By Sam Balogh If there is one thing about I have come to understand regarding Israeli history this semester, it is how instrumental the Six Day War was in creating the current political climate. In the process of trying to understand what it is people believe and why it is they believe it, we were […]
By Ashley Englander Kfar Etzion – what a remarkable site. Each of us fellows had an idea of the historical background of the land, but we were not prepared to hear its story. As we walked into the box theater, the dubbed English movie began to play. I started to laugh a little at the […]
By Eliana Kahan Someone pushes a button and the whole model shifts. Chunks of ground begin to rise and fall. New sections are illuminated. The layout changes completely. We are standing crowded around a small model of hills and gates, walls and structures; the ancient city of Megiddo. This once great Northern roadside city lies […]
By Hannah Morris Our evening class with Rabbi Shmuel Klitsner at Midreshet Lindenbaum was interesting and enlightening. Rabbi Klitsner discussed how Halacha works and can be applied in the modern age. Halacha, according to Rabbi Klitsner, is the intersection between Torah and reality. The rabbi explained that Halacha is the application of Torah precedent to […]
By Jenna Roth Our session with Aviv Washavsky on the Mt. Scopus overlook was chilling and transformative. After a full day of learning and reflecting on Har Herzl we returned to our campus at Hebrew University. Although the landscape of Jerusalem that can be viewed from our campus is a sight that we have all […]
By Ari Weinstein Mishy Harman uses his voice, almost ironically, to listen. As a creator and host of the podcast Israel Story, Mishy presents the narratives, opinions, and thoughts of Americans and Israelis alike about their connections to Israel. Inspired by his exposure to and work with NPR’s This American Life podcast, Mishy sought to […]
By Ariel Glueck My favorite part of the week is Kabalat Shabbat. I’m interested in liminal spaces within Judaism, spaces that are neither here nor there, the journey from one status to another. I love the spiritual transition that occurs during the transitional period of the day. Kabalat Shabbat is the space between Shavuah and […]
By Albert Kohn Nachshon programming has been very upbeat and energizing; we have met with inspiring leaders, felt the energy pulsating through the contemporary start-up scene and danced with Breslov Hasids. Yet, Saturday night on our Tzfat trip was, well, different. Descending from the bus, we found ourselves in the pits of shadowy valley staring […]
By Madeline Budman On Sunday, March 5th, we concluded a week of physical work, text study, discussion of ritual, and spiritual exploration with a pair of kosher tefillin that we made ourselves. Soft afternoon light filled Rav Noah Greenberg’s studio as the Nachshon Fellows prepared to wrap our tefillin for the first time, and we […]
By Simon Luxemburg One of the goals of the Nachshon project is to introduce us to the wide range of career opportunities available in the Jewish communal professional world. For many of us, the most familiarity we have had to Jewish communal professionalism prior to this fellowship comes from either our Jewish sleep-away camps or […]
