8th Grade Israel Trip Blog :: Solomon Schechter Day School

8th Grade Israel Trip Blog

May 6-7/Day 14

/ May 6, 2025 /

By: Sam, Class of 2025

We started our last morning early, so we could make sure we had everything to go home. After Tefillah, which was led by Schechter students, we had our last breakfast in Israel. We then made our way to the bus with our luggage. Our first activity was the Maccabi sports museum where we looked at how…

May 5/Day 13

/ May 5, 2025 /

By: Rami, Class of 2025

We started off Monday by going to Anu—the Museum of the Jewish People at Tel Aviv University—and learned about the history of the Jewish people all around the world. Then, we went to the Ayalon Mall for a pizur lunch. There were several options, but almost everyone got kosher McDonald’s. We then…

May 4/Day 12

/ May 4, 2025 /

By: Elliott, Class of 2025

It was our last morning at the Eyal Hotel in Jerusalem. To start the day, we did a quick tefillah, had a quick breakfast, rolled out our suitcases and loaded them onto the bus. We then started our drive to Tel Aviv.

May 3/Day 11

/ May 3, 2025 /

By: Eyal, Class of 2025

We spent Shabbat in Jerusalem. We woke up and ate breakfast. After that, we all picked which synagogue we wanted to go to, and we landed on a Sephardic synagogue in Yemin Moshe and the Great Synagogue. I was part of the group that went to the Sephardic Synagogue. I really enjoyed the praying…

May 1/Day 9

/ May 1, 2025 /

By: Sam, Class of 2025

Today was Yom Ha’atzma’ut/Israel Independence Day. We started our morning early so we could do shacharit at the kotel. We prayed at the egalitarian part of the kotel, and had a fun service with Hallel and a special Torah reading.

April 30/Day 8

/ Apr 30, 2025 /

By: Naomi, Class of 2025

Today was יום הזיכרון/Yom Hazikaron/Israel’s Memorial Day. We started our day with a late wake-up to recover from the little sleep we got the night before. After getting ready for the day, we had a rooftop Tefillah before having breakfast in the hotel restaurant. We then hopped on our bus and headed…

April 28/Day 6

/ Apr 28, 2025 /

By: Sophie, Class of 2025

In the morning, we all finished packing and loaded the bus. We first went to a goat farm and visited the goats—and tasted three different kinds of cheeses. (Editor’s note: we tasted a feta, a goat-cheese Camembert, and a firm, aged, non-moldy Tomme.) The last kind ended up being almost every one’s…

April 27/Day 5

/ Apr 27, 2025 /

By: Tali, Class of 2025

On Sunday morning, after Tefilah and breakfast, we started our 3-hour-long drive down to the Negev. Along the way we stopped for lunch in S’de Boker; where groups of 6 or 7 kids were given a budget of 150-170 shekels and had to spend that money in a supermarket on lunch for everyone in their group.

April 26/Day 4

/ Apr 26, 2025 /

By: Eleanor, Class of 2025

Most days in Israel, we wake up before 7 so we can get going early; because it was Shabbat, we got to sleep until 8:15! We did the start of tefillah, and then had breakfast; after breakfast, we read Torah and did the rest of the service.

April 25/Day 3

/ Apr 25, 2025 /

By: Jonathan, Class of 2025

Today, we went on a water hike where we experienced wading through water that came to our waist. The water hike was part of the river Delta where the Jordan River flows into the Kinneret. I saw several plants that are among the seven species of Israel mentioned in the Torah, like fig trees and date…

April 24/Day 2

/ Apr 24, 2025 /

By: Nathaniel, Class of 2025

Our second day in Israel began with a nice shacharit service. It was interesting because we had a Sefardi torah (so the scroll stood upright in a big metal case), and because we got to see how one of the other schools prays (similar to us, but with a few different tunes).

Welcome to the 8th grade Israel Experience Blog

/ Apr 23, 2025 /

By: Rabbi Jonathan (Yoni) Berger

I’m writing this from our tour bus. We just left the Atlit Detention Camp, near Haifa, and are on our way to Degania, the kibbutz near the Kinneret that will be our base for the next five days. But what time is it? The bus clock reads 16:00, my jet-lagged body feels like it’s 11 a.m., and my…