23. Walking Distance

Everything is in walking distance.

Factoid: The width of the country, from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east, can be crossed by car in about 90 minutes; and the trip from Metulla, in the far North, to Eilat at the country's southern tip takes about nine hours.

22. The Masada

The Masada.

Factoid: Masada is the site of the most dramatic and symbolic act in Jewish history, where in the year 74 C.E., its 960 inhabitants chose mass suicide rather than face certain capture, defeat, slavery or execution by their enemies. The account of the siege of Masada was related to Josephus by two women who survived the suicide by hiding inside a cistern along with five children. Masada is located at the top of an isolated rock on the edge of the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea valley, between Sdom and Ein Gedi.

21. The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea. You float instead of sinking which is awesome.

Factoid: The Dead Sea (Yam Hamelakh -- "The Salt Sea") is the lowest place on earth, roughly 1,300 feet below sea level. It is 34 miles long and varies between 11 miles and 2 miles in width. The Sea is 1,400 feet deep. People float effortlessly on the waters of the Dead Sea due to its concentration of minerals, which is the highest in the world.  

20. My Grandma's House

What I love about Israel is playing at my grandmother’s house and then eating falafel.

Factoid: Falafel is a fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Falafel is usually served in a pita. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables and hot sauce, and drizzled with t'china sauce.

19. Freedom of expression

It is a place where we are able to express ourselves freely as Jewish people.

Factoid: Yom Ha'atzmaut is Israel's independence day. It commemorates the 

declaration of independence of the modern State of Israel that took place on the 5th of Iyar 5708 - May14, 1948. It is preceded by Yom Hazikaron Israel's Memorial Day. In 2010, Israel honored the memory of 22,684 soldiers killed in the line of duty and 3,971 civilian terror victims.

18. The Brave Soldier

There was an Israeli solider that jumped on a grenade to save all the other soldiers. His name was Roei Klein.

Factoid: Roei Klein was a commander in the IDF. During the war against Hezbollah (2006), he noticed a grenade thrown into the room they were in. He saved his fellow soldiers by leaping on the live grenade, his body taking most of the blast. 

17. My Homeland

Israel is my homeland! It is home for Jews from all over the world!

Factoid:
David Ben-Gurion - Plonsk, Poland, 
Menachem Begin – Brest-Litovsk, Poland

Yitzhak Rabin – Jerusalem, Israel, 
Ariel Sharon – Kfar Malal, Israel, 
Levi Eshkol – Oratovo, Ukraine, 
Golda Meir – Kiev, Ukraine, 
Moshe Dayan - kibbutz Deganya Alef, Israel, 
Yigal Allon - Kfar Tavor, Israel

16. Flags are Everywhere

The amount of Israeli flags one sees just on a typical day. It makes everyone proud and it creates a sense of unity.

Factoid: This design was first displayed in Rishon-LeZion in 1885 and was also used at the First Zionist Congress in 1897. It was inspired by the tallit.  The flag was adopted officially on October 28, 1948, five months after the country's establishment.

In 2007, an Israeli flag measuring 660 meters (2,165 feet) long and 100 meters (330 feet) wide and weighing 5.2 metric tons, was unfurled near the ancient Jewish fortress of Masada, breaking the world record for the largest flag.

15. We Can Do it

The most wonderful thing about Israel is the spirit of “ We Can Do It.”

Factoid: Operation Entebbe (Thunderbolt) was a hostage-rescue mission carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on July 4, 1976. 
An Air France plane with 300 passengers was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists and supporters. Shortly after landing, all non-Jewish passengers were released. Israeli transport planes carried 100 elite commandos over 2,500 miles (4,000 km) to Uganda for the rescue operation. The operation, lasted 90 minutes. 103 hostages were escued. 
All the hijackers, three hostages and 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed. One IDF commander, Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed. He was the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, currently the Prime Minister of Israel. The operation is often referred to as “Operation Yonatan.”

14. My Brother in Yeshiva

My brother is studying in a Yeshivah in Jerusalem.

Factoid: A Yeshiva is an academy for (boys/men) the advanced study of Jewish texts. A girls Yeshiva is most often referred to as a Seminary.

13. Birkat Kohanim

During Birkat Kohanim you can see the Kohanim put their "talleisim" over their heads every day of the year.

Factoid: Brikat Kohanim is the Priestly Blessing performed on a daily basis in the land of Israel. In the diaspora  the ceremony is performed only on Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur. 

12. My Aunt's Apple Strudel

My aunt’s apple strudel.

Factoid: A strudel is pastry made from a thin sheet of dough rolled up with filling and baked.

11. Kever Rachel

My family, the kotel, and Kever Rachel.

Factoid: "And Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day." —Genesis 35:19-20

10. The Atara Cafe

French onion soup and ice coffee with ice cream at Café Atara on Ben Yehudah Street. La ulpan 1978.

Factoid: Ben Yehuda Street is a major street in downtown Jerusalem. It is now a pedestrian mall and closed to traffic. 

9. Cheerful Tears

My first experience of The Kotel (Western Wall) - I stood at the front with some of my childhood friends. We sang, danced, and cried in the country of my people.

Factoid: "The Kotel" or Kotel HaMa'aravi or in English the Western Wall. It is the last remnant of the second Beith HaMikdash (Holy Temple) that was destroyed in the year 70 C.E.