Dear Yeud parents,

A moment before Shavuot – here is a short summary of past/future events at Yeud [as always – keep in mind that this is the extra stuff, what we do in addition to our routine of Torah and Sherut Leumi]. You should visit our facebook page and our website for many more pictures!

• After our amazing trip up north, we are doing our best to use every day during this last leg of the year.

• On Wednesday night April 24^th our guest speaker was Mr. Avi Marcovitz, a Yad VaShem director and a professional marathoner who lost his hearing for several months in 2010 as a result of a coma he had experienced. His story of overcoming difficulties and his approach to the challenges he faced were a true inspiration to our group.  

• On Wednesday night May 1^st our guest speaker was Mr. Arnold Roth, formerly of Melbourne Australia, whose 15-year old daughter Malki was murdered by a Muslim terrorist at the Sbarro explosion in Jerusalem in 2001 .

• On Tuesday May 7^th our weekly siyur was a walk on the Old City's Walls Promenade. We walked from Jaffa Gate to the Kotel via Zion Gate, and learned a lot about the walls themselves and about the major buildings and sites visible from up top, both inside the walls in the Old City and outside them in Modern-day Jerusalem.

• That night we held a festive BBQ dinner in our yard in honor of Yom Yerushalayim, complete with love songs to Jerusalem and a Jerusalem trivia contest. The very next day after Sherut Leumi the group joined the thousands of Israelis celebrating 46 years of United Jerusalem.

• Tomorrow, on Tuesday afternoon, we will "move" to within the Old City's walls for 25 hours. We will spend Chag Shavuot as close as we can get to the place every Jew must be at on the "shalosh regalim" – the three major festivals of the Jewish calendar – the Temple Mount! We hold the traditional all-night-long learning program, and while some of our staff will give shiurim, the highlight of the night – aside from the nosh and cheesecakes – will be, no doubt, TWELVE of our students who will be delivering short shiurim, 15-minutes each, to their peers. This special night will end with an early "vatikin" shacharit by the Kotel. One can feel the kedusha in the air as hoards and hoards of Jews from all parts of Jerusalem gather at the Kotel Square and stand silently, listening to the reading of the Ten Commandments, re-enacting what our ancestors did on this very day, the 6^th of Sivan, more than 3,300 years ago. After lunch we have a walking tour and a shiur scheduled as well.

• Next Tuesday May 21^st our weekly siyur will take us to the historic home of Rav Kook, as well as to the Tehillim Museum.

• On Wednesday May 22^nd our guest speaker will be Rav Yossi Fisher, an "Ultra-Orthodox" Jew who will explain life as he views it.

• The next morning, Thursday May 23^rd we're scheduled to go to the airport and welcome in a flight of Nefesh B'Nefesh new Olim, complete with banners and songs, flags and balloons!

• On Tuesday May 28^th our weekly siyur is to Old Malcha. Details to follow.

• On Wednesday May 29^th our guest speaker will be Hart Levine.

• On Shabbat June 1^st we hold our farewell Shabbat for the north-hemisphere students. But we don’t want to talk about that quite yet. We're in denial…

Chag same'ach from rainy (!) Jerusalem,

~ Rav Hillel