Hey parents,
We're alive and well, thank g-d!
So here's the inside scoop- At first, the food was very "Ukrainian" but now we're in the holy land and the food is plentiful, delicious, and healthy (spicy too).
As far as our spiritual being-----aaaaaaaah help! everyone just ran outside because they heard the sound of fireworks or bombs, don't know which-----where was i? Ukraine was something we will never forget. We started with Babi Yar- the gravesite of thousands of yidden from the holocaust. From there, we moved on to our rebbeim's kevarim. All the beautiful stories we have been hearing since we were in diapers suddenly came to life.
Just imagine this: 58 teens, 22 women, 4 counselors, and the one and only swerly all packed in together around the alter rebbe's kever. The hachannah niggun was sung in harmony (thanks to Mushka krinsky and malkie feigenson), everyone then recited their name bas their mother's name, followed by a pan klali, tehillim names, and a heart rendering amen. It's not hard to picture the emotions that were flowing through the crowd. The same scenario repeated itself at the Mitteler Rebbe, the Maggid, Reb Zushe, the Berditchever, and Baal Shem.
Shabbos at the Baal Shem was awesome. Friday night farbrengens filled with song and dance, mincha at the Baal Shem's shul, topped with a private yechidus left us all feeling merited and shaken to the bone. Also, we played a hilarious game of headbands with the women- see pictures.
Our last stop: Zhitomer, an orphanage and camp for Jewish children. Here, we had an authentic shtetl day- horse and buggy rides, shtetl clothes (see pics), and drawing water from the well. After that, we were finally on our way to the holy land! Lights out, nighty night, don't miss us too much!
P.S. They were fireworks b"h b"h b"h!
By Mirel Deitsch
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