Hike and a Speaker

Since Sukkot we've had a full 5-day schedule of classes. That means that I have classes till 4 and then I'm free for some of the rest of the days. So last week I took my free afternoon and traveled into Tel Aviv with some friends. We then went to see an Israeli ska band at some club. The opening act was the lamest thing I've ever seen on a stage; and I was in Wootton Theater. The lead singer was doing this really fake-looking hardcore personality and the rest of the band was equally lame. The drummer grabbed the mic for one song and sang this Spanish sounding song. The main band was this ska band that was really good and we had a lot of fun.
Last week we had midterms so I had two exams on the first day of exams and then none the second day. So I spent the day buying a tallis.
This past weekend I went on a big water hike in the north with some friends. I'm putting pictures up of that. The hike was absolutely beautiful and amazing. We trekked through waterfalls and streams.




















I also went to listen to a man talk about his service to the Jewish people in the late 1940's. He was in the Merchant Marines during WWII and then was asked to help with the illegal immigration of Jews into Palestine right after the war when Britain. He told us this amazing story of how he was just an ordinary American Jew who was asked to help the Jewish people by complete strangers. The whole operation was done very secretly. The ship this guy crewed brought 1,500 Jews into the Mediterranean, but the damn British boarded their ship and they got sent to Cyprus, like in Exodus. The man was a prisoner there, too. He was very inspirational and I thoroughly enjoyed him.