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Dear NCSY GIVE Roots Family, I am still in awe that this is our last shabbos in Israel on NCSY GIVE Roots! The summer has flown by and your girls should be so proud of what they have been able to accomplish! We've been able to do so much in five weeks, and we're looking forward to finishing up the summer with an exciting last few days! We started this week by traveling from Hispin back down to Ramat Beit Shemesh. As we traveled south, we saw the beautiful views of the northern Galilee, tasted delicious chocolate, and when we arrived back home, we had our annual GIVE vs. Michlelet basketball game! There were two winners of the evening, one team won the actual basketball game and one team won the highest energy game... I'll let you ask your daughters which game we won :) As the week continued and the nine days came to an end, we had a meaningful day at Har Hertzel and Kever Rachel, a very appropriate day before we began Tisha Baav. As Tisha Baav arrived we had our final seudah before the fast and Rabbi Felberman, our GIVE rabbi, read us Megillat Eichah. Afterwards, we had a night program to help everyone understand the destruction that the Jewish people have experienced throughout the generations, personally and nationally, and the night ended with a beautiful kumsitz. The next morning we had a meaningful Kinnot program run by our advisors and to end the day, we were privileged to visit the Kotel before breaking our fasts. We hope the girls were able to connect on some level to this difficult day, and we're hoping that next year on this day we will be able to make a celebratory program with the Beit Hamkidash rebuilt once again! The rest of the week continued with lots of exciting events! We had YOM NCSY, where all the NCSY programs come together for a night of energy, pride, and music! (Hope you were able to tune in and join in the fun- even remotely!) The GIVE girls had a great time seeing their friends on other programs and enjoyed an awesome concert by Jewish music superstar, Mordechai Shapiro! Additionally, this week we took part in an actual archeological dig, went to the biblical zoo, and packaged presents for children from low socioeconomic families. The girls had fun shopping for their last minute treats and gifts (which I'm sure you will all appreciate!), and we're now getting ready for Shabbos, which we will be spending "at home" in the comfort of our dorms in Ramat Beit Shemesh. If you need us, we'll be soaking up every moment of the kedusha we can't wait to experience on our last Shabbos here! Shabbat Shalom, Zisse
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