Tuesday July 31st

Today the MBIers woke up and commenced their day of rotating through activities coordinated with the JNF. The groups took part in following three activities. The first component involved going to Habonim's forest to do a some avodah(work) to help tend to its health and upkeep. The forest which is near Kibbutz Tzorah underwent a small transformation as the groups took part in cleaning, gardening, and the general landscaping upkeep to keep the forest beautiful and continue to make us proud to have a forest with Habonim's name on it.

The MBIers also took part in some group missions and team building exercises at Nes Harim facing some group challenges that required them to flex their minds, muscles, and teamwork to overcome. The final component involved the unique experience of getting to get involved first hand with an archaeological dig. The groups went to the Yitra Ruins located just south of Bet Shemesh and got to learn about some of the intricacies of an archeological dig and take part in it. A few archaeological finds were made and really took hands on learning a step farther.

The MBIers came together for a delicious barbecue dinner which involved kebabs, veggie schnitzel, and of course Israeli salads and hummus to make it a complete meal. The evening involved a peula that began their preparation for the day ahead of them. Tomorrow the MBIers will be going to Yad Vashem(Israel's Holocaust Museum) which tends to be one of the more powerful days with a lot of time for reflection and processing of the Holocaust.

Tomorrow the MBIers will head to Yad Vashem in the morning where they will get a guided tour of the museum which was redone two years ago and really is powerful and meaningful part of their trip. Afterwards they will head to Har Herzl where many of Israel's leaders and soldiers are buried to talk more about the people who helped build the state of Israel and were integral parts of the state's evolution. In the afternoon they will take part in the Sataf hike which is located in the hills outside Jerusalem and involves a short hike that leads to few springs. In the evening they will return to Nes Harim and have a big medurah(campfire) to round out the day.

Lastly there has been a time change for the drop-off for the MBI free weekend. On Friday the pickup for Jerusalem will be at 9:30am. For Haifa the pickup will be at 11:30am. While Leon will be doing his best to be in touch with all the families please pass on the information as well to make sure all the information gets passed along.