Finding personal, spiritual an. historical nourishment
in the deserts and canyons ofisrael

JENNIFER NATHAN
Special to The Jewish News

A

s the days passed and May
turned into June, I began to
prepare myself
for my trip to
Israel. I hoped to accom-
plish many things, such as
making new friends, being
part of a great group and
having fun and meaningful
experiences in our Jewish
homeland. Happily, my
hopes have been fulfilled
and the trip has surpassed
my greatest expectations.
I am traveling on Bus
Sababa (we were designat-

7/17

1998

20

ed "R-5," but renamed ourselves with
the Hebrew word for "funky"). Our
amazing staff, led by Rabbi Mike
Moskowitz of Temple Shir Shalom
and Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberg of Shir
Tikvah, helped our group
of 36 teens (comprised of
two congregations and
four Israeli teens) to bond
quickly and smoothly. In
less than two weeks, we
became a wonderful fami-
ly, and when it came time
for us to depart for the
homes of Israeli families
(to spend a Shabbat learn-
ing about their culture and
daily lives) on Friday, July
10, we all felt as though

we were leaving our families all over
came on this trip and was amazed by
again. We were all reunited on the
the unbelievable sights all around me.
morning of Sunday, July 12, refreshed
The best illustration of this would be
and with a
a hike we took
new sense of
at Zavetan in
appreciation
the Golan
Editor's Note:
for one anoth-
Heights.
We continue our coverage of Teen
er, and Sababa
Due to its
Mission 2 Israel this week with articles
hit the ground
length of four
by participants Dan Freeman and
running once
hours, this par-
Jennifer Nathan. The two are part of a
again.
ticular hike was
4-person team of correspondents
The human
dreaded by our
recording the events of the 5-week jour-
connections
entire bus, myself
ney, which took 216 Detroit area teens
were ones that
included. Becca
to Israel from June 25 to July 30.
I had expected;
Hyke perhaps
however, I had
best expressed
not planned on connecting so strongly
the group's apprehension: "I was sure
with the natural aspects of Israel. I
that by the time we got back, we would
was never interested in nature until I
all be dropping dead." After the first leg

