Hi!

I hope everything in St. Louis is good.

These past few weeks have been quite busy. I was able to see quite a bit of Israel from Masada to the Golan. We had winter break last week for a few days, although it was hardly winter, as the weather was gorgeous. To start off, I went to the the Jerusalem Biblical zoo, because I live in Malcha it’s only about a mile walk. It’s very close, unfortunately it’s not free like the St. Louis one and a bit smaller, but it was still beautiful. I really enjoyed it. One cool factor about it was that since its the biblical zoo, next to many of the animals there are quotes from the bible or history on how it connects to the land of Israel. The best part was there was a life size Noah’s arc, representing the one from the bible.

Another cool place I visited over break was the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, the official state memorial commemorating Menachem Begin. He was Israel’s sixth prime minster and an amazing man. The center is an interactive tour of different exhibits that display unique parts of his life. One of Begin’s most important actions in government was his signing the Camp David accords. The agreement made Egypt the first Arab state to officially recognize Israel. They were signed on March 26, 1979, March 26 is my birthday, so I thought that was quite cool!

Later that night I headed south! A few friends and I and spent the night at a family in Mizpe Yericho. They live in such a beautiful area, their backyards are basically the desert. It’s a city about halfway between Jerusalem and Masada, so we thought it would be a good location. The next morning we headed out early, catching the first bus to Masada. Masada is an ancient fortification, most famous for the long siege held by the troops of the Roman Empire which led to the mass suicide of the resident Jewish families of the Masada fortress. We arrived there, left our bags in a locker at the bottom of the mountain, and headed up. It’s wasn’t very long, but it was quite steep which made it especially difficult. We spent about 2 hours at the top, connecting to the history, and exploring the ancient sights. When we left the top of Masada we were in quite a rush. We wanted to catch the next bus, and I had to go to the bathroom, so I sprinted!

From Masada, we took a bus to Ein Gedi, Ein Gedi is a beautiful little oasis, it’s famous because King David hid from King Shaul there thousands of years before. It’s was truly stunning. After that headed to the Dead Sea, it was about a 15 minute walk. My friends and I put the Dead Sea mud on our faces and floated in the sea. It was the perfect ending to a great day. I couldn’t get over how I literally floated, it was quite cool. I highly recommend it. It’s also just so amazing looking back, how the public transportation can take you everywhere, and how much you can see in such a small country filled with so much history, all in one day.

The following Shabbat I spent up north in Katsrin. We had a small Saint Louis reunion with my friends from home and one of our Hebrew teachers that moved back here from St. Louis. The bus up north was three hours, the bus stops half way for a 10 minute rest stop. As my friends and I were buying some snacks, someone tapped us on the shoulder and asked us in Hebrew if that was our bus leaving. We looked, drop everything, and looking really silly running after the bus, screaming for it to wait. The bus driver opened the door, but didn’t stop, so we jumped onto the moving bus. Only then did we each take a deep breath as a whole bus full of people laughed at us. It was one of those “only in Israel” moments. 

The next event that happened was Tu B’shvat in Israel, the birthday for the trees! A holiday that celebrates the trees and produce of Israel, it really was special to be here for it. A few friends and I took a bus to the neighborhood of Ein Keren in Jeruslaem. We took a short hike, and had a picnic lunch over looking the Jerusalem forest, it had quite the scenery. We found some orange and almond trees. It was so cool!

The last cool thing to add, is that I signed up for the Jeruslaem Marathon! I am only doing the 10k but I am quite excited. In St. Louis through Students on the Go, I ran the Go! Saint Louis 1/2 marathon, all four years of high school. It was quite a special experience and a lot of training, but the best feeling came after the race! Although I am running a shorter distance here, I am running for a cause which adds a lot of meaning to the race. I am running and raising money for the organization, One Family. One family assists victims of terror in Israel. This includes the victims themselves as well as their families. They offer support in many ways, for example: medical care, psychological and social support. They also make broader efforts designed to foster a unity amongst all Jews around the devastation wrought by terrorism. It’s a really important organization, and I’m excited to be raising money for them! I’ll let you know how the race ends up going! If you want to donate to the cause, and help me raise money here’s the link –

http://www.teamonefamily.org/shirafeen

All the best,

Shira