Ethan Kelly, 11th August 2011

It was a typical wet English Tuesday evening when I joined 40 other excited 16-year-olds and set out for Israel. At Heathrow we were greeted by our English madrichim (leaders) Ben and Suzie and, 10 hours later at Ben Gurion Airport, we joined up with Israeli leaders Michal and Noam, as well as our bus driver David.

After the opening sessions and some much needed rest at the Hukuk Kibbutz, we visited Nachal Snir for a water hike, kayaked down the Jordan River and visited the Rosh Hanikra grottoes. We also volunteered at the Jewish-Arab Community centre in Acco, playing games with the children on a summer camp. Next we headed south to the Givat Haviva youth hostel for a discussion on the current conflict, before visiting the border town of Barta’a. It was then north again to Haifa, where we took a tour of the city and walked in the sublime Baha’i Gardens.

After Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jaffa, the MEGA event – a music festival attended by all the different Jewish youth groups on an Israel tour – and many more fantastic site visits, it was onto Jerusalem.

Our adventure in Israel’s capital began with a visit to the Western Wall and a tour of the old city, followed by a talk on the rights of Progressive Jews and of women in Israel. A life changing visit to the Holocaust Memorial museum of Yad Vashem was followed by a Shabbat evening service with a Reform community. Then it was Netzerfest – a chance to meet up with our sister organisations around the world.

Next we headed south to the Dead Sea and woke up at 3am to climb Masada, watch the sun rise and hold a service. That was followed by floating in the Dead Sea, swimming in the Ein Gedi springs and camel riding in the Negev, before finally sleeping under the stars.

Israel Tour provided all these amazing memories and more. It was quite simply the most enjoyable, jam packed, interesting and inspiring month of my life.