SWFS Mission Blogs
Israel Solidarity Mission with Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Day Four: Part Two
Afternoon Sessions At the culmination of the morning's presentation we were all excited about forthcoming visit to Ramallah. The trip to Ramallah was under the leadership of Michael and Felice Friedson of Media Line, essentially a newswire from the Middle East that is committed to providing ...
Israel Solidarity Mission with Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Day Four: Part One
Morning Sessions On this last day of our whirlwind mission, we have all retained our energy and enthusiasm. The day began with a meeting with Natan Sharansky, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel. Sharansky has been assigned the task of trying to find a resolution to the ultra-Orthodox ...
Israel Solidarity Mission with Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Day Three: Part Five
Meeting Five Today we went back to the Gaza border area to get the Israeli Defense Forces perspective on the conflict with Gaza and to see how the town of Ashkelon, a bit further from the border but still impacted by rocket fire from Gaza, has coped with the Gaza missiles. Over the last two days ...
Israel Solidarity Mission with Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Day Three: Part Four
Meeting 4 Today we went back to the Gaza border area to get the Israeli Defense Forces perspective on the conflict with Gaza and to see how the town of Ashkelon, a bit further from the border but still impacted by rocket fire from Gaza, has coped with the Gaza missiles. Over the last two days we ...
Israel Solidarity Mission with Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Day Three: Part Three
Meeting Three Today we went back to the Gaza border area to get the Israeli Defense Forces perspective on the conflict with Gaza and to see how the town of Ashkelon, a bit further from the border but still impacted by rocket fire from Gaza, has coped with the Gaza missiles. Over the last two days ...
Israel Solidarity Mission with Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Day Three: Part Two
Israel Solidarity Mission with Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Day Three Meeting Two Today we went back to the Gaza border area to get the Israeli Defense Forces perspective on the conflict with Gaza and to see how the town of Ashkelon, a bit further from the border but still impacted by rocket fire ...
Israel Solidarity Mission with Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Day Three: Part One
Meeting One Today we went back to the Gaza border area to get the Israeli Defense Forces perspective on the conflict with Gaza and to see how the town of Ashkelon, a bit further from the border but still impacted by rocket fire from Gaza, has coped with the Gaza missiles. Over the last two days ...
Israel Solidarity Mission with Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Day Two: Part Four
Part Four: Finally, we returned to the hotel where we gathered for a fascinating and insightful pre-dinner talk with Gershon Baskin. Gershon was involved in Young Judea in the US and then made Aliyah to Israel 35 years ago. He is an author and advocate of the two state solution. Through his ...
Israel Solidarity Mission with Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Day Two: Part Three
Part Three: Next we traveled to Sderot, the “bomb shelter capital of the world”, a civilian village with roughly 25,000 people. It is characterized by a largely lower middle class population, including recent immigrants from Africa and the Soviet Union, some illegals, as well as home ...
Israel Solidarity Mission with Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Day Two: Part Two
Part Two: The next stop was Kfar Aza (lit. Gaza Village), a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Netivot and Sderot around three kilometers east of Gaza, with a population of 800. The village was established in 1951 by immigrants from Egypt and Morocco - at the time the residents could ...
Israel Solidarity Mission with Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Day Two: Part One
Part One: We departed the King David Hotel at 7:45 in the morning in the direction of Gaza; it was Election Day in Israel — a holiday — and the roads were empty. An hour and fifteen minutes later, we arrived at Moshav Netiv HaAsara. There we joined 18 Rabbis from the URJ's CCAR ...
Israel Solidarity Mission with Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Day One
The Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Israel Solidarity Mission arrived safely in Israel and the trip started with kick-off dinner. Check back daily for blog updates from the trip participants: Blog Day One: Welcome Dinner in Jerusalem After a wonderful meal and introducing ourselves to each other, we ...
European Heritage Tour Blog: Day Eleven: Berlin, Germany
By: Barbara Livenstein
European Heritage Tour Blog: Day Ten: Berlin, Germany
By: Hayley Wright and Jane Ranzman
European Heritage Tour Blog: Day Nine: Berlin, Germany
By: Lance Leener
European Heritage Tour Blog: Day Eight: Terezin, Czech Republic
By: Alan Scheiner and Riva Kelton
European Heritage Tour Blog: Day Seven, Prague, Czech Republic
By: Caren and Elias Zuckerman and Robin Fishkind
European Heritage Tour Blog: Day Six, Bratislava, Slovakia
By: Toni Harvey, Tamara Engel, Sara Waisman, and Jane Berkowitz
European Heritage Tour Blog: Day Five, Budapest, Hungary
By: Flo and Martin Richman and Peg and Jay Rothberg
European Heritage Tour Blog: Day Four, Budapest, Hungary
By: Catherine Stoll, Juan Mesa, Sherri Miller, Brett Miller
