MONTREAL— The old saying, “Neither sleet nor rain nor snow” took on new meaning when 21 Grade 6 students arrived in Israel with 10 chaperones in the midst of one of Israel’s strongest winter storms.

Our trip was led by the Solomon Schechter Academy’s Judaic studies director Chani Cohen, executive director Jonathan Kuczer, and myself.

After arriving in Ben Gurion Airport, we headed south to visit Sde Boker, where we marvelled at the simplicity and humility of David Ben-Gurion’s kibbutz residence. It was touching to experience the details of this home, from the slippers under his bed, to his books and photographs.

Afterward we drove to the graves of Paula and David Ben-Gurion. We thought a lot about the contrast between the simplicity of this site and the unequivocal impact this great man, the first prime minister of Israel, had on his entire people. You might expect an important shrine, yet all you see when visiting the burial site is two small graves in the wilderness overlooking the dried-out Tzin riverbed.

When we walked out of our rooms, we would marvel at the powerful beauty of the Tzin and the Ein Avdat mountain range. The ibexes that came to the front doors were an added bonus that enriched the visit to the Ben-Gurion enclave.

We also spent time with the children of the Afik School, our twins for the past 15 years in Partnership 2000. We have exchanged numerous student and faculty trips from either side of the ocean. We are grateful to this partnership because it enables us to teach Israel as something very real and tangible. It also helps us to fulfil the Israel component of our school’s mission statement.

On Shabbat, we thought that we would avoid the rain and the cold by travelling further south. We made it to our destination a mere one hour before the road was closed as a result of flooding. We spent Shabbat in the town of Mitzpe Ramon, and once the skies cleared, we went on our first desert hike. The desert crater with its magnificent colours and formations was fully visible. Half a dozen ibexes followed us everywhere, thrilling the children, who were not used to such an escort.

The weather could not compromise our Shabbat spirit, the services and the singsong that the children brought with them as a mainstay of the Solomon Schechter Judaic studies curriculum. All of the children participated, to the joy and pride of the adults. We were pleased to see their knowledge of our rich heritage, which they acquired at Solomon Schechter. This was repeated at the Saturday night Havdalah service, and again on the following Shabbat, with much greater intensity when we conducted Shabbat services at the Kotel, the Western Wall, in Jerusalem, and Havdalah in front of Montefiore’s windmill. Those experiences left us all on a spiritual high. It is sometimes difficult to comprehend the spiritual elevations that 11- and 12-year-old kids can create.

As we travelled north, we stopped for a camel ride, a climb up the Roman ramp at Masada and a dip in the Dead Sea. On top of Masada we held a pre-bar and bat mitzvah ceremony for every boy and every girl. Each of the children delivered a dvar Torah in the least ostentatious synagogue in the world. We blessed the new bnei mitzvah with the priestly benediction and we headed north to the Sea of Galilee to join our primary sponsors, the Jewish National Fund. JNF has supported the Solomon Schechter missions for over a decade, and their generosity is a factor in making these trips happen.

If Masada was the bar/bat mitzvah, then the boat ride on the Sea of Galilee was the party. And what a party it was –just like a party at home, but on a boat floating between the Golan and the Galilee. We visited the Hula Valley bird sanctuary, now named after Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and rode bicycles around the eight-kilometre track to catch sight of several thousand birds. We hiked in the JNF Nahal Amud tracks and visited the mystical and rabbinic city of Safed, entering a couple of its ancient synagogues and praying for loved ones.

We headed south to stay at the JNF camp in Nes Harim. This is a camp like any North American summer camp nestled in the mountains, hugging the trees outside the town of Beit Shemesh. We were headquartered at the JNF camp and drove to excursions to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

One of three great JNF highlights was the archeological dig in Beit Guvrin and a half-hour crawl through a set of underground caves from the times of Bar Kochba. We crawled on our tummies with headlamps, some of us receiving scrapes as evidence that we made it through. On the way back, we stopped at the Canada Forest to look at some of our Canada and Montreal names inscribed on the JNF pillars. A memorable day all around.

We finally made it to the City of David, Jerusalem. We brought with us notes from all the students in the school to place in the crevices of the ancient wall. Students did this as they stood next to the Kotel delivering their most personal prayers as they were taught to do. A group of officers in training came down to the Kotel when we were there. They danced to welcome the Shabbat. Our students joined them and were proud to do so. They then realized that they were total strangers, and yet they were like family. We went into the Kotel caves and walked as closely as possible to the ancient Temple. We walked in the Hezekiah water tunnels and the Israel Museum, and we joined thousands of Jerusalemites in the market as Jerusalem prepared for Shabbat.

After Shabbat, we visited Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall and we realized that another great journey was quickly coming to a close. Each event was an unforgettable experience on its own. Parents were overjoyed to see the vast knowledge their children possess about Israel and about Jewish traditions. This is the gift they take away from Solomon Schechter.

Plans for next year’s Solomon Schechter trip have already begun to take shape. The trip is open to Grade 6 students of Solomon Schechter, and some financial assistance is available for students who require it.

Shimshon Hamerman, the retired head-of-school of the Solomon Schechter Academy, is now the director of formal education at the Bronfman Jewish Education Centre in Montreal.