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Heritage Academy 7th & 8th graders in Israel

By Stacey Dresner
Published: Thursday, March 19, 2009 2:03 PM EDT

Heritage Academy student Ilana Peskin has dreamed of going on the middle school trip to Israel for a long time.

"I've been waiting for this trip ever since I was in kindergarten!" she said. "This was my first trip to Israel. I've seen so many other classes go on the trip, and it was great to finally get to go with my friends. Since our classes are smaller than most school's, we are all close-it was like going on a trip as a family, except we're all the same age!

Ilana was one of 20 7th and 8th graders who went on Heritage Academy Israel Discovery from Feb. 10-24. The trip was organized by Oranim Educational Inititatives, which runs specifically educational tours of Israel. Middle school teachers Shimon Shushan and Rachel Wesley chaperoned the group.

The trip is part of the Heritage's school-wide Israel curriculum, which touches on both the Biblical history of as well as the modern state of Israel.

"Every other year, the 7th and 8th grade go together," said Heritage principal, Dr. Deborah Starr. "In the school's mission statement, we do say that one of the things the school will do is foster a love of Israel and we do feel that, although we are all Americans, there is a special tie to the Jewish homeland. Our children, especially in today's climate and world need to be the vocal defenders of the state of Israel. You can't do that if you don't see the circumstances, and they don't visit it, feel it, touch it, smell it. That is the main reason for the trip."

The recent turmoil in Gaza did raise questions as to whether the trip would go on as planned. "This year we were in a state of flux as to whether or not we were going to go because of the Gaza situation. But we monitored it very closely and fortunately for us, the Gaza insurgency ended prior to when we were planning to go."

Before they even left for Israel, the middle schoolers were the guest of honor at an assembly attended by the whole school. As is the custom, children from the lower grades gave the middle-schoolers notes and prayers to put into the cracks at the Western Wall.

"We sat on the stage and the kindergartners gave us tzedakah for the kotel and all of the grades gave us notes," recalled Devorah Pava, an 8th grader. "It was really cool because every two years we always would see the older kids go up on the stage and now it was finally our turn."

The students arrived at Ben Gurion Airport at around 6:40 a.m. and they hit the ground running. They first planted a treat the Neot Kedumin Biblical Garden and then stopped at the Haas Promenade to look down upon the city of Jerusalem. That busy first day they also went to the Israel Museum and ended the day at the Western Wall. Spending all of Thursday and Friday in Jerusalem, they participated in an archeological project near the Temple Mount, visited the tomb of King David and visited the Jewish Quarter and the Cardo. Friday took them on a hike at the Sataf Springs where they discovered Bibilical mountain agriculture, before they headed back to Jerusalem for Shabbat.

Brooke Baevsky, a seventh-grader said that her favorite part of the trip was visiting the Western Wall. "We went there during Shabbat and it was really cool because it was all lit up. It was a different experience than celebrating Shabbat at home," Baevsky said

The following week the students visited Afula, Western Massachusetts' Partnership 200 sister city.

For two years the Heritage Academy students have studied with a group of students in Afula on video-conferences. "The highlight of this project was the actual meeting in Israel," said Shushan. "We spent two days together, hiking together and doing a community service project in the hospital."

"I think it is one thing to sit in a classroom and another to actually be there and to hike in the mountains and go to the museums," said 8th-grader Ronen Wesley. "An activity that I really enjoyed was meeting the Afula kids that we have had a connection with for two years."

Eighth grader Jake Maniaci said that after going on the Heritage trip - his first trip to Israel - he would like to make aliyah.

"I don't think you can't not go there again. It is like a magnet," he said.

Photo 1. The entire Heritage Academy gang at the Western Wall joined by Harold Berman, (back) former executive director of the Jewish Federation of Western Mass., who last summer made aliyah with his family.

Photo 2. It wouldn't be a trip to Israel without a camel ride. Seen here are Nate Weissman, Stephen Freyman, Jonah Pava, Carmi Rothberg, Shimon Shushan, Brooke Baevsky, and Noam Edry.