After months of preparation and fundraising, over 45 international runners from schools all over the United States boarded a late flight to Israel last Tuesday. Nine smooth hours later, we arrived in Israel! After a delicious dinner we all went to Ben Yehuda for some shopping in the rain.

We certainly didn’t let the weather stop us as we began our second day. We had a meaningful visit to the Kotel and got a virtual reality tour of the Beit Hamikdash. Next, we made pizza for chayalim and packed mishloach manot with our new friends from Yachad Israel. Bowling and the shuk capped off our amazing day out. For dinner, we headed to the OU center for a pre-race pasta party and a surprise trip to Katzefet for dessert!

We woke up bright and early Friday morning, extremely excited for the race! Music blasted at Sacher Park as thousands of people were getting ready for the marathon. Running, jogging, walking, and dancing through the streets and hills of Yerushalayim was definitely a highlight of the trip. There was no better feeling than crossing the finish line b’Yachad.

We spent a beautiful Shabbat in Yerushalayim with Yachad Israel, filled with lots of games, laughs, beautiful singing and divrei Torah. Finally, the time came to say goodbye to all of our new friends, and we headed to the airport.

We had the privilege of touring Israel with Yachad this past summer on Yad b’Yad. Israel is a place where all types of people come together, b’Yachad, and we are so fortunate that we got to have this experience again. We are so thankful to everyone who made this once-in-a-lifetime trip possible.

By Yonina Weinberg and�Racheli Schachter, Frisch juniors

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