From Jamie Haber:

New York was a blast! From the minute we arrived we were so busy. First we went to talk with Ruth Messinger, the Director of the American Jewish World Service. She spoke about the work that AJWS does. They work with 31 countries and go to places and help groups and communities that are determined to change aspects of their community. The countries they work with are in the bottom 1/3 of the economic world. Right now they support about 230 groups. She also spoke about the work they do concerning the genocide in Darfur. It is horrible to think that people can be convinced to kill their fellow citizens. It is equally upsetting that it is done by governments. Ms. Messinger said that we need to change public policy and in order to do that we need to put pressure on our elected officials.

After this meeting we explored Times Square and saw the play “Avenue Q”. It was amazing! In addition to be hilarious, the show gave us perspective on how to live our lives to the fullest and how we are all connected. It was one of the best musicals I have ever seen.

The next day we went to Ellis Island. There we could research family members who came through Ellis Island and learn about their experience there. After Ellis Island, we walked to Wall Street. Billy explained how the world’s economy is tied into this one street. He also spoke to us about the concept of how in our pursuit of the American Dream (represented by Wall Street) we need to care about those who do not have access to the American Dream or tragic events, such as 9-11, will continue. Those in power need to realize that their lives are connected to the lives of the powerless. To truly illustrate this point we walked a block away from Wall Street and saw Ground Zero. It was incredibly emotional to see the place where so many innocent people died. We spent some time to walk around the area. I was shocked to see people selling merchandise related to the Twin Towers and other tourists smiling and taking pictures of each other laughing while in front of the tragic site. It was horrible that these people did not respect the thousands of people who died at the site.

After Ground Zero we attended Friday Night Shabbat services at Bnai Jeshurun. It was not like any service I have ever been to. There were 3 Rabbis accompanied by a band. During the service I would look around and see so many people consumed in the service. Some people even began to dance in the synagogue. I really enjoyed the service and the next time I am in New York I definitely want to attend another service there.

The next day we met with Jonah Lowenfeld who spoke about city design and urban planning. He discussed zoning issues and challenged us to look at architecture as a part of history. He really made what seemed like a boring subject come to life for us and many of us commented that we have not looked at buildings the same way since our talk.

After we met with Jonah we walked into Central Park where we spent some time relaxing by the pond. It was amazing. It was incredibly peaceful and it gave us a chance to reflect and just sit in the quiet. We also celebrated Moises 17th birthday with cupcakes. After an our in the park we took the subway to the Lower East Side where Billy showed us where and how our ancestors lived once they came to America. We also walked through Chinatown and Little Italy. We had a chance to compare and contrast the different lifestyles and cultures. It was really interesting to see the different sections of New York City.

After Little Italy we had time on Canal Street to bargain and shop like New Yorkers. It was an amazing experience. We ended our day with some time in the West side of Greenwich Village where once again we got to see a different aspect of New York.

Our stay in New York ended the next morning with a visit to the United Nations. We got to sit in many of the meeting rooms where they discuss world wide issues and that we see on the news. It was so cool to think that so many important people attend meetings in the rooms we were in. After the UN we left for Boston. New York is an amazing city and it is my favorite one in the country. It was so much fun and I can’t wait to go back.