On Our Way

 B”H we are on our way. It was very dark when we left early early in the morning. Special thank you to Yisroel and Yocheved Gesin and Larry Rubin for getting us to the airport. Our ride down had pockets of traffic here and there. Ben Stein kept us entertained with his repertoire of niggunim that he sang. Chanan Gesin did a good job assisting Ben with proper pronunciation. The most exciting part was watching Chaim Tzvi Cohen’s bris on zoom. Mazel Tov to the entire Cohen family.

 Our 1^st stop was at the Ohel and there we davened for the success of our school’s 13^th Israel Trip. Morah Kosofsky read all of the names of our group at the Ohel. Many students wrote their own special notes. Then, it was off to daven at the grave of Rabbi Edelman, of blessed memory. Since our school is celebrating our 80^th year, we said chapter 81.

 Now, we are fortified to make our way to the airport. Check in was a breeze. The entire process from checking in with El Al security and TSA took about 30 minutes. Travelers on LYA Israel Trip 2027 beware of bringing twizzlers. They were flagged at TSA, but the nice man let them through. As a matter of fact, he told Morah K. that his son is in Israel now volunteering after being inspired during a Birthright trip. (Maybe that is why he let Meir’s twizzlers through😊

 At our terminal we met Mina Adelman, Morah Adelman’s daughter, who is traveling to Israel. It was so nice to catch up. Mina was on LYA’s Israel Trip 2017. We wish her a wonderful trip. When one travels, one always meets someone they know. When our group arrived at our gate, we met Dr. Levi and Mina Tiefenbrunn. Pre Covid, they were Shabbos guests of Rabbi and Morah K. for 2 years in a row in the summer. Dr. Tiefenbrunn would attend a camera conference at UMASS. If you’ve been in their home you might have noticed a beautiful panorama picture of Yerushalayim taken by Dr. Tiefenbrunn that was gifted to the Kosofskys. It was nice to catch up. You might say it’s a small world, but we like to call it One Big Jewish Family.

 It is so nice to talk to all the people on the plane. We just met a doctor who is on his way to graduation in Haifa. He went to school with Zalman and Dina Korf who used to live in Longmeadow. He is sending our regards as he will be spending the night in the Korfs home in Haifa. The Korfs made aliya and now have 2 children.

 We are spread out over the plane. But, we are all rising to the occasion and doing great. We feel so blessed to be on our way. We are learning new skills on the plane as well. Esther Cowen mastered getting out of her middle seat and hopping over a sleeping passenger without waking her up.

 A woman from Monsey told us we were the best behaved group. Gotta go, the flight attendants are arriving with our first beverage. Decisions, decisions!!! What type of Israeli fruit drink to get!!