Shavuah tov!! Our first Shabbos in Israel was amazing! We began with davening facing the stunning sunset of Israel. We were then invited to Sanders and Shimon’s Beni Mitzvot Shabbat. This was to celebrate Sanders’s 13th year on YBY and Shimon’s bar mitzvah laning. We then enjoyed a great dinner. Dinner was followed by in a inspiring tisch with great food and songs. Then we had time to hangout before curfew. The next morning we enjoyed a very long and uplifting davening which was followed by a delicious kiddish. We then split up into learning groups to debate the topic- the value of life. After that we enjoyed a social lunch and amazing circle time. After that many staff members offered chaburot and we all had the option to hangout or rest. We later met up for a game of Coke and Pepsi which was altered to be Yad B’Yad specific where we included a lot of our trip jokes. After that we had mincha followed by dinner. After we were full we brought our chairs outside for slow shirah as the sun set. We then had maariv and a booming havdalah. After that we suited up for a staff vs participant basketball game. After we were tired and ate pizza. We are now packing up and preparing to move to our next location.

Leah Stock and Mayer Goldsmith