December 2008

Dear Tehiyah Community-

It is with great excitement that we begin (web begin!) this next stage in our preparations for Tehiyah Day School’s inaugural trip to Israel!

Our eighth-graders are soon to embark on a journey that is more than physical, to a country of extremes that offers contradictions and reassurance, to a place incorporating the past but of the present, one (like its sabra fruit) bristling with excitement, offering challenges and sweet rewards.

Our emissaries from the epicenter of diversity will encounter a land of multiple climates and ecosystems that pale in their variety and number when compared to the sheer number of opinions, ethnic backgrounds, and religious beliefs they’ll encounter in Israel. They will learn that there are many Israels, just as there is more than one way to be an American, or a Jew.

Over the course of two weeks, making their journey by plane, bus, camel, and foot, sleeping in hotels and tents, engaging with Ashkenazim, Mizrahim, Israeli Arabs and Druze, they will be our representatives, trekking from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, Beit She’an to Zfat (maybe we’ll finally learn how to spell that!), the Dead Sea to the Golan.

Their journey is no ordinary trip. The words "new," "fun," "exhausting," "remarkable," and "meaningful" and "together" will be intensified and understood in very different ways. They’ll float, climb, and reach, as they better understand and strengthen their identity.

We look forward to their journey, and to savoring through them this remarkable opportunity and experience. They’ll be sharing their Israel moments with us in real-time. Please join us here to absorb some of what can appropriately (even outside the Bay Area) be called their Israel "aura," as they convey to us their energy, and their spirit, their impressions and their humor, their surprises and their insights, through words and pictures.

We wish them well and already look forward to their safe return (and their stories).

We wish them a safe journey to, and a safe return from, that unique land where even the gas stations have signs that offer the prayer,

Bathea James, Head of School
Rabbi Tsipi Gabai (Director of Judaic Studies)
Dr. Lisa Wurtele (Head of TDS Israel Education Initiative Leadership Team)