Dear Friends,

After the holidays and vacations of last month, we are happily returning to our routine of studies, absorption, trips, workshops, etc.

The month of November promises to be filled, not only with studies, but with many events at Ibim. We will soon begin integrating our Ofek 3 Ethiopian students who will reside here as they attend classes in preparation for their matriculation exams. Selah participants will receive their Israeli citizenship, and we will all participate in the memorial ceremony marking ten years since the tragic murder of Yitzchak Rabin. At this year's ceremony, eleven Selah students will perform a musical piece for which they are diligently preparing. After only two months in Israel, they will be singing in Hebrew.

We hope to meet the members of the Federation who will be visiting Israel and to give them a tour of the Village. We would like them to speak with students as well to get a first-hand view of immigrant absorption at Ibim.

Wishing everyone renewed energies to face the many challenges ahead of us.

Best Regards,
Soni Singer and the entire staff of
the Ibim-San Diego Student Village

Bring on the Bubbles

Those who thought soap was only for cleaning were in for a surprise. Ibim's welcome bash for all its new students was punctuated by a mass soap bubbles extravaganza. Froth filling the air, students made bubble balls, bubble beards and hats. The new Selah and Kedma students were joined by Israeli students and veteran immigrants. Language ceased to be a divider as the evening progressed; music started and the soapy students began dancing to a universal beat of a younger generation.

First Jaunt to Jerusalem

During the period between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, religiously observant Jews recite selichot or prayers of forgiveness. For the Ibim students, tradition has become a night visit to Jerusalem, which for many students is their first glimpse of the ancient Jewish capital. Beginning with a tour of the illuminated walls of the Old City, the students entered the Jewish Quarter of the Old City through Zion Gate. They continued on to a tour of the Western Wall Tunnel where archaeologists recently uncovered the stone girding the original Temple Mount, and a maze of ancient passageways underneath it.

Listening carefully to a fascinating chapter of Jewish history, the students gazed at the wall from the West, and later split into groups of men and women, approaching the Wall as selichot prayers were chanted by worshippers. An unforgettable trip, many of the students will make their way to Jerusalem in the future on their own to drink up more of their precious heritage.