On Our Way

As we write this blog, we have just taken off. We are enjoying the Boeing 787-9. The plane is large and has very comfortable and spacious seats. All students are enjoying a smooth flight.

Our trip to the airport went super well. Thank you to our parents, Rabbi Cohen, Mr. Yisroel Gesin and Rabbi Wolvovsky for transporting us to our destination. We met at LYA at 5:30 a.m. while it was still dark and we were still a bit sleepy. It was smooth sailing to the Ohel. While we were there Rivka Schmidt met her camp counselor Rivka Chein. They had a special mini-camp reunion.

We had an uplifting visit at the Ohel. We went in as a group. Rabbi Kosofsky read all of our names together and we davened for a special trip filled with spiritual and personal growth. After the Ohel, we stopped at Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka’s grave to say tehilim after commemorating her yartzeit last week.

After our trip to the Ohel, we walked to Rabbi Edelman, ob”m to daven. While there, Morah Kosofsky told us how much Rabbi Edelman cared about each and every student. She told the travelers how excited Rabbi Edelman was when students traveled to Israel. We met Rabbi Edelman’s grandson-in-law, Rabbi Bernstein, who is a Chabad Rabbi in Toronto and he was bringing a group of his people to the Ohel. He wished us a great trip.

It was a special day for Bassie Baron. She was able to visit her grandfather, Meir Hott’s grave. This was the first time she was there. Bassie’s grandfather is part of her inspiration for her volunteer work at Rachel’s Table.

We made it in record time to the airport and arrived early. This was good, since it took us quite a while to go through El Al security. It is so nice to see all of the people that are traveling to Israel. On our plane is a group of high school students from the New York area on a week tour. There is a religious group of Christians and Jews who are traveling together. Morah Kosofsky spoke with one of the participants from Tennessee. He saw Longmeadow on our sweatshirts and came to tell her that he was a resident at Baystate in the early 80s.

There is nothing like an EL AL flight. The atmosphere is one of a large family. You already feel like you are in Israel. People assisting people to find things and put things in the overhead bins. People lending and borrowing phone chargers as if they are longtime friends. Interacting with families traveling with little children. Minyanim occurring all during the flight.

What other airlines do you know that offers passengers opportunities to donate to tzedaka. This morning many of our fellow travelers donated to “small change big dreams”, which is a tzedaka organization for children with specials needs.

One of EL AL’s survey questions is why do you fly with EL AL. Our answer: Flying EL AL is part of the Israeli experience.

One thing that is making us very proud is that no matter where we are people are commenting on how nice our group is and are wishing us a wonderful trip.