With the standard wake up, davening and breakfast we got on the buses and headed to the Gush. After touring around an interesting museum about using practical electrical items on shabbos, we watched a meaningful movie about the history and the fight for Gush Etzion.

For our final stop of the day we went to Kever Rachel, where we were given some free time to gather our thoughts. We headed back to the hotel to prepare for Tisha Ba’av, and enjoyed a great meal before the fast started.

With Eicha being split up between the advisers and the participants, the entirety of trip 1 participated in an meaningful Kumzits where people shared their thoughts and ideas about the meaning of Tisha Ba’av.

The day started off with shacharis and kinos, and then we had a long break until a learning program about doing chessed led by staff member Etty Borgen. We loaded ourselves onto the buses and headed for the restaurant to break the our fast, however before we had another kumzits to end Tisha Ba’av. After dinner we went back to the hotel. Tomorrow is a big day, Yom NCSY!

Mimi Leifer and Tzvi Rosenfeld