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A deep meaning in "Shabbat Shalom"

The security and safety of our students on the Hasbara Fellowships program is our top priority. Any time the group is out of the classroom, (tours, trips, museum), we have a security guard and medic accompanying us at all times. In addition, there is a security guard on duty at the womens hotel and at the mens residence. We are updating the students on the events as soon as they happen.

Over the past 10 days, Hasbara Fellows have been learning how to fight for Israel on their campuses. We often used the analogy of being on the frontlines, promoting Israel and combating anti-Israel propaganda and we pray for the safety of the real soliders on the real frontlines.

With the recent events that have struck our nation, we stand even stronger in solidarity and this Shabbat was a clear reflection of that. It was difficult to spend Shabbat not knowing what was happening in our country, but we had each other and grew exponentially close.

Our Shabbat experience started in a beautiful courtyard where Canadians Anders Nurman and Aaron Krongold rocked out a sold out concert. They played such hits as Oseh Shalom, David Melech, and Hinei Matov while throwing in some goldies like Let it Be and Hey Jude. As we started dancing they played Am Yisrael Chai which in English means "The People of Israel Live", and it struck a real emotional chord within the group.

The women then proceeded to a candle lighting session on the balcony of Aish Hatorah. They sang and danced and welcomed in the Sabbath. The men went down to the Western Wall for a Kabbalat Shabbat and a whole lot of singing and dancing. By the end, we were all "Nye Nyed" out.

Dinner was held at the Aish Grand Dining Hall where Chef Hershel treated us to a meal made for kings. The spirit and energy of the group soared even higher with more singing and dancing. Hasbara students Raffi Tehranian and Elle Talent spoke to the group about their experiences on Hasbara Fellowships and what being Jewish meant to them. I have to admit, I get emotional when students get to speak and they really got us all choked up.

Saturday morning the students went to host families for a home cooked meal. After the meals many of us learned about an incredible phenomenon, the Shabbat nap.

Later in the day we all got together to do a schmooze session. We discussed questions regarding the value of life, and the difference between love and infatuation. The students showed an incredibly insightful side as they debated the issues with rigor and passion.

The final furlong of Shabbat included Third Meal, where we had guest speaker Scott Mathias deliver a class about pleasure. Shabbat was capped off with a marathon style Havdalla with more dancing than those all night dance offs they had in the 50's. It was an fitting end to a Shabbat that we will never forget.

Tomorrow we are off to Gush Etzion and Efrat for our second last day of learning. Stay tuned for a plethora of pictures upon our return.

 

Our Southern Escapades

Tuesday morning we boarded our air conditioned coach en rout to the the southern part of the country. On board were 15 students, several staff, and copius amounts of bottled water.

The first stop of the tour was a hike through the red canyons of the Ein Bokek spring. It almost seemed like a mirage to see a huge spring of fresh water in the middle of the baron desert. You will also see below a group picture of us taken there. This also led to a big friendly water fight with a group of children visiting at the same time

Stop number two was to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. The students had the opportunity to cover themselves in the nutrient rich mud, and then go for a float in nature's saltiest body of water. It was a scene from a Club Med brochure.

We checked into the Massada Guest House which looked like an Egyptian Palace, of course with a kosher kitchen though. Hasbara Campus Coordinator Elran Tsabag led an Everyday Activism Session about campus media. He was followed by another Campus Coordinator, Jonathan Cohen who taught an EA session on building coalitions and engaging student government.

After dinner, in which I already promised I wouldn't discuss how good the meals are, we did the first of our role-playing sessions. Students went head to head against each other debating the anti-Israel claims of occupation, excessive force and racism.

This was followed by a screening of the film Conflict at Concordia which is about the riots that prohibited Benjamin Netanyahu from speaking in 2002.

And finally, I know its hard to believe we crammed so much in a night but we capped the night off by sharing songs and stories under the stars of the Negev.

 

 
 
 
  

The Hasbara All-Star game

The day started with the always funny Gil Hoffman of the Jerusalem Post. He talked about the current political landscape after the March elections and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the current Convergence plan and the internal, external and personal challenges that Ehud Olmert is facing.

Batting second in the Monday lineup was historian Ken Spiro who taught his lecture called "The History of the State of Israel." He started with Pinsker and Herzl Zionist theory and made it all the way upto the Yom Kippur War while still throwing in his witty anecdotes.

It was clear that the first two hitters were able to get on base with the crowd, so up next was Hasbara director Elliot Mathias who taught a class called "Answering the Most Difficult Questions." He elaborated on the framework setforth in the session "Communicating for Israel" while going deeper into the anti-Israel claims of occupation, excessive force and racism and how to use them to control the issues you want to advocate for.

It looked like team Hasbara was really batting well on this day, so it was time to bring up Joe Hyams of Honest Reporting who spoke about media bias against Israel and the tangible ways to get involved and make concrete change to ensure fair balanced reporting in the middle east.

And finally, the clean up hitter so to speak, even though technically he's batting 5th was the president of the Kadima party, Yochanan Plesner. He outlined the growing hostility of Israel's neighbors in a geopolitical context. He also spoke about the Kadima party, its principles, goals and successes thus far and the problems it has faced during the 4 months of its existence. The Convergence Plan was a hot topic for the discussion questions that he took at the end.

After a real long day it was time for some group bonding on the town. We were all excited for a group kareoke night, but then we realized there are no kareoke places in Jerusalem on Mondays, so we took to Ben-Yehuda to make our own Hasbara kareoke night.

Tomorrow we are off for a 2 trip to the south. There will be lots of great stories and pictures to share after so stay tuned.

The Hasbara Crew (some)

 

Gil Hoffman, The Jerusalem Post

Yochanan Plesner, President of Kadima
 

A fresh start to the week

The students had a free shabbat weekend, a good chance to see family, friends and hopefully get some well needed rest.

The first session of the day was Rabbi and historian Ken Spiro. He taught a class called "The History of the Land" which covers over 2000 years of Jewish history in an hour.

Up next we had Itamar Marcus from Palestinian Media Watch. His presentation included very provocative clips of incitement and indoctrination in Palestinian schools. After the presentation we discussed a campaign called Teach Kids Peace which Hasbara Fellowships has been bringing to campuses across North America. The campaign stresses the need to end the hate being taught in Palestinian schools as the cornerstone for ending the violence in the region.

After lunch we kicked off the first of our Everyday Activism sessions with the first one titled "Organizing Your Israel Group and Building Future Leadership". The session was taught by Hasbara Campus Coordinator Jonathan 'JC' Cohen who shared his expertise gained from being very involved with students government at Brandeis.

We heard a lot of history over the past 6 days so it was time to actually see it up close. We did a tour of the southern excavations of the old city. We looked at a rendition of the second temple, walked into ritual baths and saw the colossal stones and arches that still remain.

The night was capped off with a screening of the unreleased film Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West. The film stresses that recent terror attacks around the world are not isolated incidents as many people believe but part of an overall war by radical islamists against not just our country but our inherent values. The film was followed by a brainstorming session on how the film can be used on campus.

Tonight is the long anticipated World Cup final. It looks like most will be glued to the television to see the conclusion of this worldly spectacle.

Hasbara trivia question # 2

What are the only two countries to have their embassy in Jerusalem?

 

Kicking it into high gear

Thursday morning we packed up our gear, bathing suits in hand for a water hike through the Jordan river. It was a leisurely 800m trail (sorry, I’m still not down with the imperial system), through waist-high water. If the coffee in the morning wasn’t a wake-up then the chilly flow of the river surely was.

As we ascended the Golan Heights on the bus, our tour educator Mike Cohen recounted the incursion of the paratroopers in 1967 to take control of the strategically important heights. We stopped to catch a postcard type view of the region, while discussing the politics of the Six-Day War.

Our second stop was to the Valley of Tears, where a miraculous tank battle took place and arguably was the turning point in the Yom Kippur War. From an amphitheater style lookout, Mike gave a Tom Clancy like recount of the Yom Kippur War along with some great personal anecdotes.

Back on the bus we went to our final stop of the northern part of the trip which was to Metulla. While snapping photos of the Lebanese borders, Mike did a brief lesson on the Lebanese War in 1982 and the conflict leading up to the present. We then boarded the bus for the last time en route to the city that never sleeps (no I’m not talking about NYC or Vegas) but Tel Aviv.

After checking into the luxurious Grand Beach Hotel, the students had the privilege of seeing the unreleased film, "Blues by the Beach". The film was screened by the filmaker himself, Joshua Faudem. The film was supposed to be about a bar called Mike’s Place in Tel Aviv. While shooting there, a suicide bomber blew himself up killing 4 people including one of the staff. The second part of the film goes through the psychological impact it had on himself personally who witnessed and all the people involved. After the film we all went to Mike’s place with the filmaker both to hang out with each other, but more importantly it was a symbolic act of solidarity.

 

 

To the north we go...

Wednesday morning our bags were packed for a 3 day trip to the North and Tel Aviv. For the first two days we had military strategist Mike Cohen who is currently working at the Galilee Institute. We stopped at different points of the security barrier seeing the small parts which are concrete as well the majority which is a fence. We were able to actually go right up and touch the fence, defeating the myth that it is an electric fence.

Our next stop was at Givat Chaviva. We heard from Lydia Eisenberg who talked to us about the historic relations between the Jews and Arabs from independence up until the establishment of the security barrier in 2002. She took us to the outskirts of the West Bank where we looked at the town of Barta which was cut in half by the security barrier.

Back on the bus it was all fun and games with"What do Americans know about Canada" and "What do Canadians know about America". The verdict was, not enough on both sides.
It was a short ride to our final stop of the day which was the home of an Israeli Bedouin named Ishmael Khaldi. He spoke to us about the personal story and struggle that he and many Bedouins go through of trying to balance the strong influence of pop culture that is impeding on their values while still staying up to speed with the essentials of modern living. Hospitality is a pinnacle trait of the bedouin, and we were kindly served with fresh dates and triple brewed coffee; eons better than any triple-mocha-fratte-latte-shino

In the evening we checked into our hotel and had a great dinner there. Grilled salmon filets with lemon, slow-roasted barbecue chicken with a smokey bold finish were just some of the featured dishes. If you didn’t know already, I used to be a food critic.

The final session of the evening was taught by Hasbara’s managing director, Natalie Menaged. In her session, called Communicating for Israel, she contrasted the differences between education and public relations in Israel activism. The session also focused on how to stick to your message and control the issues that will be debated when advocating for Israel.

After a really long day, jam packed with stuff, the group was geared up to match the last semi-final of the world cup. Unfortunately for most students, France was victorious, but that didn’t put a damper on a great night of chilling in the courtyard and getting to spend some quality time with each other.

I hope everyone gets a good night sleep, we all need for a huge day tomorrow.

Welcome Hasbara Fellows... we have been waiting for you

It was very fitting that on Tuesday July 4th, 15 students from across North America embarked on El Al flight 32 to Tel Aviv. Normally the movies on the airplane are of the caliber of those $3.99 movies you see on the racks of a gas station. But on this flight the Academy Award winner
Crash was shown. It was a sign of great things to come.

Upon arrival the women checked into the Jerusalem Gold hotel, which is centrally located in the city. The men checked into the historic Diaspora Center located just outside of Zion gate.
On the topic of historic things, our first tour was of Cheskyahu’s cave. We walked through the city of David seeing most parts of the city’s walls. We then hiked through the water tunnels that saved the city while under siege.

After some time for everyone to get settled in to their new homes for the next 2 weeks, it was time to hit the infamous Ben-Yaheuda district. Hasbara Fellows took over the Zollie’s Bar to watch the nail bitting Germany vs. Italy football game (soccer) while celebrating the 230th birthday of America, Israeli style

 

Welcome Hasbara Fellows... we have been waiting for you

It was very fitting that on Tuesday July 4th, 15 students from across North America embarked on El Al flight 32 to Tel Aviv. Normally the movies on the airplane are of the caliber of those $3.99 movies you see on the racks of a gas station. But on this flight the Academy Award winner Crash was shown. It was a sign of great things to come.

Upon arrival the women checked into the Jerusalem Gold hotel, which is centrally located in the city. The men checked into the historic Diaspora Center located just outside of Zion gate.
On the topic of historic things, our first tour was of Cheskyahu’s cave. We walked through the city of David seeing most parts of the city’s walls. We then hiked through the water tunnels that saved the city while under siege.

After some time for everyone to get settled in to their new homes for the next 2 weeks, it was time to hit the infamous Ben-Yaheuda district. Hasbara Fellows took over the Zollie’s Bar to watch the nail bitting Germany vs. Italy football game (soccer) while celebrating the 230th birthday of America, Israeli style.

 

Hasbara Fellowships Trivia Question # 1

Who was the second president of Israel?

Bonus: Who was it first offered to?


Leave your answer in the comments section. The winner will be rewarded our pride and admiration.