Wrapping Up The Third Program

What a whirlwind program! Now that it's over, here's a past-view of our last week:

Tuesday

Morning Meditation with Rabbi Mottle

Me, Myself, And I with Rabbi Aaron

Tiyul (Trip) to Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust Museum and to Har Hertzel, the Israeli Military Cemetery with Rav Binny (a very heavy day we had).

Wednesday

Morning Meditation and The Paradise of Paradox with Rabbi Mottle

Jewish Daily Living with Rav Binny

Lunch, then a tour of the ruins of 2nd Temple period Jerusalem at The Herodian Quarter and The Burnt House in the Old City

More of Me, Myself, and I with Rabbi Aaron

Early evening dinner and the special pre-Tisha B'Av meal consisting of bread, an egg, and ashes.

For our Tisha B'Av program, we had a special evening prayer experience on the Roof, then a reading from the scroll of Eicha (Lamentations), then a short talk by Rabbi Aaron followed by an Old City tour with Rabbi Mottle.

Thursday

Tisha B'Av morning started with a discussion of the lamentational poems that we read on Tisha B'Av as well as some stories that Rabbi Mottle shared. Around 12pm we began our Tisha B'Av movie marathon, featuring movies that deal with the recent difficult topics in Jewish life - the Holocaust and the removal of Jews from Gush Katif. At 8-ish we broke the fast with a lox and bagels meal.

Friday

In the morning Rabbi Mottle gave us a tour of the neighborhood of Nachlaot and the Machane Yehuda Marketplace. We then prepared for Shabbat on our own then gathered at Isralight at 6pm to launch into Shabbat, which was of course a memorable experience. 

Thanks for joining us for this year's programs. Stay in touch and we'll see you next year in Jerusalem!

Yom Sheini

The top-secret Lifta night hike and bonfire happened last night. It was a great bonding experience for the group. This morning we continued with Rabbi Aaron's class There Is None Other Than Hashem, where we continued to explore the concept of Hashem's Oneness. After, Rav Binny taught the agada from the Talmud about Rabbi Yosei meeting Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah The Prophet) in the ruins. Then we had a great healthy Italian-style lunch. 

Our afternoon began with Rebbetzin Emunah Witt sharing wonderful stories and giving us a ton of practical ways of being in the world, like knowing when to let go. The end of the day was Rabbi Mottle teaching Jewtopia, exploring the concept of the Chosen People and the positive impact that Judaism has had on the entire world. 

Yom Rishon

Catching up from late last week, we took a morning trip to the City of David then had a relaxing afternoon before our pre-Shabbat program which led into a very special Shabbat experience here in the Old City. Today we had a interactive class of learning from the Torah portion of Lech Lecha, about Avraham's journey to the Land of Israel, which was simultaneously an inner journey of self-discovery. Then Rav Binny shared some deep insights into the concept of 'prayer' as well as some incredible army stories. 

Lunch was the usual surprise of gourmet healthy dishes from Chef Shmuel, which gave us the energy we needed for our Tower of David tour. We're now settled back into the Beit Midrash where Rabbi Aaron is helping us to understand the idea that There Is None Other Than Hashem.

Off To A Good Start

Yesterday's pleasant Fruit & Cheese shmooze on the roof started off the program which led us into our introduction to logistics and our first class with Rabbi Aaron - What Is Religion, Truth, and Faith? This morning we had the Morning Meditation and The Goal To Be Whole/Unpacking Jewish Baggage with Rabbi Mottle. Then Rabbi Aaron taught The Pangs of Cleansing part 1, then we ate lunch, and right now, The Pangs of Cleansing part 2. Our day will be finished with an Old City Tour with Rabbi Mottle. 

Ending And Beginning Again

Our 2nd program ended well with our final Shabbat. The last week+ has given us time to wind down, recharge, and begin to rev up for our third and final program starting tomorrow evening. We'll give you more information tomorrow.

The Last Couple Of Days

Shalom. We're back after a 2-ish day hiatus. What has happened since we last posted?

Tuesday had: (1) Morning Meditation with Rabbi Mottle. (2) The Paradise of Paradox with Rabbi Mottle. (3) Judaism & Environmentalism with Rabbi David Mason. (4) Strength & Spirituality with Rebbetzin Chana Rachel Frumin. (5) The All-Inclusive Divine Pleasure with Rabbi Aaron.

And lunch, of course.

Yesterday was our full-day tiyul (trip) up north. We started driving east out of Jerusalem toward the Dead Sea, made a left at Jericho, drove up the Jordan Valley, then ascended to the Golan Heights at the southern tip of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). There we spent time at both the Peace Outlook and Har BenTal where Rabbi Mottle taught us about the 6-Day War and the Yom Kippur War as it played out on the Golan Heights. We spent some time in a bunker, ate lunch, and by the time we drove off the Golan towards Tzfat, we had a much better understanding of both the spiritual and strategic importance of the Golan for the Jewish people.

Ascending to Tzfat was so natural. We had 3 good solid hours there. Rabbi Mottle told us some powerful stories and then let us wander on our own. Some of us visited the graves of some of the greatest Kabbalists of all time, some went shopping, visited synagogues, met with friends, and relaxed. At around 5:30ish we jumped back into the van and drove down to Tiveria (Tiberius) for our traditional Isralight dinner at Decks, where had 'Israeli grill' at its finest.

We were back here in the Old City at around 12am, and like any tired group would do, we went to sleep. 

Today we're starting a bit later than usual (some people need to sleep!) with the Burnt House tour, classes in the afternoon, then Songs and Stories with Rabbi Mottle after the fast (today is the 17th of Tammuz, a tragic day for the Jewish people) ends.

Have an easy fast...

Chock Full Of Classes

Today was non-stop. Morning Meditation, 'Dimensions Of Space, Time & Soul' with Rabbi Baruch Z'ev Olenick, 'Jewtopia: Our Gift To The World' with Rabbi Mottle, tasty lunch, 'Jewish Food and Health' with Chef Shmuel, and 'What Do We Mean When We Say G-d' with Rabbi Aaron. Talk about consciousness expansion & elevation! Tonight is our famous super duper secret night hike, marshmallow roast and guitar sing-along. Erev Tov.

Three Classes & A Tour

Today was a good day. We started with Rabbi Leibowitz exploring Avraham's experience of personal growth in Lech Lecha, the third portion in the Torah. Next was Rabbi Mottle explaining the real goal of Jewish life in The Goal: To Be Whole. We then had a great healthy lunch followed by Rabbi Mottle's special tour of the Tower of David (Migdal David), which gave us a good overview of the history of our holy city, Jerusalem. The last event of the day was Rabbi Aaron's class called Me, Myself, and I, explaining who we are, who 'G-d' is, and how to experience the natural state of devekut (bonding) that we are always in. Have a great evening, and talk to you tomorrow, which promises to be a very full day of classes.

Catching Up.

We have a lot of catching up to do from the last few days. Our first full day of classes (on Thursday) was very full. Rabbi Aaron taught his class 'Religion, Truth, and Faith', Rav Binny taught 'Praying For Keeps', lunch was great, Rabbi Aaron then taught 'The Meaning of Education', and our day finished with an intimate tour of the Old City.

Friday began with an exploration of 'The Old, Old City', meaning the original Biblical Jerusalem, now known as Ir David (the City of David). Then we were given several hours free ending at 6pm, when we began our pre-Shabbat Magical Mystical Candlelighting, which led to Kabbalat Shabbat on the rooftop, evening davening at the Western Wall, and dinner. 

Daytime gave us a relaxing lunch, bonding time, then a 'Jew & A' question & answer session with Rabbi Aaron. The third meal and musical havdala really brought it all together. We really went places (spiritually as well as physically speaking) this past Shabbat! 

Shavua tov, and stay tuned for previews and wrap ups of this coming week...

NIght One Complete

Program two is off to a nice start. We had a mellow wine & cheese shmooze time up on the roof, getting to know each other. Then we came down into the beit midrash, introduced ourselves including the optional 'most embarassing moment'. Rabbi Mottle and Alana gave us the introduction including logistics details, etc. The evening finished off with Rabbi Mottle helping us to unpack our Jewish baggage. It was a fun and interactive class/workshop where we listed what we don't like about Judaism and Jews, then what we do like about Judaism and Jews. Only the Jewish people can have a love-hate relationship with ourselves. We concluded that the way to live on the positive side of the list is to get to know the basics of what Judaism actually teaches, not what we think it teaches, and certainly not what we conclude about Judaism based on the actions of our fellow Jews. Let's take a fresh look, starting tomorrow...

Program Two Tonight!

In a couple of hours, we'll be starting our second 10-day program. Stay tuned for updates here and for more frequent ones, sign on to https://twitter.com/. Check back tonight for a wrap-up of our Wine & Cheese event and the evening introductory class. Shalom.

A Beautiful Finish

Last night's 11:30 pm Havdalah ended our first Isralight Inward Bound program for the Summer of '09. I am completely speechless, but I'll write anyway. The 10 days that we spent living and learning in the Old City and all over the Land of Israel in general were magical, transformational, unforgettable, among other superlatives. Really, ten days is only the beginning of getting to know each other and ourselves, so from that POV, it was a good start. Stay tuned for MP3s, videos, pics, and text. And hang tight... the next program is starting in 4 days! We still have a few spaces, so get in touch with us ASAP. Call Rabbi Mottle at 050.444.2054. Shalom!

What A Trip!

Wow. Yesterday was amazing. We left the Old City at 7:30 am and headed east toward Jericho, then turned north to drive up the Jordan Valley, through Beit Shean to reach the Golan Heights.

Rabbi Mottle told us some incredible stories about the Yom Kippur War and how a small group of Jewish soldiers bravely fended off the entire Syrian army. 

Then, we made our way west to the holy mystical city of Tzfat where we broke off into smaller groups to follow our neshamot's longings. A group of us guys went down to Arizal's mikveh and then took some quiet time in the ancient Tzfat cemetery where some of the greatest Kabbalists of all time are buried. The others took walks, went shopping, visited synagogues, and relaxed in the main square of Tzfat's Old City.

The drive down from Tzfat to Tiveria (Tiberius) was breathtaking, as well as the view of the Kinneret (Sea of Gallilee) from the restaurant where we ate - Decks. Dinner was tremendous with Israeli grilled meats, salads, and chummus, among other foods. It was also a great bonding time for the group, and we even got to dance with an American Bar Mitzvah boy.

We returned to the Old City at around 1 am, then slept a good sleep!

This morning was our tour to the Excavations of the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount. It was a usual enlightening trek through the history of our holy city, especially walking on the paving stones of the original ground level walkway along the southernmost portion of the Western Wall. Rabbi Mottle ended our tour with a sing-along inside one of the ancient mikvaot (ritual baths).

Lunch is just now over, featuring the usual balanced and tasty food of Shira Rachel. See our lunch menu twitter. 

https://twitter.com/isralight

Pictures and videos to come...

We Have A Great Attention Span

Today was a very unique day at Isralight. We had non-stop classes the whole day. First was Rabbi Wolf with a Morning Meditation followed by a class called the Paradise of Paradox, where we clarified the two most important names of G-d - Hashem, and Elokim, and realized that Judaism is NOT monotheistic, and NOT pantheistic, but rather panentheistic (you have to hear the class!). 

Rabbi David Mason showed up next with his Judaism and Environmentalism class, sharing authentic Jewish sources on our obligations to take care of the planet.

Then we packed in another class (delaying our usual lunchtime) with Rabbi Ken Spiro, who presented The Seven Wonders of Jewish history, helping us understand our collective Jewish identity in the context of prophecies from the Torah. 

Lunch was clearly really good, since by the time I arrived (a bit late), there was very little food left. Compliments to Shira Rachel on cooking up more flavorful healthy food.

At 2pm we gathered back into our double-domed classroom and learned from Rabbi Aaron and from Rav Kook how being jealous of G-d is very very unhealthy. The only way to avoid that unhealthiness is to have a proper healthy understand of who G-d really is and who we really are. 

At 3:30 Rebbetzin Chana Rachel Frumin helped us understand the two aspects of strength and how to use them for our spiritual growth. 

The day ended with our 7pm arrival at Tuesday Night Live, a Jewish talk show recorded live here in Jerusalem, hosted by Ari and Jeremy, two very close friends of Isralight.

Laila tov from the Old City, and stay tuned for our next update, hopefully tomorrow night at the end of our heavy-duty day of traveling.

Evening Time

Here's the daily wrap up - the class 'Jewtopia' was a hit. The Burnt House Tour presentation made an impression, including one comment that it reminded them of a Spanish-language soap opera. Shira Rachel's Mexican/Middle Eastern lunch was a hit. Rabbi Aaron's class was of course a hit. Rabbi Baruch Z'ev's autobiography along with the Neshama meditation and the group Shema unity experience were wild and fun. Maybe we'll get Brad Pitt to stand in for him in the BZ Movie. Tonight is a relaxing night in the Holy City.

Tomorrow's action includes Rabbi Mottle in the a.m. followed by Rabbi David Mason presenting Judaism and Environmentalism, lunch, then Rabbi Aaron, and finishing with Rebbetzin Chana Rachel Frummin (who, by the way, set up Rabbi Baruch Z'ev with his wife!). At night we will have an optional trip to the hippest live TV show in Jerusalem: Tuesday Night Live.

Nighty night holy brothers and sisters. See you all tomorrow...

A New Day With New Activities

Shalom friends. Yesterday's class about Hashem and what we're looking for in life was both heavy-duty and thoroughly enlightening. We had a whole lot to think about last night. This morning was another peaceful morning meditation followed by Rabbi Mottle's 'Jewtopia' class. Imagine a world totally saturated with the influence of the Jewish people and our Torah. You don't have to imagine, because you live in it! What an impact the tiny Jewish people have had on this big world, from China to Hawaii (the long way around the globe, of course), from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica, but especially on the Western World.

The Burnt House tour has given us a more real-life understanding of the Old City right before the destruction of the Second Temple, as well as appreciation that Hashem preserved it from all of the ensuing invaders of the Old City until we returned here properly in 1967. All of these tours we're taking are deepening our sense of Jewish identity. We are inextricably soul-bound to our unbelievable history.

Check out our updated photostream, or just watch the slideshow on your right.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/isralight/

We should have the lunch menu up on Twitter within the hour. Shalom

Mid-Day Update - Sunday

We just returned from a healthy tasty lunch (see Twitter for the menu), wonderful tour of Migdal David (The Tower of David) where Rabbi Mottle gave us clarity on the various periods of history and the cultures that had been in possession of Jerusalem from the Caananite period up to today. One of the highlights was the very top of the highest tower which commands an unbelievable view of the Old City all the way to Jordan on one side, and the new city of Jerusalem on the other. Pictures will be up on Flickr as soon as possible. Right now, Rabbi Aaron is speaking about the true Jewish definition of 'G-d' and how we can make sure to have a proper Jewish orientation toward the reality that we live in. Hashem is the be-er, we are the be-ing.

What A Shabbat Experience!

Wow. With Shabbat experiences like this, who needs the rest of the week! We had such an uplifting, bonding, meaningful time, full of food, niggunim, talking Torah, life, growth, and of course, rest. But now, we're back in the rush of the week. Shavua Tov. On the program for today is Rabbi Leibowitz's 'Let's Get Biblical' class (in progress), a lunch break, then another installment of our Old City tour series and another dose of Rabbi Aaron to cap off the day. Stay tuned for pics and vids. Shalom.

Videos And Shabbat Coming!

Shalom. Our first 26 hours were great, capped off by our night hike to Lifta. And what can we say about this morning's very special trip outside of the walls of the Old City to Ir David, the City of David, a.k.a. Biblical Jerusalem? What a Jewish-conciousness-expanding experience! Right now we're preparing for Shabbat, and in a bit more than an hour we'll be stepping into a completely elevated and sublime realm: our first Isralight Shabbat experience. We will never be the same...

Plus, check out our freshly edited videos below, also on YouTube. Special thanks to our tireless staff for all their work this week. Shabbat Shalom from the Old City of Yerushalayim. 'Jerusalem, If I Forget You!!!'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5le3uUjCmsc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2615rafhx4

Today's Activities

What an great day so far. This morning at 7:15 we had the Modeh Ani morning meditation, then the Goal To Be Whole class both with Rabbi Mottle. Rabbi Aaron followed with a kabbalistic class on Freedom & Slavery, and how Judaism wants us to be TRULY free, not enslaved thinking that we are free. Then we had a great lunch (see our Twitter feed www.twitter.com/Isralight) and went on an emotionally powerful tour around the Jewish Quarter of the Old City (our home for these 10 days and beyond). As I type, Rabbi Aaron is giving an interactive class called 'The Search For The Essential I', based on a piece from Rav Kook. If there is an 'Essential I', then there must also be an 'Unessential I'. How can we know the difference? 

Tonight is our night hike and tomorrow is our tour of The City of David (the original city of Jerusalem). We have the whole afternoon to prepare for Shabbat, and then at 6:00pm, we prepare for lift-off. Shabbat Shalom!

Last night's Wine & Cheese event on the roof was wonderful.

We followed it with Rabbi Aaron's first class, Unpacking Jewish Baggage,

where Rabbi Aaron shared his personal life story and gave everyone an

opportunity to unpack our Jewish baggage with a list of what we dislike

about Jews and Judaism, then a list of what we love. What a surprise:

what we don't like is actually the flip side of what we love!

We settled into the dorms, got a good night sleep, then woke up early for

Rabbi Mottle's guitar-led Morning Meditation, full of niggunim 

(songs without words) and unique insights into the Modeh Ani.

Next was breakfast...and we'll be updating after the next class.

Inward Bound!!!

Here we go! After a year of planning I am heading up to the Isralight rooftop in the Old City of Jerusalem for the opening session of the 2009 Inward Bound season. pics to follow.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

You dream and plan and then...

You dream and plan and plan. And then you get a call at 6am on Friday morning... The first Isralight Inward Bound student has arrived. Jesse Rutiz's flight landed at 4:30 am. Yesterday we met with the madrichim and started getting the dorms ready.

As we stood outside of the dorms on Chabad Street in the Old City, I new in the blink of an eye the summer would be behind us. How many unbelievable, out of this world moments lay between this moment and the one where I am locking the dorm up for the last time at the end of August. How many mindblowing Rabbi David Aaron classes, or transcendent niggunim, or sunset's on the Golan, or just moment of simple laughter at the joy of being a Jew in Jerusalem lay before us?

Personally for me this job is a return to one of the most beautiful elements of childhood. The endless summer with the shortening days of September a far off horizon. I have an entire summer ahead of walking the Land of Israel, and going deep deep inside the spiritual vastness and richness of our heritage.

I took a moment yesterday, and just reveled in that awareness.