Summer 2016

What a fun-filled day on GIVE WEST! Today we had a special opportunity to fill our day with tons of amazing chessed. We started off by preparing snack kits filled with sandwiches and snacks for women at the Downtown Women’s Center. The girls had a fantastic idea to place a “Keep Smiling” card in each of the bags in order to brighten up their day. Then, half of the girls went to drop the packages off at the facility and were given an informative tour about the services they provide for homeless women. At the same time, the other half of the GIVE WESTers had the opportunity to serve lunch at the Midnight Mission located on Skid Row, as well as getting a tour of the building to see all the services they provide for those who are homeless and those overcoming addiction. Although it was a lot to process, the girls walked away appreciative of all they have in their life and were inspired by what the Midnight Mission provides for the community! All the GIVE WESTers did an AMAZING job and worked really hard. Then, off we were to the Garden of Palms nursing home, where we met such special elderly men and women who brightened up our day! We played many games of bingo and did arts and crafts! We left on a high after learning some dance moves from our friend Hilda at the nursing home! Next, we stopped by the historical La Brea Tarpits of Los Angeles. We drove back to Pico, once again, to eat a delicious dinner at Nageela, and then ventured off to Universal City Walk which was a blast! The girls enjoyed the thrill of running through the colorful fountains! Another amazing day on GIVE WEST=)

Today we had an incredible day here on GIVE WEST! We travelled down to San Diego, hometown of our own advisor, Adina Cohen! Adina served as our tour guide of the day. When we arrived at San Diego, our first stop was the Cliffs at La Jolla, which overlooked the beach and the Glider Port. We enjoyed taking gorgeous pictures, meditating with a breeze on our faces, and watching people hand-gliding in the air! We were posed with a challenge from our advisor, Rina Landsman, to give out ‘Keep Smiling’ cards to random strangers throughout our day. The GIVE WESTERs made a huge Kiddush Hashem as they handed out these cards and made people’s days! Our next stop was Balboa Park, where the girls enjoyed the gardens, carousel, and art studios! At Seaport Village, the girls had a chance to look at gift shops, get their faces painted, and enjoy Ben & Jerry’s ice cream! When we stopped at the Cove for a few minutes, we got to see some seals, and a wedding on the water. On the bus, we played an interactive game of “what’s your name?” led by Leah Jacobson! Our awesome day ended at Adina Cohen’s home. There, we ate dinner in her backyard, heard words of Torah from her brother-in-law Rav Dani Abel (from Shaalvim), had a blast in the pool, and got to see Mexico from her backyard!! What an amazing day:)!!!

Friday morning we departed AJU with excitement, as we made our way to Summer at Etta, a camp for children and young adults with special needs. We wore our finest costumes and shtick, and had a carnival with them. We had booths for “freeze dance,” “fluff and find,” “bowling” and much more! Both the GIVE WESTers and the campers at Etta had a blast singing, dancing and playing all the fun games together! After a delicious lunch from Pizza World we headed to Target for everyone to have the chance to buy necessities and some Shabbos treats! Then we headed back to AJU to prepare for Shabbos. We began Shabbos singing Kabbalas Shabbos together overlooking a beautiful sunset. After singing and dancing together we say down to have our first Shabbos meal, where we heard two beautiful divrei Torah from GIVE WESTers. The Zmirot we sang at dinner and at the fun Tisch afterwards, brought us together and uplifted us all. Shabbos morning began with davening, a parsha shiur from our guest Zisse Hanfling, NCSY Summer Recruiter, and a yummy kiddush. Our theme of this Shabbos was the relationship Bein Adam L’chaveiro – between man and his friends. We kicked off the discussion of this theme with a panel discussion which allowed us to get to know our Staff on a deeper level. We heard about their personal journey’s, role models, and advise about being in high school. The panel sparked great discussions amongst everyone throughout the rest of the day. Our delicious Shabbos lunch was accompanied by two more divrei Torah, fun singing together, and then learning in a session with our advisors about the impacts our words can have on our interpersonal relationships. After the thought provoking sessions, we played a fun GIVE WEST version of headbands. Many GIVE WESTers stayed afterwards for an optional session with Sarah Lederer, Assistant Director, about Ahavat Yisroel – Love for the Jewish National. Throughout free time we enjoyed relaxing with each other and learning together and with our advisors. After mincha we had part two of our program, where we got to know some of our GIVE WESTers better, in a discussion about what brought them to GIVE WEST. After hearing some amazing and inspirational stories, we enjoyed a delicious Shaloshudes. We ebbed Shabbos away together as we sang in a strong and unified voice after a beautiful Shabbos filled with new and deep connections amongst us all. We can’t wait for our day tomorrow in San Diego!!!

Yesterday, GIVE WEST had a blast spending the day at Six Flags Magic Mountain! They enjoyed all the roller coasters, games, and ice cream! They came back exhausted, but there was still more left to our day! We welcomed Mr. Marty Nachimson, the president of the OU to share a few words with GIVE WEST, and then enjoyed a delicious dinner from LA Burger Bar. We also welcomed Dr. and Mrs. Luchins, for the night, and also Reva Jacoby and Zisse Hanfling for the weekend! We were privileged to hear from Dr. Luchins, the founding dean of Lander College for Women, about the upcoming presidential elections. Then, we were off to an amazing GIVE WEST Movie night, featuring the Parent Trap! What a fun day!

Today was another packed day on GIVE WEST, starting off with amazing chaburas given by our advisors, and then heading over to do the Hollywood Sign HIKE! Everyone was amazed by the gorgeous view of the surrounding mountains, and they enjoyed taking beautiful pictures with the Hollywood sign in the background. After, we went to the California Hospital Medical Center to help with some “behind the scenes” activities. Rodeo Drive was our next stop! The girls enjoyed walking around and buying some coffee! After a dinner at Chick N Chow sponsored by Touro College, we went to Comedy Sportz Club and shared many laughs! Then we headed back to AJU to prepare for the carnival we will be running tomorrow for Camp Etta Israel! We cannot wait!

We started our day with a trip to one of Los Angeles’s newest state parks and volunteered at the LA Audobon. We climbed to a beautiful overlook of LA on a nature walk around the park. We learnt about the environmental challenges facing this region and we saw how the organization is working to combat these issues. Then we put our knowledge to the test and helped plant new plants in the park to help the cause. After lunch and chabura in the scenic overlook, we headed to Hollywood’s famous “Walk of Fame” to take pictures with our favorite “stars.” Then the group split up into two chesed missions. The first went to the Zimmer Children’s Museum to assist them with their work serving the children of LA. The second group went to Downtown LA where they greeted and served 445 homeless med and women of Skid Row at The Midnight Mission. We left all of the chesed activities today with a sense of inspiration and gratitude for all that we have. The two groups will switch next week so each GIVE WESTer has a chance to experience these impactful chesed missions. We then met up for mincha and a yummy Israeli dinner at Nagila’s Grill in Pico. After our bellies were full we were filled with the light of Torah when we got the chance to hear beautiful words from Rabbi Areyh Sufrin, principal of YULA Boys High School, about how to find true happiness. We ended this jam packed day with a visit to the famous LACMA Lights exhibit which is a famous tourist attraction and movie featured set. After such a great day we returned to AJU for some well deserved rest. We can’t for even More Fun tomorrow at Six Flags!!!

Our first full day in sunny Los Angeles was filled with exciting Chesed projects. When we got dressed this morning, each GIVE WESTER wore pink to participate in a Bus organized “Pretty in Pink” day. Our Pink shirts in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness popped everywhere we went as we raise awareness for this cause. We started the morning on the Redondo beach helping Green Friends clean the shores of the Pacific Ocean of garbage and waste which pollute the oceans and kill the wildlife. After the cleanup, we had some fun downtime on the beach before departing on a drive through Beverly Hills. We made a quick pit stop at 7 Eleven to get our free slurpies in honor of it being 7/11! Our next stop was at UCP Wheels for Humanity where we learned about the work they do collecting and refurbishing wheel chairs and other tools used to mobilize the disabled. There, we helped organize and clean newly donated wheel chairs, while being deeply inspired by the work they do there. After a long day of giving back we made our way to a yummy sushi supper in the heart of LA! We returned to the beautiful campus at AJU and spent some time playing ball and relaxing before heading in for a fun Spa night. We raised money for Sharsheret, an organization which helps and supports breast cancer, by donating money in exchange for manicures and facials from our advisors. We ended off the night celebrating our own Adira Kahn’s birthday with a delicious Ben & Jerry’s ice cream party! Can’t wait for Day 8!!

We had an awesome day today traveling from Arizona to California. Even though the bus ride was long, we did make sure to stop at the best place ever…WALMART! Once we arrived in LA and settled in at AJU, our home for the next 12 days, we headed out for dinner to Pizza World. The girls enjoyed a great dinner and then we were off to the famous Santa Monica pier! Although we did not see anyone famous, we still enjoyed making some fun of our own. The girls enjoyed all the fun rides and obviously the coffee bean that was located there. We introduced a fun word game of “assassins” to help the girls continue to get to know each other. After a long and tiring day, we arrived back at AJU and are looking forward to what the next day brings.

What a fun couple of days we’ve had here on the West Coast. On Friday we began our day with an inspiring davening, yummy breakfast, and then headed over to our chessed activity. We split into 5 groups and went to various Benevilla facilities to help adults with different developmental and intellectual disabilities. The GIVE WESTers were so helpful and full of energy when exercising and doing projects with the members. We’re so proud of them!! Next, we headed to Big Surf Water Park. It was tons of fun and a great way to cool down from the intense heat here in AZ. The girls enjoyed all the water slides, swimming in the wave pool, and eating ice cream.

The girls couldn’t wait to begin our first Shabbos on GIVE WEST!! After taking pre-Shabbos pictures, we ushered in Shabbos with a beautiful Kabbalat Shabbat all together. We then ate a delicious dinner, sang zemirot, and heard a wonderful dvar Torah from Gabi Miller. We were privileged to have Rabbi Katz, director of MMY, join us for Shabbos leading a question answer session following the meal. The girls asked thoughtful, deep, and insightful questions and they really enjoyed hearing answers from Rabbi Katz. After the question answer session we had a beautiful tisch with singing and yummy snacks!! On Shabbos morning, the GIVE WESTers davened, and listened to a parsha shiur from Rabbi Katz about Korach’s leadership and the Torah’s view on democracy and government. We then had a quick kiddush leading to a session about the theme of Shabbos which was knowing yourself and knowing what makes you you. At lunch we sang more songs, ate yummy food thanks to Daniella and Issac, and heard a beautiful dvar Torah from Tamar Hershberg. After lunch we played a big GIVE WEST game of fruit salad. Then we had free time to hang with friends and play games and eat snacks. The girls all came back from free time to a shuir by Rabbi Katz about how to view our relationship with Hashem. After a yummy shalosh seudos we ebbed Shabbos always and heard an inspiring dvar Torah from Adira Kahn. Then Isaac sang havdala beautifully. For night activity we had chabura wars!!! Each chabura group competed in different challenges leading into a chagiga with noodles, ice cream and lots of dancing!!