Anshai Goes to Israel!

After a long day of travel and layovers in Istanbul, Miami, and New York, 26 members of the Anshai Torah Israel trip met in Tel Aviv.  We gathered in the lobby of our hotel and lit Chanukah candles.  As if on cue, the hotel pianist started playing Chanukah songs.  After lighting candles, Jordana Weinberg led us into the heart of Tel Aviv, where we found delicious food for dinner.  Some of us even tried some Israeli...Read more...

We start our first day in Jerusalem!  Our day began with an act of Hesed at Yad LaKasish, Lifeline for the Elderly.  Having begun in 1962 by Miriam Mendelow, this organization cares for 200 older people every day.  The average age is 80.  All are below the poverty line and receive a daily hot meal and assistance from governmental social workers. Many are Holocaust survivors while some are from Ethiopia, the former Soviet...Read more...

I will give them in My house and in My walls a place and a name…an everlasting name which will not be discontinued. Isaiah 56:5

Our visit to Israel’s Holocaust memorial park, Yad Vashem, reminded us of HaShem’s promise to give us all the land of Canaan for eternity, as well as the need for Israel to be a Jewish homeland. First, we looked at the greenery featuring trees dedicated to the...Read more...

Sunday morning, the Anshai crew woke up early to check out of our hotel in Jerusalem and head to the Negev desert. Our first stop was to pick up our tour guide, Josh, in his hometown of Ma’ale Adummin. He lives in a settlement on the very edge of Jerusalem. 

On our way down to the desert, we discussed various issues of the settlements, West Bank, and Bedouin communities....Read more...

We woke up this morning to a perfectly clear sky following yesterday’s rain- a perfect day for visiting Har Ben-Tal, the highest point on the Golan Heights.  We could see Syria and Lebanon (even the suburbs of Damascus!) and learned about the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War. We made a special stop to get hot chocolate- thank you Josh-before our jeep tour of the Golan!

After lunch we went to Gamla (known as the Masada of the north), and our amazing tour guide, Josh said that the point of Judaism is appreciation. We learned about how Gamla was founded and excavated (amazing story). Afterwards, the last stop of the day we went to Tel Saki.  A soldier, Yaakov of the 188th, told us the story of the site- none of us will forget how he described the heroism of that event.  We went through a pitch-black bunker-luckily, we all made it out alive!!  We learned about specific soldiers, and the crafty things they did to stay alive (a Bobby pin kippa holder turned into a grenade pin!).  There we witnessed a beautiful sunset.  We came back and had a giant Israeli bbq feast!  Laila Tov.Read more...

The final day of our journey has arrived.  We awake to another unforgettable Israeli breakfast at our hotel, the Crowne Plaza on the Tel Aviv boardwalk. 

We check-out of the hotel for the final time as a group, store our luggage under the bus, and venture-out to our first stop of the day- Yaffo, also known as Jaffa.  Our outstanding guide, Josh points out a few...Read more...