Hey hey! Ayala and Aliza here with the one and only Tomer to recap our uplifting first weekend in Israel. We started Friday off by visiting Rashbi’s (Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai) Kever in Meiron and didn’t even mind the boiling hot weather! With Momma Tani constantly reminding us to wear our hats and apply sunscreen we were good to go. From there we travelled on to get some delicious pasta and pizza for lunch. After eating like we’ve never seen food before and getting Tz(o)fat…we enjoyed some pre shabbos musical entertainment displayed by a local Breslev man in Tzfat. While some were dozing off into la la land, others were filled with awe by the fascinating new instruments. 
*click click* Squeezing in the super quick Pre Shabbos pics before ‘rushing’ our way to davening. The beautiful sunset on the horizon created a sense of unity among us that was unreal; kaballat shabbat had never felt so special. The theme of this past Shabbos was chassidus. We split into a variety of groups at dinner, with each group having the name of a different important chassidishe rebbe. Keeping with the theme, we then took part in a tisch that began and ended with a Big Bang (pun intended) led by our very own Rav Benjy Schrag Mayer. The Tisch was filled with classic nigguns as well as some we created to the tunes of modern day songs. For example, the Thrift Shop Niggun and the Gaga Niggun. 
The next morning, we started off shacharit with a great attendance by the girls of YBY. Following Davening was a delicious lunch, a super fun circle time, and a productive learning session with our Shabbos learning groups. Finally in the afternoon we were given two and half hours of menucha, and then ended off the Shabbos with an inspiring and unifying Kumzitz. After Shabbos we all participated in a competitive game of Minute To Win It, which Seth Bodek won! Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Peace from the Middle East, 
Aliza, Ayala, and Tomer

See more pictures here.