A few updates...
Security Update:
We are aware that the U.S. State Department released a warning yesterday for any tourists traveling to Israel. Today, select airlines canceled flights out of Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. At this time El Al, the airline our group will fly home on, has issued no warnings and canceled no flights out of Israel. We are surveying the situation carefully and will continue to do so, but as of now, we will not be shortening the MBI program. Today the group is building rafts on the western side of the Kinneret and the location has been approved as secure by the Cheder Matzav (the Situation Room). As always you are welcome to contact us, but please feel assured that the safety and security of the group is always our top priority.
Itinerary change:
Sunday the group was originally scheduled to stay at Kfar Hayarok near Tel Aviv. Working with the program provider, the Israel Experience, we have moved their visit with Habonim UK to a youth hostel in Acco. Yom Habonim, scheduled for next Monday, is still in question whether it will happen or not. I will keep you updated if there are any further itinerary changes as they come.
Free Weekend Update:
The youth hostel on Kibbutz Deganya Bet has informed us that they will not be able to accommodate all of the chanichim over the free weekend. We have split the group by bus. Each bus will be staying at a separate hostel within a 15 minute ride of each other. Bus 1 will be staying on Deganya Bet, Bus 2 will be staying over Shabbat at the Poriyah Youth Hostel, and bus 3 will be staying at the hostel on Kibbutz Sha'ar Hagolan. Click here to access the bus list if you do not know which bus they are on.
After receiving many requests from family and friends to visit with chanichim for a longer period of time and to take them from these three Kibbutzim, we have decided to adjust our original decision about Saturday the 26th.
We will allow for families and friends who were planning on visiting the Kibbutz to pick chanichim up and leave for the day if they wish as long as the following requirements are met:
- They must be picked up after 10:00 am and brought back no later than 5:00 pm.
- They will visit with the participant only within the Galilee (no visiting Haifa or anywhere south of Haifa)
The last requirement that we would like you to be aware of is that they will be asked to sign a form stating that the visitors who are picking up participants for the day are liable for the safety of the participants for that day and that they are planning to abide by the rules we have laid out for travel and return time. If your child is planning to leave one of the three Kibbutzim on Saturday we also will need to receive a Free Weekend Form .
I will be out of the office for the next week visiting my family and at Camp Tavor, but will be answering the emergency phone the entire time and doing my best to respond promptly to emails.
More on Rafsodia coming soon....
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