - everyone arrived safe and well.  Please log in later this afternoon (5:00PM or thereabouts) for more links and news....

 

Saturday evening - clarification:  Visits start at 7:30PM - 8:00PM .... but obviously may carry on for a couple of hours or so...

2:15PM Thursday - update....

 

We were all concerned to read reports in the press/internet that "our" plane was involved in a traffic situation while approaching landing at Ben Gurion.  We just spoke to Simon Wolle (our senior staffer) in Jerusalem.  THE STUDENTS LANDED PERFECTLY SAFELY.  They are (at the time of writing) about to get to bed in the hotel, having gone from the airport to the 'tayelet' (promenade) (click here and go to page 15) overlooking Jerusalem, where they had their first panoramic view of the city.  Then they went to Sami's middle eastern restaurant where they had a great meal of falafel-shwarma-chicken etc etc.

 

What happened at the airportt was that as they were coming in to land, the pilot was advised by control that the runway was not sufficiently clear. He revved the engines, circled, and landed ten minutes later. An announcement to that effect was made to the passengers.  Apparently no-one on the plane thought anything of it.  Later press reports indicated that an Iberian Airlines jet had misjudged its approach and landed in an unscheduled slot. 

 

The students were unaware of anything unusual. The staff are - now - briefing them on the reports appearing in the press/internet.  Thank God that nothing untoward happened - again, the students are in Jerusalem, secure and excited about arriving!

 

** For links - you may have to enable pop-ups on your computer

6:00AM (Toronto time)

I have just spoken to the trip. They are fine, and are nowhere near the Old City! They had a very quiet night - everyone was tired from the journey. The group discussed the 'airport incident', and, while some of the kids were "a little jolted" to realise that they had been involved in an incident that made the news, the staff dealt with it well, and by this morning everyone is over it. Our group seems to have arrived in Israel right into the thick of the news, but please be assured that all of the monitoring and responsible devision-making processes are in process, and any necessary itinerary changes will be made without hesitation.

Anyway, to the delight of the staff, everyone was up on time, and had a good breakfast.

This morning the group went to plant trees in the Jerusalem Forest, and then went to do some hands-on archaeology at Tel Marisha (see good links below - sorry, somehow the embedded link feature here is not working!). At the time of speakng to the group they are about to get to the shopping mall at Mevasseret Tsiyyon outside Jerusalem for lunch.

 

UPDATES: Alternative plans for Kabbalat Shabbat (and Shabbat programme) under consideration include gathering at Mishkenot Shaananim. We will update parents on this site. Please check back mid-morning. We also expect to be posting some video links later on today.

 

UPDATE #2: An "awesome" day - apparentlky at the archaeological dig our students caused great excitement by actually digging up five coins ("estmated to be about 2200 years old"). They explored the caves fully (see links), and had a great time. Weather is sunny and very warm ("t-shirt weather"). We will give a final update at around mid-morning Toronto time.

 

SEE LINK AT TOP TO THE PARENT BLOG!

1.  Spoke to Simon Wolle just before Shabbat.  The Old City was completely quiet by the late afternoon (Israel time), and so the group received Security clearance to go ahead with their original plan - so BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS (after 7:00PM Jerusalem time) they will have had Kaballat Shabbat at the Kotel, and will be back having a great meal at the hotel.  Tomorrow's programme should be as on the Itinerary.

2. Fabulous pix - videos - blogs received overnight from Dan Held's laptop - I don't have time to upload them individually here, but go to http://www.chatrh.org/israeltrip/Site/Welcome.html  and enjoy. 

A SECOND set of pix -- 69! -- has been received from the Jewish Agency/WZO photographer, which can be linked to here: 

 http://www.canadaisraelexperience.com/photogallery.aspx   - bookmark both sites.  The JA photographer will be visiting the group every 2-3 days, and more photos will be posted on that site.

 

They have certainly had an event-packed first 48 hrs!

 

3.   NEXT UPDATE ON THIS SITE WILL APPEAR SUNDAY MORNING

 

Shabbat Shalom -- please forward any comment for the Parent Blog to me at pshaviv@chat-edu.ca

First - some general updates. I spoke tothe tripat about 07:00AM Toronto time onSunday morning - about 2:00PM SUnday Israel time. The trip is going very well. All the students are fine - one or two cases of sore throats, jetlag etc., but the staff are monitoring everyone carefully. Behaviour and spirit are excellent. The weather is bright and sunny - 18 degrees. There is a "minor amount of kvetching" about the buses and the groups, as the tour guides want to take around two groups of thirty and not one group of sixty. There will be ample opportunities over the next couple of days for everyone to mix and mingle...

 

On Friday evening everyone went down to the Kotel for Kaballat Shabbat, which was fine. They walked back to the hotel for a Friday evening meal and an Oneg Shabbat. On Shabbat morning students split up to one of three choices of synagogues - YeminMoshe (Orthodox), Egalitarian-traditional and Conservative. After kiddush and lunch the group went on a walking tour of the Old City, in bright sunshine. After Shabbat the visit to Ben Yehudah and free time was enjoyed by everyone, with large quantities of falafel, shwarma etc being bought and consumed. We understand that all the family visits went OK.

 

This morning (Sunday) at 6:30AM the entire group went down again to the Kotel for photos, and then together made the blessing of 'Hagomel' - the traditional blessing made when one emerges from a potentially dangerous situation - reference their arrival at Ben Gurion. From there they went to Yad Vashem, where they spent the entire morning. A picnic lunch wasfollowed by an equally sombre visit to Har Herzl, where they saw the military cemetary and the graves of Theodor Herzl, Yitzhak Rabin and other leaders of the State of Israel.

This afternoon they will be heading south for their "Bedouin tent' experience. Tomorrow they will be at Masada and the Dead Sea area.

If we mange to get cell-phone reception, there will be another update at about 5:00PM Toronto time Sunday.

 

Again for some reason the embedded links are not working from my home laptop - so, please click on the following links to see where the group has been - sorry for the clumsy linkage:

 

The least complicated of the 'live from the kotel' websites!

Click on '7 famous interments' for bios and photos of the graves of seven famous Israelis - including the recent burial place of Teddy Kollek. (The website is itself fascinating!)

UPDATE Sunday afternoon (T-o 2:35/Isr 9:35PM):

Our group are now south of Beersheva (see map #15 on interactive link - at top of this page) at the Bedouin Camp. When we contacted them they were in the middle of a 'kumsitz' round a campfire, singing. They have connected with a group of birthright students from the FSU, and all are singing and playing guitars. The group had a good journey down from Jerusalem, and have heard a presentation on the Bedouin way of life and a concert of oud music. They are having a wonderful evening "under the stars", ready for tomorrow morning's camel-trekking and then ascent of Masada (up the Roman ramp, down the Snake Path).

All kids are fine - no fevers. One or two who are already (!) exhausted will be sleeping inside tonight. Please note also that there is little or no cell-phone reception in the area where the group will be for the next few days - if your son/daughter is not calling or answering, it is not because they have rejected suburban life and values and run off to join the Bedouin. It's just that their cell-phone doesn't work there. They are all fine!

PARENTS -- see link at top of the page for your chance to win a FREE TRIP to Israel (and help the school at the same time!)

SEE NEW PIX AT THIS SITE

0930AM - See Map 11 on the interactive map (click on the sites for good photos and good information). Today's programme started with camel-trekking (and donkey-tekking for the fainter-hearted) - see pix at the link above.  They then went to Masada, climbing up on the ramp clearly visible in the first photo on the link.  Teachers report that the students impressed with the history remembered from G9!  They toured the site, and then climbed down the other side of Masada on the Snake Path.  Here the buses met them, and they went for a hearty lunch, followed by "r & r" in the Dead Sea, including the mud baths - see here and here.  From there they passed Ein Gedi and 'hit the road' through the Negev desert for Eilat, which is several hours' ride.  This evening in Eilat, they will be meeting with a group of Israeli teenage peers as part of the 'Partnership 2000' programme - Eilat region is Toronto's twin community.

... and I forgot to mention:  as I was talking to the trip, the 'Ulpan on wheels' programme was just starting - taking advantage of the travel time to have some fun and pracrise/improve the participants' spoken Ivrit.

UPDATE 2:45PM T-o/ 9:45PM Eilat:

Everyone has arrived in Eilat (see Map#19 , and here)and had a briefing about tomorrow's programme with various Partnership2000 personnel - including our own Dr. Seymour Epstein ('Epi') of the Toronto BJE.  Programme for tomorrow is that the group will split into four, and go to four different Eilat High Schools.m  At each school, the English departments have scheduled special joint programmes with Israeli peers.  We will report on that tomorrow.  In the afternoon there will be a sports/fun programme, and, I think, some free time in the evening.

Health: five students report feeling nauseous and have stomach upsets.  To make sure that everyone conserves energy and that vulnerability is not made worse by lack of sleep, the staff have imposed (!) an early night on the whole group.  Those who don't feel well are being carefully monitored by the paramedics attached to the group, and if necessary may be taken to the local clinic for more attention. We will update parents DIRECTLY if necessary, but this does not seem to be more than 'Israel-trip-exhaustion-plus-local-germs' at this point.

... AND NEW VIDEOS -- fabulous stuff, but you may need the latest Quicktime download to view them (just the free reader on the left of the screen).

First -- if you haven't already done so, check out the new pictures and videos (link just above this posting).  Later today we should also have some new blog-postings from the students.

Health update - a doctor visited the group. Three students are still a bit nauseous.. one is confined to the hotel - all parents have been informed.  If you javen't heard from me - your kid is fine!

PROGRAMME:  "We had a fabulous day!"  This morning the students met with their Israeli counterparts at four local High Schools.  There were a variety of activities - sports, art, ceramics etc - everyone seems to have had a great time!  "The kids had really fun time".   From there the group went to the historic King Solomon's copper mines mines at Timna.  After exploring the area a little bit, they split into two groups - one went rappelling and the other went mountain-biking in the desert.   They had lunch in (another) Bedouin tent .... and then went to the beach at Eilat.  Here they went snorkelling on the coral reefs - see, for example, here and here.  We caught up with them just as they were leaving the beach...  Back to the hotel; rest, shower etc and then this evening they have "controlled free time" to explore the boardwalk/promenade.  (Just as we settle down to 30cm of snow.........)

REMINDER: Parents and family are encouraged to let us know their comments and what they are hearing from their children for the Parent Blog - please email your comments to:  pshaviv@chat-edu.ca

 

UPDATE - late evening: some problems linking to the videos - we'll get them fixed tomorrow BUT see links below for great photos of Eilat, P2K, Timna etc and new student blogs:

All students who were unwell woke up this morning feeling much better.

This morning everyone went back to the High Schools for the second part of the 'meet Israeli peers' programme, which was judged to be interesting and enjoyable. The rest of the day is going to be a lot of travelling, as the group goes north - travelling the length of Israel in one day (!) from Eilat to Kibbutz Lavi. (See Map #3 on the interactive map). This will be their base for the exploration of the Galil/Golan over the next few days. See: www.bibleplaces.com/seagalilee.htm At the time of contact they had stopped at Ein Gedi for a swim in the freshwater springs/waterfalls, and then will travel north all afternoon.

There is a new video clip inaddition to the other photos and blogs from yesterday. The site has been moved for easier access.

 Sorry for the late update. At the moment they seem to be out of cell-phone range, which probably means they are at Hammat Gader (see below) which is in a valley.

Today they were in and around the Kinneret and the Golan - see areas #3 and #1 on the interactive map, and the many links from there. The Kinneret is Israel's main source of fresh water, and each year the level of the lake is watched anxiously to see how far it will fill up after the winter snow and rains on the Golan.  They started with a 2-hour jeep trek in the Golan - crossing the Jordan river, saw the Jordan Valley and the Syrian border. I am sure we will have pix of that sooner or later. Then they went to an information centre where they saw an award-winning "4-dimensional" presentation on the geography and hstory of the area ("wrap-round screen and sound plus smells and winds").  They also saw films ('Oz 77'), topographical models and presentations on the strategic importance of the Golan Heights in the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War (scroll down for Golan maps). From there they were due to go down to the South-East corner of the Kinneret to experience the natural hot springs and Roman excavations at Hammat Gader...... (see the bottom photo for the modern springs and pool).

UPDATE 12:15 Toronto -- Simon Wolle just called - they have all been having a fabulous time soaking in the hot springs. Just packing up to go back to the kibbutz. "It's perfect!".

The students are in Tsfat. They toured the Old City of Tsfat (see below for all links) visting the old synagogues and hearing about the mystic tradition of the city. They then had free time to buy lunch and souvenirs. (Stacia - when I called, Simon disclosed that he was in the middle of "closing a good deal" to make up for his absence!). Earlier today they had been overlooking the Lebanese border from Kibbutz Givat Am, and learned about the strategic and security issues, including the hostilities of last summer.

From Tsfat they will return to Kibbutz Lavi for Shabbat. We will probably not speak to them again until Sunday morning (Toronto time) - which will be their LAST DAY! Remember - they return on Monday morning @ 06:20AM, Terminal 3.....

Shabbat Shalom - and thanks for your support of this site, which has been viewed over 3,000 times since the group arrived in Israel.

Click on images at left of screen.

See Map #1 at the bottom of the map, and click on 'Safed'

-- If you were wondering how a day was missed in the trip, it is because round about Day #6 the numbering went wrong. This has been corrected!

 

-- Again for technical reasons - all links below the report!

 

Two very packed days! First, on Friday evening after Kabbalat Shabbat and dinner in the Kibbutz Guest House, they heard a speaker from the kibbutz about the history of the kibbutz, kibbutz life and principles etc etc. On SHabbat morning, after service they had a Shabbat 'brunch'. followed by rest time. Later in the afternoon our group invited their peer group teens from the kibbutz to join them, and they were taken around the kibbutz in small groups with their new friends, comparing notes on teen life!! That was impromptu and apparently very successful. After Havdallah they went for a meal in a restaurant just outside Tiberias, and then had free time to 'hang out' on the Tiberias seafront boardwalk (more falafel etc).

This (Sunday) morning it was raining, so instead of hiking up Mt. Arbel, they went to the archaeological excavations at the important Mishnaic city of Tzippori, wher ethey had a tour and explanations. They then went over to Haifa, stopping briefly at the Haifa University campus for a panoramic view and guide to the Mediterranean sea. Fron there over Mt Carmel to a Druze village for lunch, hospitality with the Druze and a talk about the Druze history, culture and religion (which is actually secret).

When I spoke to them they were in Tel Aviv. They had been to Rabin Square, where they heard of the life and legacy of Yizhak Rabin z'l, and were having a last few minutes of free time in Tel Aviv's fashinable Sheinkin Street "buying hamsas by the bagful". From there they will go to Independence Hall (just down the street), where the Declaration of Independence was made in 1948; then to a restaurant for a 'wrap-up' discussion and supper ....... and then ..... Ben Gurion Airport and back to Toronto!

Simon Wolle reports that it has been a fantastic experience for everyone participating - students and staff alike. On your behalf, thanks to Simon Wolle, Heather Weinstock, Lauri Fahidi, Bonnie LIghtstone and Dan Held, our accompanyiong staff; to the guides, paramedics and drivers at the Israeli end; to the staff of Canada-Israel Experience in Toronto and Israel; and, finally, to Harriet Israel and Jill Garazi in the TanenbaumCHAT office who handled much of the organisation in Toronto. Thank you too, to our parents for their support of their children and of the school; and, finally, thanks to the kids whose behaviour and participation was exemplary!

TOMORROW: The flight is due in at 6:20AM, Terminal 3. We will post an advisory here this evening, but please chack with El Al (905-676-4040 -- 3 --1) that the flight is on time before you set out for the airposrt. As I have had flu and laryngitis for the last five days I am not sure that I will be there, but thanks to parents who have communicated over the course of the trip. Please remember our Parent Blog - messages can be sent for posting to me at pshaviv@chat-edu.ca .

 

-- Paul Shaviv

As of 3:45PM (Toronto time) our group had cleared check-in, passport control and security. Flight is LY 103 (not as noted on Itinerary), and is now due in at 06:45AM, Terminal 3.

Again - please check before setting out.