Purim

Making Hamentaschen with friends

Purim festival on Ben Yehuda Street




















Josh acting as the King for our Ethiopian familes













Jeff gets his first welcome to Israel with a Purim party
















Nikky and our friends Rollin and Jen













Josh watching the cantor read out of our Megillat Esther














Us and our friend Scott on the night before Purim when the festivities began (don't worry Josh is just pretending to drink from the bottle)





Yeah, so I know Purim was a over two weeks ago, but we've been busy and haven't been able to write about it so here it goes! Purim is definitely one of my favorite holidays in Israel. It's not like Halloween in the States where kids dress up and go trick-or-treating. Purim in Israel is really a celebration for everyone. The entire week of Purim people are in the festive mood and walking around with wigs and masks on. I think this was actually the first time I really got Josh to dress up in a costume. Actually we dressed up two nights in a row and as different things both times. The Monday night before Purim we went to a party at school that our friend Matt was putting on to raise money for the Ride to Reform which in turn raises money for the Reform community in Israel. It was called "Matt and his friends" and it was basically a bunch of our friends putting on a show of their talents. Seeing as Josh and I are not very musically talented we were not a part of this. Oh well! The next night being Purim we had some friends over to our house and then went to school to hear the Megillat Esther read. This was a special occasion because they were actually reading from a Megillah that we were given for our wedding by our friends the Nissims. This was also a special night because our friends Jenny and Ronen were visiting and my bro, Jeff arrived in Israel. Since everyone was having such a blast at our Purim extravaganza we didn't quite make it out into the streets to see the Purim craziness, but Jeff and I did make it out the next day to a street fair on Ben Yehuda. There was a lot of music, juggling, contortionists, comedians and balancing acts. Oh, and then later that day we were off to our friend Jordana's house for Hamentaschen making. This was a very full Purim! The next week we continued Purim even more with a celebration for our Ethiopian families that we have been working with. Josh dressed up again as King Ahashuherus. He's sure getting into the spirit!

We're an Aunt and Uncle!

Our niece Abby Esther Goldberg was born on March 22 weighing in at 6lbs, 12oz! Isn't she cute? We are greatly looking forward to meeting her when we return to the States. Congratulations to the entire Samuels/Goldberg family.

HUC Tiyul

On February 21-23 HUC took us on a trip to the Golan Heights and the Galilee. Directly quoted from our itinerary here was the goal of the trip:

• explore the roots of biblical settlement in the area
  
• gain an understanding of pioneer settlements in the early days of the State
  
• learn about present day communities and development towns
  
• be introduced to the security issues of the north
• experience the beauty of the Golan and Galilee as Israelis do – by hiking

They definitely accomplished their goal. The first day our group went to Zichron Yaakov, one of the first Jewish settlements in Israel. For lunch Josh and I took a few friends to the Tishbi Winery restaurant/tasting room. It was amazing! Then after lunch we took a hike in the Carmel forest. The second day we wandered around Tel Dan which is a nature preserve and archaeological site all in one. Definitely a place we would reccomend! Afterwards we heard a woman talk about what life is like in Kiryat Shmona with constant threats of katusha rockets from Lebanon. Luckily they have had a long period of calm, but the citizens there are always a little on edge. We also visited a Druze village where we tasted some local bahklava and turkish coffee and then we were off to Tel Hai which was one of the four original settlements in the Galilee. Our third day was geared towards life in the Golan. We heard a woman speak who is a huge Golani activist. She actually named her two children Golan and Kinneret. Yikes! Then we were off for one of the highlights of the trip, hiking Nahal Gilaboon. Hiking is really the best way to see the beauty of the Golan. Then after we were nice and sweaty we took a trip to Mt. Bental to the overlook of Syria and then it was time for wine tasting at the Golan Heights Winery. That was a great way to top off a really good trip. Thanks HUC!