Continuing with this month’s nosei of Moshevet Medinateinu, highlighting key events and figures of modern day Israel, the entire Machaneh traveled to the Barlow Planetarium last night in honor of the memory of Ilan Ramon. At mifkad and in shiur yesterday, the chanichim learned about the life and legacy of Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut and the first to request kosher food on flight and bring on board a Torah, mezuzah and siddur. We discussed the idea of making a Kiddush Hashem while still following our dreams and how important it is to still keep Torah and mitzvot even in a place where there are no other Jews. Following a day full of peulot, we boarded the buses and headed to the planetarium where we had a picnic dinner and were then ushered inside to take part in two fascinating science shows. The first show took us on a trip through the planets in our solar system and made us feel like we were actually living in space. The second show was more hands on, using fire and ice and real life objects to illustrate some techniques used in space and the way a space shuttle is launched. What made the night even more special was that the leader of the tour was at the launching of the Columbia launch, the shuttle upon which Ilan Ramon was aboard when he was killed. He explained to all of us how it amazing it was to witness the take off, and how devastating it was to hear of the tragic accident only 16 minutes prior to the scheduled landing time. Each chanich and tzevet member alike, left the planetarium having had a great time and having learned something in the process. Ilan Ramon represents to us as a nation that not even the sky is our limit.
