PHILADELPHIA & BALTIMORE

-- Jesse Howard

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.

-- 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.

Boston

Alison Channon

We started our last morning on New York with frantic packing, quick showers and H&H bagels. At 9:15 AM, we reunited with Carleton and our bus. He took a hiatus in New Jersey while we utilized the subways of New York. We made our way to the United Nations. Before entering security, Billy led us in a quick discussion about our impressions of the U.N. Overall, the group believed the concept behind the U.N. to be good but wasn’t sure that it worked in practice. We ascended the UN steps thus leaving New York for sovereign territory. We then made our way through security and into the building. While waiting for Billy to get the tickets, I walked over to a display case that had a tattered U.N. flag. The sign below explained that this flag flew at U.N. headquarters in Iraq and was damaged in an explosion. From my perspective, this flag represented the courage and compassion needed to right the wrongs of the world. Moreover, the flag represented the qualities an organization such as the U.N. should have.
We split into two groups for our tour. My group’s guide was a twenty something woman from Japan who began the tour with a quick overview of the U.N and it’s history. We then traveled upstairs and saw a mural painted by a Brazilian artist.

The mural depicted the despair of WW II and the hope for a brighter tomorrow. We then went to the Security Council. Our guide explained how there are 15 members of the council of which there are 5 countries that are permanent members. As a side, Israel has never been asked to serve on the council. We learned that the resolutions passed by the security council are legally binding and the countries who do not follow the resolutions are subject to sanctions.

We then saw the Economic and Social council. We were also able to overhear tours being led in many different languages including Chinese and German. Our guide told us that while the Security Council gets most of the attention, 80% of the U.N. budget goes towards the Economic and Social council. With this money, the standard of living for the impoverished is raised and Human Rights are promoted. The resolutions passed by this body are not binding. We then went to the last stop, the General Assembly. On the way in we saw a sign that was an inverted pyramid. It showed the amount of money that all the countries of the world spend annually on their military budgets as compared to other thing such as prevention of HIV-AIDS, hunger, education and protecting the environment. The discrepancy was shocking.

On one hand it is heartening to see how many of the world’s problems could be significantly improved if we redistributed the budgets. On the other hand, it is disgusting to see that we have not taken that step. We then entered the General Assembly. It was really exciting to see the very chamber I’ve seen so often in pictures and on television.

Carleton arrived with the bus and we hopped on for our 5 hour ride to Boston in which I caught up on much needed sleep. We arrived in Boston just in time to catch the performance of Blue Man Group. The show was fantastic. We were in the two front rows also known as the poncho section. While the ponchos protected my clothes I still got some banana pudding in my eye but it was all in good fun and everyone left the show excited and energized.

Once we had our photo ops with the Blue Men we made our way to the Boston Commons. There we spoke about Boston’s significance in the development of our democracy. We also spoke about how the experimental theater we had just seen parallels the great experiment that is America. It was at this time that Billy expressed his desire that we take the energy that we got from Blue Man Group and spend the last week of our journey playing full out.
From the Boston Commons we headed to dinner in Newton where we met the parents of Alex and Noah. After dinner we went to our hotel in Waltham. It was a long day but a very good one. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, the Cubs beat the Cardinals in extra innings.

Alex Schneider

As the New England sun rose in the sky we were already on our way from our hotel in Waltham to the wilderness of Concord, MA. We explored the quiet sanctuary of Walden Pond.

Walking in Walden Pond

Following the rim trail, we walked half way around the pond to a quiet opening in the woods where we read various quotes by Therou. After each quote we would stop and discuss the meaning and significance to the way we live our lives today.

Next we traveled to South Boston and the John F Kennedy Library.

We heard about his early years, his race against Nixon, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the legacy of the man whose family still dominates Massachusetts’s politics.

After the museum we headed to lively Harvard Square. Some intense shopping was followed be meeting with Spencer Kimball, a former staff member of Etgar 36, who discussed the history of democracy and the struggles we have for it here in America. We learned about every man’s will to be free and the different types of government help in this quest.

Discussion on Harvard Yard with former Etgar 36 staff member, Spencer Kimball

This was an introduction to the idea of freedom, a sacred noun that we soon explored downtown where we followed the Freedom Trail. We discussed how democracy and its ideas spread from an idea taught in the schools to book stores where it is written to meeting halls where it is debated and finally to a site where people were massacred and the idea of America was ignited by its people.
We then had some free time to wander in Quincy Market and Faniuel Hall. After that we crossed the street and walked beneath six glass towers representing the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust. Boston’s Holocaust Memorial has it’s place on the Freedom Trail as a way of reminding us that Freedom is not free…we must fight hate, injustice and immorality every day.

Last we explored the North End where we had some great dessert and saw the Old North Church.
As I live in Newton, a suburb of Boston, I was excited to share the ideals my home stands for: freedom, courage, free thinking, and the roots of the American Dream.

New York City

THURSDAY
-- Aris Voorde

After spending the night in Clarion, PA we started the day with a sleepy bus ride to NYC. On the way, we watched “Fahrenheit 911”. Billy challenged us to watch it critically and form our own opinions on what Michael Moore was saying in his movie.

Once we got to New York, we dropped off our laundry and checked into the Hotel Beacon where we would be staying for the next three nights. We then hit the streets of Manhattan and walked throughout midtown. We saw Radio City Music Hall, the NBC building, Rockefeller Center and then had dinner in Times Square. It seemed to me that the “City Of Lights” is a much more fitting name for the Times Square area of New York than it is for Las Vegas. Every bit of space is covered in lights and advertising. Even the McDonalds arches were done in flashing neon. We ended the night by seeing the Broadway show, “Avenue Q”. This was a wonderful musical about the every day struggles in life. They used puppets to present the message of finding out what life is all about in a humorous way. All in all, it was another great day on Etgar 36.

FRIDAY
Noah Fixelle

Many people see New York as a haven for tourists and shopping but we learned that underneath all of the hustle and bustle lives a deep rooted culture. The source of this culture began with our first stop of the day, Ellis Island.

It was there where many immigrants came to experience the American Dream. As we rode the ferry around the Statue Of Liberty towards Ellis Island, I thought to myself that what I was seeing was the same sight that the immigrants had seen many years ago. When we arrived at Ellis Island we headed to the museum to explore the many exhibits which portrayed the immigrants travels to America. While walking around I felt like I was one of the immigrants passing through this very island.

Looking up family histories at Ellis Island

Once we were off Ellis Island we enjoyed some New York pizza. Then we headed over to Wall Street. As we entered, we walked past a Golden Bull which represents Wall Street’s want for the economy to be raging and thriving.

Discussing our economy outside the NY Stock Exchange

We then walked to Ground Zero. I remember exactly where I was when the planes hit. I was on a bus on my way to Camp Blue Ridge for my 7th grade trip. When our teacher’s made the announcement it seemed surreal. I could not imagine something so horrible actually happening.

Looking into Ground Zero

Actually visiting the site made me realize how tragic September 11 was to the people of the city and the whole country. Although Ground Zero is only 4 blocks from Wall Street, the environment was so different. Ground Zero was quiet and serene while Wall Street was loud and filled with all the hustle and bustle.
For our Friday night service, we went to Bnai Jeshurun. I must say, it was quite an experience. The service was not like the typical synagogue service. It was filled with instruments, singing and dancing. The congregants were so warm and welcoming to us. As most of us were so used to the traditional straight from the book service, we found Bnai Jeshurun to be a refreshing break. The service, in a way, revived my love for Judaism. After services, we enjoyed a delicious kosher dinner at the Second Avenue Deli…the perfect end to a great day.

SATURDAY
Robbie Zaremsky

“What does it mean to leave your apartment?” – a line from a song in “Avenue Q”.
Billy kept asking us this question during our time in New York. At “Avenue Q” we learned that part of leaving is finding your purpose. Al Ellis Island we learned that leaving your apartment can mean going out and searching for a whole new world, like many immigrants did. Today was the culmination of our search for the answer to this question. We started out with a late morning brunch at a Manhattan diner. After brunch we went to one of my favorite places that we have been to on this whole journey, Central Park.

At Strawberry Fields in Central Park

We had time to go off on our own exploring the park but then we met bac