Tu B'Shevat

My favorite part about Tu B'Shevat is that it comes in the middle of winter when everything is drab and dreary outside. This is a spring festival, celebrating life and growth. Well, yesterday was the perfect day to celebrate this holiday. It was icy and grey and snowing all day long, and then we walked into the room in the HUB, covered completely with brightly colored fruits and grape juices. It was just a beautiful sight. The service, led by Dana and Sam, was short and sweet, but we covered the different fruits and the different cups of wine intermixed with some readings, interpretations and songs. Earlier in the day, Penn State Hillel spread the word about Tu B'Shevat by passing out free pots of parsley in the HUB. Students were curious and intrigued by what we were doing. Many had no idea what Tu B'Shevat was and we were able to teach a little about Judaism to many students. Check out the story in the Collegian written about the Tu B'Shevat seder!

Happy New Year!!

I hope you all are enjoying the beginning of the new year :) Penn State Hillel is having an amazing time starting the new year off in the Holy Land with Taglit-Birthright on Bus #10. Read about what they're up to below. Have a happy and healthy new year!!

Hi friends and family!

Shalom from Israel! How great it is to finally be here! We are so excited to have arrived safely, soundly, and happily in Israel, and everyone is having a fantastic time! After landing in Tel Aviv yesterday, we met our Israeli staff, all of whom are awesome. Erad, our tour educator, is incredibly knowledgeable...he has yet to be stumped by any of our questions; our guard/medic, Stas, keeps us laughing with his jokes; our bus driver, Rafi is great and is navigating through the cities with expertise.

After a brief orientation, we spent the night at Kibbutz Maale Hachamisha. We were off to an early start this morning as we drove through many different landscapes on our journey north, from the desert (where we saw camels, Bedouin villages, and the Dead Sea, all of which we'll get to explore fully later on in the trip), to the mountains of the Golan Heights. We waved at Jerusalem but will have to wait until next week to explore the city :).We spent the afternoon in Tzfat, the home of Jewish mysticism, or Kabbalah. Despite a bit of rain, we had a great afternoon of shopping and walking around the city, talking to locals, and of course...eating falafel and shawarma :) The meals have been great so far (we all know this is important!), and we're off to bed to rest up for another busy day.

We're looking forward to the coming days, and hopefully we'll get a chance to write again soon.

Until next time,

Bus #10