Israel Tour Update day 1

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the first in a series of daily updates about your child's Israel Tour.  These emails will be sent out every day at about 3 pm (except Shabbat when nothing will be sent) and will provide an update on what your child has been doing, some background information on the sites they have visited (this is just to make you jealous) and any other updates.

Tour 2 & Tour 3

After a late start and a surprisingly smooth check-in at Heathrow Airport the tours boarded the plane.  They have now landed at Ben Gurion, met their two Israeli madrichim (leaders) and are making their way to their opening ceremonies before hopefully getting an early night and being ready for their first full day in Israel.

Read more: Israel Tour Update day 1

Thoughts on the Israeli Navy Operation

Sunday night before I went to sleep I checked the news in Israel, as is my nightly routine before I shut my eyes and look forward to another day. There was some talk about a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, which is under a sea blockade from Egypt and Israel for the last three years, since Hamas took over from the PLO in the Gaza Strip in a bloody coup.

Read more: Thoughts on the Israeli Navy Operation

Unleash your Matisse

We're looking for people to help us design the T-shirt for this summer. If you want to enter the competition, see below for further details:

Read more: Unleash your Matisse

The ARDC Seder

The ARDC (African Refugee Development Centre) is an organization that helps the refugee community in Israel. It offers shelter to the most vulnerable, provides food and other basic resources, assists asylum seekers in their applications for visas and refugee status and runs English and Hebrew classes.

Read more: The ARDC Seder

A liberal's argument for same-sex marriage

Kieth Olberman, a famous American news anchor and left-wing political commentator, is a long-standing advocate of same-sex marriage. This thought-provoking plea to the people of California was largely drowned out of the news cycle by Obama's election a little over a year and a half ago. I wanted to shine a light on it once more. Some background info: gay marriage was made legal in California in June 2008. 4 months later however, a change in the law called Proposition 8 meant that the right for same-sex couples to marry was repealed. This angered the gay community, and is the subject of Olberman's disappointment. To watch the broadcast, click here. Alternatively, you can read the transcript below:

Read more: A liberal's argument for same-sex marriage

The benefits of failure and the importance of imagination by J.K.Rowling

In her commencement address at Harvard University's graduation ceremony, J.K. offers some words of wisdom. A really good 20 minutes worth of procrastination if you have time. To watch click here.