LOS ANGELES

Andrea Horowitz

TUESDAY – JULY 12th

This morning we boarded the bus to leave “Fabulous” Las Vegas. We continued our journey as we headed to Los Angeles. Halfway to LA we stopped at the 50s diner. It was amazing! They had everything from milkshakes to BBQ sandwiches. It was great fun. After lunch, in order to prepare ourselves for Los Angeles, we watched the movie, “American History X”. It was a very impactful movie that showed no matter what, you can turn your life around. It was one of the most powerful movies I’ve ever seen. Although it was extremely hard to watch, the life long lessons made it worthwhile.

We made it from sea to shining sea

Our first stop in Los Angeles was a park where Billy led a discussion on the theme of our stay in Los Angeles. We then went to the Museum of Tolerance. It was, for me, the most interesting museum by far! It addressed all sorts of prejudice and intolerance. Not only did I learn about the acts of discrimination in the past, but I also learned a lot more about the Holocaust. I now have a new found appreciation for the Jewish culture and am so proud to be Jewish. After the Holocaust exhibit, we watched a short film on current genocide going on in the Sudan, Bosnia, and Rwanda. We as Jews say “Never Again”—but we know what is going on but we are letting it happen again. Something must be done. I want to make a difference! Not only that, but I feel the need to make a change in the world.
On a lighter note, after the Museum we went into the Jewish section of Los Angeles and went to eat at Nathans Hotdogs for some great kosher hot dogs. It was some of the best food we have had. We left incredibly full and continued to the Santa Monica Piers for some fun at an old time amusement park. We just ran around and rode every ride at least twice. The pier overlooked the Pacific Ocean and I could have stayed all night looking at the ocean. It was breath taking. We got back on the bus exhausted from an incredible day.

WEDNESDAY JULY 13

Today we started our day by sitting in Los Angeles traffic as we made our way to Rodeo Drive. We walked around Beverly Hills to get a sense of how the rich and famous live. After a quick lunch we went to Hollywood where we saw the walk of fame and the handprints and footprints of movie stars. There was so much activity going on as they were preparing for the ESPN ESPY awards that night. From Hollywood we drove through some streets with multi million dollar mansions on our way to the center of South Central L.A. We saw how power and wealth can be so unequal within a 5-mile radius from Beverly Hills to South Central. Carlton, our bus driver, told us about his life of growing up in South Central and living there through the Rodney King riots. We also saw how a gated community can keep people out (Beverly Hills) and keep people in (South Central.)
After that we went to Venice Beach. It is one of the most colorful and exciting places I have ever been. We got in groups of 8 and got a video camera and then walked the boardwalk to interview people on their political views. I have never heard anyone like the two men my group interviewed before in my life. They were dripping with wisdom; culture, history and each person had a different story. I cannot wait to go back!

After Venice Beach we went to Beit Teshuvah. It’s a synagogue for recovering addicts. It is a 6-month program where the patients live in the synagogue and work with all types of therapists. We had three residents speak with us – Shoshana, Doug and Scott. They were addicted to everything from heroine, crack and alcohol. Each grew up a nice Jewish teen but became addicts. These people opened themselves up to us by telling their stories. It was like nothing I have heard before, despite all the drug education I have received.

Its people like Doug, Shoshana and Scott that prevent teens from doing drugs because they relate to us as teens and are not standing in front of us wearing suits and preaching. Not only did we learn about drugs, we learned how to express ourselves, talk about our feelings, and open up to each other. Tonight we definitely got closer and it was the prefect end to a perfect day.
Our whole theme for Los Angeles was power. Who has it, Who doesn’t, How do you get it, what happens if people don’t have access to it and how do we as Jewish teens harness power and use it for good –to change our community and our world. I learned that power lies within us. No matter where we are – Los Angeles, Beit Teshuvah, and Montgomery, Alabama – we have the power and we must do something with it for the good of the world.

LAS VEGAS

Allison Parker

This morning we woke up and said goodbye to mountainous Utah and hello to the deserts of Nevada. That’s right, we are in Las Vegas! We drove down the strip and saw hotels such as Caesar’s Palace and the Bellagio. But none of these compares to ours…The Orleans! Our hotel is beautiful and has a bowling alley and a movie theater. After we had lunch at the hotel, we had a few hours of free time. Some went to the movies, some went bowling and some braved the heat and went swimming.

At night everyone got ready for dinner and a great night in Vegas. We first went to see the fountains of the Bellagio.

Then we went to a restaurant called Chin-Chin in the New York, New York hotel. After that we walked around the Venetian hotel and saw the “sights” of Italy. We then saw the Mirage Volcano explode and then went downtown to see the light show of the Fremont Street Experience. As if this day wasn’t enough, we have a whole other day in Las Vegas!

Gabe Schoenfeld

Our last day in Vegas was also our last day of significant downtime. Everyone enjoyed the late wake up of 10 AM. We met downstairs for brunch. After that, we got on the bus and drove to the Hoover Dam. We learned about the dam’s structure and took a tour inside the dam and saw 8 of the 17 generators. After seeing the dam, we returned to our hotel and took advantage of some free time. At 5 Pm we met with David Smith. David is the head of an organization called Mobilize America’s Youth. Their goal is to educate and motivate young people to become active in the political process. David taught us about the issues impacting California and issues that he thinks will be a part of the national debate in years to come. After this meeting, we had dinner at a Vegas buffet and then went to see the magic, comedy and political commentary of Penn & Teller. We then returned to the hotel tired and happy and ready to go to Los Angeles.

WITH PENN (ABOVE) AND TELLER (BELOW)

ZION NATIONAL PARK

-- Daniel Weissglass

Today we drove from Salt Lake City to Hurricane Utah—a small town 30 minutes outside of Zion National Park. When we got to Hurricane, we had some free time at the hotel because it was too hot to actually hike in Zion safely.
When we got to Zion, we saw that the park was stunning, the red rock cliffs rising from the sun-striped rocks drew forth some deep set awe from within me. We hiked through parts of the park and the scenery was incredible. After we finished the hike, we talked about spirituality and where we thought our spirituality lied and what God and Judaism means to us. Billy told us to go find a spot for ourselves and spend some quiet time alone connecting to our spirituality.
After our meditation of sorts, we returned to the hotel where we grilled dinner. After dinner we held Friday night services and discussed the Reconstructionist movement. It was an interesting discussion but I didn’t agree with many of the points made. Overall the day was very interesting and the theme seemed to be wither the different points of voews on spirituality or the connection between the spirit and nature.