Day Ten

It was a bittersweet day as we packed up our bus for the final time and headed to the holy city of Tzfat. We admired the view and explored the old synagogues, then celebrated bar and bat mitzvahs of some our group participants. We also gave several members of our group Hebrew names. "I felt like I was being introduced to my Jewish heritage," said Topher Zuleger-Freedman. "It renewed my Jewish spirit," added Sydney Schottenfeld.

After the celebrations, we went to learn about the Kaballah with Avraham Leventhal, an artist from Michigan, who moved to Israel over 15 years ago. He talked about some of the ideas behind mysticism and explained a few of his pieces of artwork.

We then explored the artists' colony and the myriad of shops in the city, with a quick break for lunch (and some frozen iced coffee and pomegranate juice of course). We left Tzfat and made our way to a scenic park for our closing program. We sat in a circle and shared our favorite mental pictures from the last ten days, and listened to our staff speak about furthering our experiences. 
"I didn't think it was possible to feel so close to people after just ten days," said Stefanie Stone. "It was an amazing wrap-up to an amazing ten days," continued Samantha Lang. "It really epitomized the togetherness and family we each found here."

Them, amid much hugs, tears, and T-shirts, we all left for the airport. While we are all so sad to leave, we know we will all be back together on campus soon.


That's the end of the MJX-Birthright Summer 2013 Blog. Looking forward to next season!