We woke up on Shabbat morning and made our way to Shul to celebrate with the Bar Mitzvahs of a few of our Flatbush families. We then had a nice full breakfast and some time to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather outside the hotel. At Shabbat lunch, many alumni and teachers came to join our trip including Noam Wallach and Tamir Jacobi, two Flatbush graduates who are currently serving in the Israeli army. We had a beautiful and meaningful set of singing and Divrei Torah that inspired and solidified the feelings that we’ve been experiencing this past week. We had some time to relax and made our way down for a hotel-wide Havdalah.
Soon after Shabbat we packed onto bulletproof buses headed to an army base with the bags we packed for the Chayalim. We had the most amazing and uplifting experience meeting and dancing together with the soldiers protecting our lives. We shared our gratitude to the Chayalim and Chayalot and told them how much we pray for them back home. Some of us were even given some souvenirs to remember our new friends and the experience we had at the base. Even though we didn’t want to leave, we then headed to Emek Refaim to get some dinner. After such a moving day, we are ready to further our experiences. ~Emma Mael and Lani Prus
