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The Charlotte Jewish News - June-July 2004 - Page 14 Levin Jewish Middle Schoolers Feel At Home In Israel The following reflections on their trip to Israel were written by WELCOME Home REMODBUhKft MASTER SUITES Additions Basements Kitchens Renovations Baths MeoiaRooms Patios decks TODD GUMMEL (704) 364-0711 OFFICE (704) 578-3427 CELL Buildiftg Our Reputation With Your Satisfachan the students of the Barbara and Jerry Levin Jewish Middle School: “When Rabbi Groner asked us if we wanted to either take the cable car up and down or hike up Masada, it was very nice hearing everyone scream ‘hike up!’ After our twenty-minute hike, we learned the whole story about Masada: about how Herod was an amazing builder who built Masada and beautified the second Beit HaMikdash. The view on top of the huge mountain was breathtak ing. It was a perfect picture oppor tunity. We saw how the Jews lived on top of the mountain. We learned how they had to make the incredi bly hard decision whether to com mit suicide or to be taken captive by the Romans. The group dis cussed the situation, and everyone had the opportunity to share their opinion. We said a little bit of Tehillim in memory of the brave Jews that lived and died defending their mountaintop home. Then we were ready to go down. We hopped on the cable car and saw what we had hiked up. Everyone was very thankful that we had that experience.” —Rachel Slotkis Pinny, the guide, demonstrating rain fall in the desert. “Standing at the bottom of the kotel, you look up to see the sun reflected off the beautiful, large, stones. Maybe you have room to crouch down to see the notes stuffed in every square of the cracks between the stones. If you pause to listen, you can hear a cho rus of men singing a niggun. The beauty of it leads you to daven. i-PEDIC PRESSURE RELIEVING SWEDISH MATTRESS AND PILLOW It molds to your body’s curves, allowing your spine to rest in its natural state. Which, in turn, eliminates the threat of back or neck pain. COMING SOON TO PARK TOWN6 VILLAGE Tempur-Pedic Adjustable Bed & Pillows TOWER PLACE PINEVILLE • HWY 51 (1/2 Mile North of M85) 704-542-5050 COTSWOLD VILLAGE SHOPS RANDOLPH & SHARON AMITY 704-366-5110 RELAX THE BACK The smartest way to sit or sleep. Bending the rules Introducing the new Spring Moss. Rebecca Moss Ltd. 510 Madison Avenue • New York, NY 10022 www.karatpatch.com 901 Providence Road (near Providence Cafe’) 704-334-3188 karat patch Jewelry with your full heart, by the kotel. “One of my favorite experi ences from Israel was standing by the Kotel. Being where thousands of people pray every day, and see ing the holy wall that used to be part of the Beit HaMikdash was so wonderful for me. You could see people with tears in their eyes as they davcncd. One woman even turned around and signaled to ask me for a tissue. In America, one would never do that. But, standing there in Israel, it was as if all peo ple were one. Women, men, chil dren, soldiers, no matter who you arc, you are free to pray and to connect by this wall. “Yerushalayim is a place where everyone is equal (besides Hashem).” —Rachel Spangenthal “Before I went to Israel, I was ^scared that 1 would get hurt, but it didn’t turn out that way. My favorite two sites were Ein Gedi and Ammunition Hill. Ein Gcdi is the place where David hid from Shaul. I liked Ein Gedi because of the scenery and beautiful water falls. One of the waterfalls was small enough for us to go under. The other site was Ammunition Hill. Ammunition Hill is where a big battle took place during the war in 1967. The Jordanians held the hill, and the Israelis had to cap ture it in order to reach Mount Scopus. The Jordanians were hid ing in trenches, and our tour guide told us to do things to show us what the soldiers who were there felt like. After the trip to Israel, I feel that it is a perfectly safe place to visit.” —David Gleiherman “Though Israel was the best thing that ever happened to me, 1 have to admit that the last day was definitely sad. As evening approached, we got onto our bus to go on a boat ride on the Kinneret. It was so beautiful, that I wanted to cry, especially because I knew that I had to leave soon. We were on a pretty big boat by ourselves. It was at sunset. The sky turned colors that I never imagined possible. It was really emotional for me. Sitting there, I collected so many thoughts. Did they know that I did n’t want to leave? I hope that I get back very soon. The view was breathtaking. May the next time that we’re all together in Israel be when Moshiach comes.” —Dehhy Farber “On our last night in Israel we had a meeting about what our lead ers called our ‘learning experi ence,’ if you could call it that. To us, it was looking at the beauty, touring our home, and knowing that we were standing on the very same spots as our ancestors. We really felt glued to the land. We talked about our favorite sites. Some people said Masada, or the Kotel, or the Dead Sea; and really, if you didn’t say Iraq, you were right. Nobody really wanted to go to sleep that night; it was our last night and our last few hours in the land.” —Sharon Eshet “Beit Guvrin was great. We dug up pieces of pottery and bones. Then we put the dirt through a sifter to see what else we could find. We crawled through caves with many holes. Our guide told us about how Rabbi Akiva and other rabbis were hiding from the Romans in caves like these, retelling the story of Pesach. The caves were so dark that they didn’t even know when it was morning. Students guarding the caves had to come and tell them. We crawled through some more holes before reaching the end. Afterwards, we saw an old olive oil press. Olive oil was very valuable in ancient times.” —Andrew Tavin Bracha Weiss and friends camel- trekking. “Whether it was sloshing through water tunnels, crawling through caves, riding on camels, or kayaking, this trip was .so amazing. Although we had so much fun, I think the most special thing we experienced on this trip was going to the Davidson Center in Jerusalem. We went inside and saw a virtual tour of the second Beit HaMikdash (Second Temple). We especially looked at the eastern and southern walls, because that is what is left and has been excavat ed. When I was watching the film, it seemed like many other things I’ve seen about the Beit HaMikdash, but more detailed. Then we went outside where we saw and felt the places which we had just looked at on the virtual tour. It was so amazing to be at entrances to the Beit HaMikdash from 2,000 years ago. Every step you take in Israel is so holy, with a whole story behind it. May our next time in Israel be with all Jews from all over the world with the coming of Moshiach.” —Bracha Weiss “One of the stops that we made on our trip to Israel was a place called Hezekiah’s Tunnels. It was a really cool place. The tunnels were built by Hezekiah to carry water to the city. We soon figured out that the water they have is still freez ing. After a while we got numb and used to the cold. The tunnels are narrow in some places and wide in others. They are tall in some places and short enough in others to make all of us (except Debby) duck. It was a curving and winding tunnel, and it is hard to believe that the tunnel started from two sides and met up in the middle. It was all done by hand with picks. The floor had a lot of holes in it, but the bot tom was pretty smooth. When we turned out our lights, it became pitch black, and that made walking through the tunnels even more fun. It took between 20-30 minutes to walk the entire open section. Then another five-minute walk uphill brought us to our starting point.” —Alexander Shporer
The Charlotte Jewish News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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June 1, 2004, edition 1
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