If you have hung around anyone from our trip long enough you may want to ask, how could one city be so engrained in the hearts of a group and how could that city possibly be Albany?! It all started when we realized that Israel was not going to be the destination of Yad B’Yad 2014, unless the war would stop before the end of the week. At first we were disappointed, but we were determined to keep our heads high and our hopes up and to continue to have an awesome time. Then came Shivah Asar BiTamuz. A day which had to be meaningful, restful, and as part of Yad B’Yad, enjoyable. Bowling and movies just would not make the cut. As a result, we went to Albany. The two hour bus ride each way was a much appreciated rest and aid to the fast. Once we arrived in Albany we split into two groups. One went to a planetarium and one went on a tour of Albany. In the planetarium we learned about different constellations that can be seen by connecting a few dots in the sky… and with a little imagination. Then, was the tour. A few members of our staff tried to do the unthinkable: to lead an entertaining, made up tour in the three blocks around a planetarium in Albany. The participants, desperate to keep a positive attitude, payed attention, laughed along, and even pitched in a few of our own jokes. At the end of the tour, we came across a public piano and our fearless leader asked our future fearless leader to play the piano for us. For a minute or two we stood around listening to the melody not really knowing what to do. Suddenly, someone began to sing the words that changed our trip, “Albany, in our hearts forever, Albany you’re the best trip ever.” That was all we needed. Everyone began singing along, harmonizing, tapping a beat, and every other way we could possibly think of to get into it. When the two groups reunited, we did what soon became a matter of course for us, we included them in our revelation, that Albany was the best trip ever. It took a little convincing, but shortly after everyone understood and all joined in. Later that day we broke into learning groups and learned about Shivah Asar Bitamuz. We also learned, as this was only our second time in learning groups, that our learning groups were an amazing opportunity to develop new ideas and grow as individuals and as a group. That set the stage for future learning groups where as we grew more comfortable with each other we were able to have more meaningful discussions throughout the rest of the summer. On Shivah Asar Bitamuz we realized that it is possible to have an awesome time wherever we go and whatever occurs as long as we would make it happen like we did in Albany. There would always have to be those who would take the lead, but we understood that the followers were just as vital. We had been told before that people make the program and no matter where we would go we could make it awesome. However, it was in Albany when we truly came to believe it. From that point on we knew that no matter what happened or where it happened, we would have the best trip ever and Yad B’Yad will be in our hearts forever.

Zack Orenshein