Introduction
In just a few short days I will be boarding an airplane headed for Tel Aviv. Last year, I visited Israel for the first time, traveling with thirty other young Jewish Americans on a Birthright trip, zooming around the country on a whirlwind tour of the highlights of the Jewish land.
Having not gotten enough of the country, I am headed back again, this time, though, for a much different experience, taking part in a month-long program through American University’s Washington College of Law. With just seven participants, the program promises to provide unparalleled access to both the American professors traveling with us as well as the many Israeli professors and attorneys who will be lecturing to us throughout the month.
The program itself promises to be a great experience. There are two classes, one of which is a survey of the Israeli legal system, the other of which focuses on Israeli innovation in business and technology from a legal perspective. We will first spend a week in Tel Aviv, a cosmopolitan city on the Mediterranean that resembles Miami Beach or Barcelona. Our hotel there is a block from the beach, which, I can attest, is as nice as any beach in the world. I will be spending a fair amount of time there. Next we travel to Haifa, Israel’s original port, in the north, which is home to the world-famous Baha’i gardens and the famed Maccabi Haifa basketball club (shout out to my cousin, the owner of the team). From there, we travel to a nearby kibbutz for a night before spending a week in Jerusalem, the ever complicated capital city. We then return to Tel Aviv for another week, before my brother arrives for a week-long tour of the country all over again.
Just a few words about this blog. I will be updating it as often as possible, with as many stories about experiences both in and out of the classroom as I can relate. I will also post some generalized observations about the nation of Israel, a unique and special place that one must truly experience in person to understand. Since they say that from every two Israelis you get five opinions, I will try and refrain from touching sensitive areas of politics and foreign affairs, although in a country as complicated as Israel, that is a generally impossible task. I will also post photographs that I take around the country as I take them.
Please feel free to leave comments, ask questions, offer suggestions, or anything else. I hope you will all enjoy reading.
