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By Justin Strudler

On Tuesday, when my room arose to the sounds of my alarm waking me up to go run, I quickly hit the snooze and continued to sleep. Finally we awoke, showered, and ran down to breakfast. We were leaving Waltham, MA, the same town where I spent a year of my life. After a couple hours of political bickering on the bus between each other on topics such as education reform, taxes, Israel, and many others we all agreed to disagree as we made our way into New Haven, Connecticut home to Yale for lunch. I grabbed some food from a salad bar (not salad of course), and hung out with some friends for a while walking around the town before getting back on the bus.  We continued our drive down to Asbury Park, over the Tappan Zee Bridge, which had a beautiful view of New York City down the Hudson River, and into New Jersey and finally Asbury Park. Home of the Stone Pony where Bruce Springsteen played many of his first gigs, Madam Marie’s fortune telling booth as mentioned in the song “4th of July, Asbury Park”, as well as the abandoned casino. Although some were disappointed that the “Jersey Shore” wasn’t overrun with “Guidos” practicing the art of “GTL” (Gym, Tan, Laundry), Asbury Park was heaven for a Springsteen fan like me. The beach was great as we all got our feet wet and had a relaxing time.  Soon we got on the bus and headed on to Philly.

When we arrived in Philly we had the pleasure of catching up with two former Etgarians, Ian and Sarah P. During free time on South Street many of us decided to go to Jim’s Steaks to have Philly Cheese Steaks in the city where they were created. I think the general decision is that it was some of the most delicious food we’ve had, even though I chose the provolone over the cheese wiz. Soon we held wrap up in a local park near historic Philadelphia and went on our way to the hotel to call it a night.

The next day we got on the bus to the Constitution Center, and made our way into the museum which I think made all of us proud to be Americans. We got to vote for the best president ever, whether or not the government will reach a deal on the debt ceiling and the million dollar questions of “how much the power the government can have” and “what freedom means”. The statues of delegates were fun as we all took pictures with our states representatives and soon we started the walk over to where the Liberty Bell is held. Unfortunately the line was way too long so we were forced to speak about the meaning of the bell outside and the quote from the Torah that is inscribed on the it, and didn’t get the chance to check out the famous crack. We walked down past Independence Hall and to a Synagogue which is the site of a memorial to Jonathan Netanyahu, where we discussed the July 4th, 1976 raid on Entebbe to save Israeli citizens that were being held hostage after a plane hijacking. We soon went to one of the most diverse markets any of us have ever seen for lunch, Reading Terminal Market, where it was possible to go from a pizza place, to crepes, to Indian food, to an Amish deli, all in about ten feet of each other. Our last stop in Phialdelphia was to run up the famed Rocky steps of the Art Museum. Finally we parted from Philly and worked our way down to Baltimore.

We pulled into Beth El Synagogue, and had the pleasure to discuss the controversy of how much freedom the press should have with Neil Rubin, friend of Billy’s and Editor for the Baltimore Jewish times. I think this just showed how many ideas the 27 people on this trip can have about a certain subject. When Mr. Rubin gave us certain scenarios pretty much all of us came up with different ideas for when printing a story is acceptable and when it isn’t. The meeting brought up a lot of questions about our Jewish identity and our rights as Americans. After the meeting we began the 45 minute bus ride into Baltimore, where we ate dinner in the Inner Harbor and got to smell, taste, see, and hear the sounds of the city. We boarded the bus and began the trip to D.C.

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Today we started out by driving from our hotel in New Jersey to my home city of Philadelphia. Our first visit was to the National Constitution Center. We saw a live performance introducing us to the ideas and history of the Constitution. While most of us thought it was cheesy, Billy really liked it and probably was crying during it. We spent an hour in the museum looking at the exhibits and understanding what the Constitution is all about.

After the museum, we walked across Independence Mall to see the Liberty Bell as well as Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were debated and signed.

We then walked to South Street and had time to shop and eat lunch. I got to see my parents and dog as well as got a Philly classic…the cheese steak.

After free time, we walked over to Ben Franklin’s house where Billy told us it was the most technologically advanced museum around….he was a little confused as it may have been when he saw it as a kid in the 1970s, as it was very old school. Unfortunately, the actor who usually walks around dressed as Ben Franklin was not there.

We then stopped by Ben Franklin’s grave and then got on the bus to go to Baltimore. We did make one more stop on the way out of town. We pulled up to the Philadelphia Art Museum and Billy started playing the theme to the movie “Rocky” as we were able to run off the bus and up the famous steps.

Our first stop in Baltimore was at the offices of the Baltimore Jewish Times where editor Neil Rubin spoke to us about the responsibilities of a free and vibrant press, as well as being a member of the Jewish community reporting on the Jewish community. He had us discussing what we would do as editors of a Jewish paper by giving us real life scenarios such as a prominent Holocaust survivor is found to have fabricated some of her stories, or do you publish wedding announcements of intermarried couples.

At night we had free time to roam the Inner Harbor and have dinner. There were Japanese naval ships docked at the harbor and a drum band playing on the sidewalk.

After free time we drove to Washington DC and along the way, Billy showed us an episode of the West Wing, my favorite television series, that spoke about how our government works and some of the tensions of our freedom.

While being a tourist in my home town was odd, it was a great day.

Today we began our day in Philadelphia by going to the Constitution Museum. It was a very interesting museum as it was extremely interactive. We watched a live performance about the way our country was formed, and specifically what the first three words of the Constitution, “We The People,” really mean. The museum had many interactive computers with which we could see if we would have been able to vote in certain decades, view information about our states, and take quizzes to see how much we know about our country.

Next, we went to the Liberty Bell. This was very anti-climactic for me as we did not listen to a speaker and learn anything very important. We just saw a historical artifact. This was unlike anything else we have done on Etgar 36.

in front of the Liberty Bell

Our next historic visit was to, as Billy told us, a very high tech museum. It turns out he was joking with us and took us to a museum that was high tech to him about 25 years ago. It was at the site of Ben Franklin’s house and told us about him and how his life affected the country.

looking into the remnants of Ben Franklin's house

We had lunch at the historic Bourse and then were off to Baltimore. On the way out of Philadelphia, we stopped at the Art Museum to run up the Rocky steps! We had fun and some exercise.

In Baltimore we met with Neil Rubin, Editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times, who spoke to us about the First Amendment and issues of Freedom of the Press. We spoke about whether we should write articles that affect people negatively. For example, if a story is news but it also ruins a person’s reputation, and on a larger scale hurts the Jewish People’s image, should a Jewish paper run the story? Although some of our opinions differed, most of us were strongly in favor of freedom of the press in all cases.

Neil Rubin of the Baltimore Jewish Times

We then went to dinner at the Inner Harbor and made our way to Washington DC. During this drive, we watched a special episode of “The West Wing” which spoke about the way our government works. The show was very good.

When we arrived in DC, we ate cake to celebrate Brian’s birthday. Finally, we went to sleep so we could get ready for the final city on our journey.

We had a good day today. We had a meeting in the morning with a member of Save Darfur. He taught us about the genocide in Sudan and how we can get involved to help bring it to an end. One of the ways he suggested, was to work on getting companies to divest their money from investments that support the people and countries that support the genocide.

We then got on the bus and started our drive to Philadelphia. We stopped for lunch at Friendly’s. In the evening we arrived in Philadelphia and went to South Street. We had time to walk around South Street to shop and have dinner. It was a really cool and hip place to be. Then we walked to a park that was nearby and had our wrap up about our visit to Boston and spoke about our day tomorrow in Philadelphia.

We started the day with one of the best breakfasts of the trip. We had heard about it from the lady at the front desk but, in the morning, when Billy told us to hurry up and not miss it we took it seriously.

Our first stop of the day was the Constitution Museum. After being greeted by someone who is clearly a morning person, we went into the theater to see what Billy called a “mind boggling” experience. His passion touched me. I could see how much this play means to him. It was cheesy as we had anticipated but still pretty phenomenal. They walked us through America’s history starting with colonization and ending with current events. It was interesting to see the development of checks and balances as well as their modern applications.

When we exited the theater, Billy introduced our theme for the final days. The preamble of the Constitution was on the wall and Billy pointed out the words, “a more perfect union.” The point of these words is that while the United States can’t ever be perfect, we should always strive for perfection. He then let us go through the museum.

The museum is very high tech. It is a circular exhibit with the history on the outside and interactive political activities on the inside. There were such things as voting for president and passing a bill, so everyone was entertained. The exhibit concludes with a collection of bronze statues of all the signers of the Constitution. We all “signed the Constitution” and then went to the gift shop.

From there we walked to the Liberty Bell. Ezra taught us about its origins. It was originally rung to announce big occasions and it’s last usage was in 1846 on George Washington’s birthday. It was an important symbol during the Civil War because of the quote from Leviticus, “proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all its inhabitants.”

We then had a speedy version of the other Philadelphia landmarks such as Independence Hall, Ben Franklin’s house which was not the high tech museum Billy said it would be but, rather, a museum built in the 70s that has not been updated since.

We then passed by some Jewish landmarks such as Mikveh Israel Synagogue. This was one of the first Sephardic synagogues in America. They had a memorial dedicated to Jonathan Netanyahu. He went to school in Philadelphia and then moved to Israel. On July 4^th, 1976, when hijackers attacked a commercial jet, they landed it in Uganda and separated the Jewish and Israeli passengers from the others. Israel put together a rescue mission in which only one Israeli soldier, Jonathan Netanyahu, and one hostage was killed.

We also visited a sign explaining Haym Salomon, a Jewish person who helped fund the Revolutionary War. Our final stop was at Ben Franklin’s grave.

Carlton drove us to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch. It is full of stalls with just about every food you can imagine.

On the way out of Philadelphia, Billy gave us a driving tour of the rest of the city. Naturally we couldn’t leave without racing up the steps at the Art Museum famous from the “Rocky” movies. Adam Nesenoff won the race and then we were on our way to Baltimore.

As soon as we landed in Baltimore to the tune of “Good Morning Baltimore,” we headed to a meeting with Neil Rubin, editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times. He began by introducing journalistic dilemmas that we debated. He introduced the idea of self censorship, which led into a discussion about which stories are newsworthy. In the true life case presented, an inspirational Holocaust survivor’s story was exposed as a fabrication, so we argued about whether or not it was necessary to expose such an inspiring figure. Neil believes that all good newspapers create debate. He also acknowledged the need to change with the times, meaning he knows most print will become electronic. He believes it is important to read multiple sources on every topic so as to better understand the situation.

After this riveting debate, which continued outside of the conference room, we went to the Baltimore Inner Harbor. There we were able to walk around and have dinner. Afterwards, we drove to our hotel in Washington DC to rest up for some upcoming packed days. Overall, today was a nice combination of meetings, free time, and good food.

During the ride to Philadelphia from Boston, we watched a couple of movies which I feel parallel some great lessons and ideas we have learned and experienced this summer. The first is “Wet Hot American Summer”, a movie that relates to the American Dream by telling the story of a Jewish summer camp. The boundaries that some of the characters break are in the spirit of the beatniks. Life is about living, adventuring and leaving your apartment.

The other movie was “With Honors”. It portrays a brilliant Harvard student who gives up graduating with honors in order to learn valuable life lessons from a bum he happens to meet, and truly graduates life with honors. Etgar 36 has stressed the importance of not only succeeding in school but also truly making a difference in this world. By reaching out to others, one can truly graduate life with honors.

When we got to Philadelphia we walked a few blocks to South Street. It was nice to walk around and see some of the local atmosphere. The area was very diverse and alive.

We started the next day in the heart of Philadelphia. As a preface to the rest of the day we went to the Constitution Center to learn about our forefathers and about the document which began it all. First we saw a live presentation that explained the Revolutionary War, the debates over the ideas of the Constitution, and explained the significance of the first few words, ”We The People…”.

In the museum, we saw an original of the Magna Carta written in Latin. The rest of the museum was basically a timeline of American History and the role the Constitution has played in it.

After this museum we walked to the Liberty Bell. Although it was cracked, it is still a symbol of our freedom and justice.

We then went to one of the oldest synagogues in America and saw a monument to Israel’s Hollywood-like successful raid on Entebee in 1976 and how they freed the hostages.

After stopping by Benjamin Franklin’s house, we started to leave for Baltimore but made a quick detour to run up the famous Rocky steps.

Our first stop in Baltimore was with Neil Rubin, who is the editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times. He spoke with us about the freedom and responsibilities of the press and also about what it is like to be a member of the Jewish community reporting on the Jewish community.

He explained that he needs to fit his stories for the various communities within Judaism and the various dilemmas that can arise when covering the Jewish community. He gave us a few scenarios that illustrated the tension between reporting what is really happening in the community and people’s desire for the paper to just talk about the good things in the community. His talk was very interesting and inspiring.

For dinner we were set free to walk around the Inner Harbor. After dinner we drove Washington DC and to pass the time we watched a special episode of “West Wing” that talked about how America works and the issues facing it.

We got to Philadelphia last night from Boston after a 6-hour drive. We went straight to South Street where we had time for dinner and looking around the unique area. I went to Jim Steaks for their famous Cheese Steaks. Then we went to our hotel, which was actually in New Jersey.

The next day we went to the National Constitution Center. At the Center we learned about the history of the Constitution and how it was drafted. I never realized how much debate went into the writing of the document. I just thought it was generally agreed upon. Then we walked to the Bourse, which was the old Currency Exchange. It now houses restaurants and shops. We had lunch there. After lunch we stopped by the buildings where they debated and wrote the Constitution and then went to see the Liberty Bell. The Liberty Bell is a symbol of our freedom and it was really awesome. I learned a lot about its history and it’s travels. Billy tied in our Jewish identity with the bell, and America, by explaining how the inscription on the bell is from the book of Leviticus in the Torah. We ended our visit to Independence Mall by visiting Ben Franklin’s house and the museum that accompanies it. I had no idea he was such a prominent inventor. We got to watch someone play a glass harmonica that he invented.

On our way out of Philadelphia we went to the Philadelphia Art Museum where we ran up the steps just as native son Rocky did in the movie “Rocky”. Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, is a great American City steeped in history.

Tuesday was fun, we left the hotel and headed straight to Revolution Books. This is a Communist bookstore. We met with George who is a member of the American Communist Party. George brought up some good points and though they were somewhat idealistic and flawed they were interesting.

We then left Boston for a ride to Philadelphia. During the ride we watched the movie “Keeping The Faith” which reminded us of our visit to New York. Once we got to Philadelphia we went down to South Street, which is filled with some funky stores and good restaurants. We had some time to explore the street and eat dinner.

From Keith Wasser:

Today began at 9 AM when we headed down to see the Liberty Bell in downtown Philadelphia. At first glance it was not all it is “cracked up to be”. However, upon spending more time around it, I began to realize what an awesome experience it was to be around such a famous historical artifact.

After viewing the Liberty Bell, we went to the Constitution Museum and met with Davis Terestky who works with the ACLU.

He explained the purpose of the ACLU and much of the law surrounding the issues of free speech and the separation of church and state. After this meeting we walked around the Constitution Museum and learned about the historical significance of the Constitution.

After this high tech museum we walked over to the very low tech museum dedicated to Ben Franklin.
Because it was close to 100 degrees and very very humid, we cut short our time outside in Philadelphia and began to head to Baltimore. Despite the heat, we stopped by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and ran up the “Rocky Stairs”.

We began our visit to Baltimore by meeting with Neil Rubin, the assistant editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times. He spoke to us about moral and ethical dilemmas that journalists face as well as the importance of the Jewish press, the First Amendment, freedom and responsibility of the press.

We then went to the Inner Harbor of Baltimore where we had time to wander around and have dinner. After dinner, we got on the bus and headed for Washington DC. When we got to the hotel we were all tired and went straight to bed.

We got to Philadelphia on Tuesday night and stayed in the suburbs, which are actually in New Jersey. While our trip can be educationally intense, we take time to have fun. Tonight, we went to see Dave Matthews in concert. It was a great night to sit under the stars, people watch and listen to some music and just have a good time.

There is no better way to experience America in the city it was started in, then to really practice one of the main ideas of America. To love your fellow Americans, and we started our stay in Philadelphia doing just that.

Early in the morning we went to Trevor’s place. Trevor’s Place is a shelter for those in need started by a 14 year old suburban teen who saw the plight of the homeless and began to take blankets out to them. That was in the late 1980’s and it has turned into a major operation. We worked with kids at a day camp. We helped a baseball camp, played basketball, and made hats with the children. When our short two-hour stay there was up, there was not a person in the group who didn’t have a huge smile on their face.

After our good byes, hugs, and high fives, we headed downtown to Independence mall. I started thinking, if Boston was the birthplace of the revolution, then Philadelphia was the birthplace of America. We started at the Liberty bell, a symbol for our country. It’s not perfect, but it is there, and holds true to liberty and justice for all. As Jews, we took great pride in the fact that the inscription on the Liberty Bell is from the Torah.

We then went to the Constitutional museum. Billy spoke with us about the importance of the phrase, “We the people of the United states, in order to form a more perfect union….” The opening words to the constitution of the United States are what this trip is all about. We the people, are investigating our America, in order to make change in America to form “a more prefect union.” America is not flawless, but we must work to make it MORE perfect. Those opening words really spoke to me as an American. It is my job as a citizen of America to investigate, question, and make change to form “a more perfect union.”

After all this time looking into the constitution, and what it really means, we all were ready to have some time to show some patriotism and spend our money. On our way to South Street, we stopped by Benjamin Franklin’s house. Nothing remains of it except the base house the house. Leaving the frame of the house to our imagination. We then went into the underground museum. To put it lightly, the museum was straight out of the 1970’s. We still got a lot out of the museum.

We finished the night out by running up the steps of the Museum of Art as Rocky did in the movie “Rocky” and we ate Philly cheese steaks at the place they originated, Pats Steaks. Tonight we drove to Washington D.C., I cant wait to take everything I have learned the past 30 days, and use it in our conversations with the people who make the decisions for our country.

Meeting the children at Trevor’s Place

Making hats for funny hat day

Seeing the excavations at the Ben Franklin house

Eating the home cooking of Philadelphia