Dear Mom and Dad,

Day three was such a fun and exhilarating day for the whole Rescuer mishpacha. We started the day with a ruach filled davening and went directly into a ‘delicious’ breakfast. From breakfast we loaded the buses and headed to a ropes course where we not only challenged ourselves to go to new heights (literally), but had to trust one another in the team building experience. We put our lives in the hands of our peers and had no choice but to be confident in them. It was up to them to make sure we would not fall. We all had an amazing time, it really was a fantastic experience and just so happens to be a perfect segue into our training: becoming EMRs. From there, we went to the Shuk Machaneh Yehudah and it was a crazy sight to see!! People were shouting while others scrambled to get through the tiny streets. After the Shuk we returned to the Jerusalem Gold hotel to prepare for our very first Shabbat in Israel together. We took some great Shabbat photos and headed to the Kotel for a very meaningful Kabbalat Shabbat! We danced and sang with many different Jews and connected to God and Shabbat in a whole new way!!! The Shabbat experience with these awesome new friends has been unbelievable and I can’t wait for the weeks to come!!! :)))))

More tomorrow, love Zoey Botnick 

 Dear Mommy and Abba,

Today we woke up bright and early to start our first day of training at the United Hatzalah headquarteres. Everyone was so excited to finally get to class and start learning. We started off by learning about the human anatomy, which was actually pretty interesting. We also got a lot of cool Hatzalah swag. We got Hatzalah pop sockets, phone wallets and even got these super swaggy Hatzalah caps. Afterwards, we departed the Hatzalah headquarters to go to the “Yad Vashem” holocaust museum. At the museum we split into two different groups and we had a tour guide. Amongst the horrifying documentary of all that went on during the Holocuast, I also heard a lot of stories from within it that really touched my heart. In addition I got a much better understanding of what happened during the Holocaust. After the tour, we divided into groups of four and talked about our feeling for what we saw througout the tour in the museum. Later on, we left to go play laser tag. When we arived we saw a lot if IDF soldiers there. It made me happy to get to meet some of the people that are risking their lives to fight fore our country. After taking 1.5 Million boomerangs with the soldiers, we left to the battlefield where we would be playing laser tag. This wasn’t the typical game that you would play in an arcade. I felt like I was on an actual battlefield with a real gun, it was really authentic. After having a super fun time we left to go back to the hotel. I had a really great time today, and I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow and have more fun!

More tomorrow, Ahuva Over

Dear Mom and Dad,

On day 1 of our trip we woke up bright and early ready to have an awesome day. We were all jet lagged and strangers to one another yet as the day went on the exhaustion wore off and we all became fast friends. When we arrived at Hatzalah headquarters I had no idea what was going to happen. We sat in a room and watched an inspirational video about the importance of United Hatzalah and why it was formed. We were allowed to ask questions, and when my hand went up my hat fell off lol. We were given a tour around the building and checked out all the different rooms. We were then brought to a classroom to meet our amazing instructor Ari Deutsch and got lots of free swag which I’m loving and using!!! Afterwards, we went to the cheezkiyahu tunnels, where we were given yummy falafels for lunch and met our tour guide Gabriel Suna. He took us on a tour through the tunnels and taught us about it’s history and importance. They were very wet and dark but thank G-d I brought a flashlight so I was able to see where I was going. Everyone sang songs while we trekked through and it was a great bonding experience. We then went through a tunnel that used to be a sewer and before that was a system where the blood of the korbanot ran through, which was in itself an experience. Our final stop was the kotel where we davened mincha and had a chabura from Rav Yoni Mandelstam, our rabbi on Hatzalah Rescue. We then returned to the hotel for dinner and a good night’s rest after our amazing day.

More tomorrow, Marsha Joseph

August 7

Today was super fun! We started off our day by a mountain called Masada. A cable cart lifted us to the top of the mountain. The view was breath taking. We then learned about who built on top of the mountain and the history behind each structure. We then made our way to Ein Gedi. We hiked to a waterfall and then had a chance to enjoy hanging out by the water. It was great to cool off and was really so beautiful. Then we went to the dead sea. This was really cool because the water is filled with salt so it causes everyone to float. It was fun to hangout by the beach. Some of us even played volleyball which was super fun. We then for night activity had fun challenges to complete. Lastly, we watched all the videos from the program together. That was really special to see how far we’ve come in only a month. And was also cool to see all the different friendships developing. Was the most amazing summer ever 🙂

Written by Shayna Travis

Shabbat August 4:
This week was our last Shabbat of the summer. We enjoyed every minute of it by eating, singing, and hanging out together. It was really special because we are a family at this point and therefore it was a really meaningful last shabbas together. We got to hear from an amazing Hatzalah couple who shared their experiences and wisdom with us, giving us a deeper look into what being part of hatzala really is. Hearing about how these people dedicate so much of their time to helping others is truly inspiring and motivates all of us to continue to help others as well. After Shabbat we got to have our final color war competitions with team aichud/united/ white team winning. Color war gave us the opportunity to work as a team while having fun competing against each other. The competitions included guessing candy flavors, creating a fashion design out of a garbage bag and news paper, giving the best bracha/blessing to one of our advisors and more. It was a really fun experience. 

By Batyah Jasper

Today we traveled to the beautiful city of Tzfat. In Israel there are four holy cities that each represent one of the four elements. Tzfat is the city of air. This is because tzfat is a mystical city that is in the clouds. Tzfat is rich with art of all types and therefore today was filled with shopping. We explored the streets of tzfat in order to find the most beautiful jewelry, paintings, and candles. We then drove to the kineret where we met up with the hatzalah water team. We took turns riding in speed boats in order to replicate the procedure we follow in case of a water emergancy or accindet. After we got off of the speed boats we relaxed under the sun and really enjoyed just spending time with one another in the clear and warm water of the kineret. 

By Fay Koyfman
Today was a funfilled day. We started our day off with greeting our new Israeli Madrich, Zev. We then went to Mt. Bental and there we heard the heroic stories of the men that fought in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. It was so interesting to hesr the personal stories of these soldiers. We then traveled to De Karina, a chocolate boutique in the Golan Heights. There we saw the history of this third generation family tradition of chocolate making and even had the opportunity to see how the chocolate is made, taste the chocolate, and even create our own chocolate treats. After De Karina, we went rafting down the Jordan River where some of us got a workout and others got some rays of sun. After which, we enjoyed the first Rescue Israel talent show. We saw tons of talents ranging from dancing, juggling, singing, and so much more. It was a sight to see. 

Written by Esti Polotsky

Wednesday, August 1st, was an eventful day on Rescue Israel. We started off the day down south in Eilat and drove all the way up North to Tel Aviv. Our bus ride was full of laughter, music and enjoying everyone’s amazing company. We then traveled to Tel Aviv and arrived ready to water ski! We suited up and stood in line while wobbling on our water skis. After the wait, we all had the chance to prove ourselves on the skis. Some of us fell right as we got into the water, while others water skied around the lake more than five times. We all had a blast and we were ready to go onto our next adventure. We then got on the bus and prepared to go to Save a Child’s Heart. Save a Child’s Heart is an phenomenal organization geared towards helping children with congenital heart diseases. Children from all over the world come to Israel to have a chance at a new life. These precious children travel to Israel from Tanzania, Zanzibar, Ethiopia, etc. This foundation has given these children a chance to be saved without having to worry about how to pay off medical bills. We visited the kids and let them fill our hearts with love. We played with them, danced, sang, colored and had an amazing time spending quality uninterrupted time with them. We came expecting to help them out, but we left with a connection built only in an hour. We hugged and had emotional goodbyes soon after just meeting them. The connections we made with these children will stay with us forever. All we needed was a smile on our face and positive energy and we made connections to last a lifetime. After this wonderful experience we traveled to our next location near the Kineret, Ohalo Manors where we would be staying for a few days. Overall, this day was all sorts of fun and meaningful experiences. We had opportunities to be in the water and enjoy the sun, while also giving back to the land of Israel and spending time with children from Save a Child’s Heart. I want to thank NCSY Summer for giving me this incredible opportunity to better my relationships with my Rescue Israel community and also my love for the land of Israel. August 1, 2018 was a memorable day that I will look back upon for days to come.