Week One: Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You
Part of the transitional process of Opening Week on CVK is the participation in ice breaker activities, where participants get to know and trust each other and their madrichim. CVK spends one day in the forests outside of Jerusalem, doing trust exercises, group activities, and other ice breaking games. The long-lasting friendships are already starting to form, as our CVK’ers are having the times of their lives!
Week One: Opening Ceremony
Last week, CVK’ers arrived in Israel. Upon landing, they were greeted and welcomed enthusiastically by their Israeli madrichim and peers. During the Opening Ceremony, they were introduced to Israel and heard speeches from their peers, getting excited for the upcoming few weeks. Here is one picture from the festivities.
Israel Photo of the Day - Touring Jerusalem - Authentically
This photo captures the essence of Chetz v’Keshet. It’s a Summer in Israel… Israeli Style! All madrichim (counselors) and tour guides are Israeli soldiers, with backgrounds in education and youth programming, who are trained to be able to provide the best possible tours of our sites. This makes the trip accessible to everyone - Israelis who think they know everything there is to know (and are usually surprised to find out they don’t), and those who have never been to Israel before in their lives. This photo, of an Israeli madricha giving our teens a tour around Jerusalem’s Old City, truly captures that experience in a moment. 83 days til CVK! Are you excited?
Israel Photo of the Day: 1921
On this day in history: March 30, 1921, Winston Churchill made a visit to the British Mandate of Palestine, with key stops at the agricultural colony of Rishon LeZion, and in the new city of Tel Aviv. He praised the Jewish inhabitants for all of the strides they had made in this land, that he had seen first-hand on his visit. This is a photo of Rothschild Boulevard, in Tel Aviv, in 1921. See how sparsely populated that urban center was then! Incredible.
Shabbat Shalom!
Israel Photo of the Day: The Shuk
Something we miss big-time when not in Israel is Shuk Machane Yehuda - especially on Erev Shabbat. The famous shuk in Jerusalem is bustling on a normal day, but on Friday afternoons it is overflowing with men, women, and children shopping for Shabbat.
Israel Photo of the Day - Jerusalem, the Old City
On Erev Shabbat we get particularly nostalgic for Jerusalem. As the saying goes, “אם אשכחך, ירושלים, תשכח ימני” - “If I forget, thee, Jerusalem, may I forget my right hand.” We cannot wait to go back to Israel this Summer on CVK and CVK PRO!
Shabbat Shalom
Israel Photo of the Day - “Friday Evening at the Kotel”
This picture of the Kotel on Erev Shabbat makes us long for Israel. As the saying goes, “Libi b’Mizrach, v’anochi b’sof Maarav” - “My heart is in the East, and I am in the farthest West.” Shabbat Shalom to everyone - have a peaceful and relaxing weekend!
