הודות בנצי ואת רקפת!

For those of you that don't read hebrew, the title of this article is "thanks to Benzi and Rakefet," and thanks indeed they do deserve. Lots of it!
At least once a month since we've been here, Benzi and Rakafet, two OSP students very happily engaged to be married in Febuary, have opened up their homes and hearts to us for various Shabbat occasions: services, prayer, meals and company. They have been gracious and kind to everyone and anyone that comes. From a personal point of view, their Shabbats have given me the sense of community and unification that I have been missing from not being home for Shabbat, and for that I cannot thank them enough.
One tradition from these Shabbats that I love is offering a ברכה (bracha--blessing) for someone else in the room. Benzi and Rakefet have given so much to this group that I don't think one bracha is enough, but I am offering one to them from the bottom of my heart and with all my soul.
As you continue on the path you're on, Benzi and Rakefet, may you always walk together in peace, health, and love. And, may you find always find success, happiness and safety in what you do.

Thanks guys, for everything! I'm gonna miss you!!
Shalom, Cheers and Peace,
Staci

A Great Miracle Happened HERE

Normally at this time, Jews in America start singing "Nes Gadol Haya Sham," meaning "a great miracle happened there." Today in Hebrew class, I sang "Nes Gadol Haya PO," replacing the world for "there" with "here." And as I did it, I got chills down my spine. In America I can eat the jelly doughnuts, make the latkes, and spin the dredels the same way I can do it here. But it all has a different meaning when I can put my hand on the walls of the Temple that this miracle occurred in, the temple we American Jews all talk about at home.
So, on another Holiday (actually, on Chanukkah AND Shabbat), I am thankful for many things. One, for friends and family to celebrate the holiday with now and in years to come. For the Macabbees that fought against a Greek army three times their size, for the oil that lasted eight days when it was enough to only last one day, for God, for this 5-month journey, and for the future journeys I will find myself walking.

Peter, Paul, and Mary sang "Light One Candle," and I used to sing this when I was a wee little one in Hebrew School:

Light one candle for the Maccabee children
Give thanks that their light didn't die!
Light one candle for the pain they endured
When their right to exist was denied!
Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand!
And light one candle for the wisdom to know
When the peacemaker's time is at hand!

Don't let the light go out!
It's lasted for so many years!
Don't let the light go out!
Let it shine through our love and our tears.

Light one candle for the strength we all need
To never become our own foe!
And light one candle for those who are suff'ring
Pain we learned so long ago!
Light one candle for all we believe in,
Let anger not tear us apart!
And light one candle to bind us together
With peace as the song in our heart!

What is the memory that's valued so highly
That we keep it alive in that flame?
What's the commitment to those who have died
When we cry out they've not died in vain,
We have come this far, always believing
That justice will somehow prevail!
This is the burning. This is the promise,
This why we will not fail!

Don't let the light go out!
Don't let the light go out!
Don't let the light go out!

Haifa

Unfortunately, the time has come to post pictures from our last group outing. This one, last weekend, was spent in Carmel near Haifa. We did not go into the actual city, but spent our time on a Kibbutz which had a backyard letting out onto the "nicest beach in Israel." Therefore, Friday night through Saturday's end of Shabbat sunset was spent on the beach. It was amazing, as was the hike into the caves on Friday.

Check out the pics (thank you Andrea)...I'm gonna miss this group!
Shalom, Cheers and Peace
Staci

December 1st -- World AIDS Day

On this world AIDS day, I think of everything I've learned and supported over the past five years in Jericho's AIDS Awareness and AIDS Peer Educating clubs. Specifically, I think of our friend Steve, of Positive Police, who past away a couple of years ago after he spent so much of his time promoting the awareness of HIV and AIDS. Steve spoke at Jericho hs many times, and our clubs met with him many other times when we were at conferences. He had a way of speaking that got students to listen, and that was his gift.
Even on my campus in Israel today they are doing free AIDS testing. But not many people outside of awareness groups really know what HIV/AIDS can do to a body, nor do they really know what else is out there. Use today to KNOW THE FACTS!

Shalom, Cheers, and Peace
Staci