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S UM

Inner Strength

I wasn't sure that I was going
to enjoy Israel, but it turned
out to be the best experience of
my life. From praying at the
Western Wall to hiking in the
Negev desert to enjoying the
nightlife of Ben Yehuda Street,
Israel gave me not only a
month of fun but a lifetime of
memories. The sanctity of the
land and the friendliness of
the people left me with a
unique sense of calm which I
have not felt since. I cannot
wait to get back.
Evan Shapiro, West Bloom-
field, Temple Israel

DETRO IT JEWISH NEWS

From Poland to Israel

This past summer I spent 6 and
one-half weeks with 61 other
teens touring Poland and Israel
on USY (United Synagogue
Youth) Israel Pilgrimage/Poland
Seminar. We met in New York for
a brief orientation, then took off
for Poland where we spent nine
days visiting both Jewish and
non-Jewish sites in Warsaw,
Cracow, Lublin and places
between these cities.
A major focus of the Poland
part of the trip was to visit the
remains of concentration camp
and Jewish cemeteries, but we
also visited current Jewish sites,
such as Remu Synagogue in
Cracow where we davened on
Shabbat and ate . at the Kosher
Restaurant in Warsaw.
Once in Israel we had a 3-day
follow-up seminar where we were
taught how to express what we
saw and experienced in Poland

through various artistic means.
Then we toured Israel from Eilat
to Rosh Hanikrah. The kids came
from all across the U.S. and
Canada. We had a lot of fun jok-
ing around, learning about the
places we were seeing and
reminding each other to drink
plenty of water on our small
hikes. It was a trip of a lifetime,
seeing where the Jewish people
were almost destroyed in Poland
to their rebirth in Israel.
Ilana Glazier, Bloomfield Hills,
USY

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