Up North, Looking Ahead

It has been another multifaceted week on Lev v’Nefesh, as the students headed north after the first Host Shabbat. They have had the opportunity to explore the beauty of the Galil, the time periods of the Mishnah and Gemara, and to see how the city of Tsfat became a haven for Jews generally and rabbis specifically after the expulsions from Spain and Portugal in 1492 and 1497. Historically speaking, we are now at about the point where we were when we began our visit to Poland. My gratitude to Morah Sarit Nevo, who is accompanying them this week in Israel, and to Marc and the Madrichim for accompanying them throughout this journey.

As committed as we are to experiencing Jewish and Israeli history chronologically, we also took advantage of being in the north to understand the situation on Israel’s northern border today. For this, we partnered with the Alma Center, which coordinates tours of the border with Lebanon and also runs simulations in their mock control room so that our students can better understand Israel’s security realities and how Israel would respond if attacked by Hezbollah or other bad actors from Lebanon. Alma’s simulation is realistic enough that when Hezbollah did attack Israel on October 8, 2023, alumni who had experienced Alma were in touch to comment on how their simulation had presaged real events. Lev v’Nefesh is about understanding our history, but also our current reality and our future, and the students soaked it up.

Today, the students have been in and around the city of Tsfat as they move to their second hotel location in the north tonight. They are focused on their day-to-day, but also looking ahead to this Shabbat when we will be joined back at the hostel by 30 Israeli high school students and their teachers and administrators for a Mifgash Shabbat, and to Options Week next week.