Taglit-birthright israel trip provider Oranim likes to pride itself on its ability to show its trip participants Israel from the perspective of Israelis, and while the number of Orthodox Jews in Israel continues to rise, Israel still remains a country that is primarily secular. Thus our bus went off to Tel Aviv where our trippers prepared to experience cosmopolitan Israel at its epicenter.

JaffaJaffa

Our first stop was the colorful port of Jaffa. Once a teeming neighborhood of new immigrants it has since become a yuppie artist colony while still managing to retain its charm. The group repaired to the hotel and weekend highlights included beach time, Kabbalat Shabbat overlooking a stunning sunset, a great group session by Lisa of On The Face and, of course fun-time-party action at the Zamir club with close to 1000 Oranim trip participants.

Hell AvivHell Aviv

Hell AvivHell Aviv

Just as an aside, I wanted to thank Lisa for shlepping down and talking to our trippers. While Lisa is always super serious (as befits a former Canuck from Victoria, BC), she can be kinda funny. Witness her latest post where she links to this YouTube video about the latest abomination to hit Israel – Israeli salad at McDonalds. As Lisa points out, wait till the end of the video for the culinary punch line. Oh, and never, ever eat at McDonalds.

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Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

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