For the first time ever the Jewish Community Center sponsored a trip to Israel specifically for families with children ages 6-13.  Nine families, 39 individuals total, traveled to Israel from May 29 to June 10, with the JCC’s Rabbi Brad Horwitz leading the group.

For Steven Rosenblum and his family, it was his and his kids first time going to Israel.  His wife, Andrea Rosenblum, called this “the trip of a lifetime,” despite having been to Israel five times before.  “We got to see Israel through the eyes of the kids,” said Steven Rosenblum, who belong to Kol Rimah.

The trip took about a year of planning with the families meeting up several times in advance to get to know one another better.  Wendy Jaffe, who went on the trip with her husband Neil and their son Adam, said, “We were a weirdly compatible group and were really similar, especially in how we traveled.” Horwitz seconded that saying, “It was more than just getting along, it was phenomenal.  We connected so much.”  

The kids had a great time together and “the older kids would pick up the younger kids and give them piggy-back rides,” Steven Rosenblum said.  “It was so cute and there was a real sense of family.”

Everything about the trip was planned in advance, and an Israeli tour guide, bus driver and youth counselor traveled with the group the entire time.  “It was totally organized and we didn’t have to do anything.  The days were laid out,” Rosenblum said.  

Most families agreed that this trip was much cheaper than if they had done the same trip on their own.  The pre-planned activities were appropriate and fun for both the kids and adults, and the youth counselor helped keep the kids entertained and busy.  “We were very conscious that this was a family trip,” Horwitz said.  “We made sure it was educational and fun.”

The Siwak family, Stacy and Greg and their three children Sam, Ben and Molly,  who are members of Central Reform Congregation, said one of the best parts of the trip was how much they learned about Israel.  Each family was assigned a subject that they had to research and teach the rest of the group about.  The Siwaks created a true-and-false game to teach the group about the Western Wall while the Rosenblums had an entertaining quiz about the Israeli Defense.

Each of the nine families on the trip was paired with an Israeli family through home hospitality.  “We had ice cream, ate dinner and played on the Wii,” said Ben Siwak, 8 “We play on the Wii at home, too, so that was fun.”  The Jaffe family, also members of CRC, was paired with a family whose children didn’t speak English because they were too young.  However, that didn’t stop Adam Jaffe, 10, from getting along with them.  “It was a little weird not being able to understand each other,” said Adam, “but we played chess.”

The day everyone agrees was one of the best was when they visited the Dead Sea.  “We went in and got covered in mud,” said Sam Siwak, 10. The group also climbed Masada and went on a camel ride that same afternoon.

Another part of the trip included a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem.  “We made notes and folded them really small and put them in the wall,” said Molly Siwak, 6.  “The moms and daughters were on one side and the fathers and sons were on the other,” Stacy Siwak added.  Part of the wall was underground and the group traveled through the whole wall and the tunnels below.

The trip allowed the entire group to experience Israel with their families and get closer to their Judaism.  For Adam Jaffe, “It changed my outlook on my heritage because when I saw things there in Israel they were historical.” Wendy Jaffe agreed, adding how incredible it was to be immersed in the Israeli culture and “being in a place where everything around you is Jewish.”

The adults’ perspective also changed by having so many children on the trip, and they got to see everything through a child’s eye.  “When driving into Jerusalem you have to drive through a tunnel and then after the tunnel you see the city,” said Steven Rosenblum.  “When the kids saw the city for the first time through the tunnel it was an amazing sight and they started applauding.  They were clapping and singing.  It was one of the really special moments of the trip.”  

Everyone who went on this journey agreed that it was a great experience.  “It was much more educational than a normal family vacation,” said Stacy Siwak.  It was different from a typical tourist trip and the families got better understand their heritage.  “The kids want to go back already,” she said.

To find out more about the JCC trip, and to see pictures and read blog entries from the families that participated, go to http://goo.gl/ETmEr.