Friday April 10^th 2015

Day 2

Noa

Hello All,

Today, we had the pleasure of visiting the old city of Jerusalem. It was a phenomenal place to see and I would definitely visit it again. We started off the day with a short walk through the newer city. First, we went to the Great Synagogue. It was by far one of THE most amazing places I’ve ever been to. Though I am not religious, I truly felt connected to my culture and to my roots. We then attempted to get into the King David hotel, which failed. Oh well, maybe next time? We continued onwards and saw the first village that was built outside the walls of Jerusalem, which was so cool! It’s crazy to believe how old everything here is. After a much needed food break, we changed into some more ‘modest’ clothing for the walk into old Jerusalem, and we were off! The old city is one of the most fantastic places ever. We were greeted at the tomb of David by a group of men with an extreme case of Jerusalem Syndrome, an alleged effect that the city imposes upon people, praying for the Messiah. With open arms, they welcomed us into their tradition with Matzah and sour wine. The weather became a nightmare when it began to rain at the Western Wall, which is amazing, by the way. The weather today was actually really chilly and was on and off gross. Overall, it was a pretty great day! I look forward to seeing more of the country.

 

Saturday April 11^th 2015

Day 3

Aviv                    

Hi everyone, today was our first visiting family day. It was really fun because people got to see their relatives, which they did not see for a long time or had never seen them at all. I got to see my dad because he was also visiting Israel during the same time as us. Later that day, we walked to the Israel museum. In the beginning it was really warm than it started raining. On the way to the museum, we stopped to see the Knesset, which is the Israeli parliament. After, we continued our journey to the museum. When we arrived at the Israel museum, we saw a huge model of the second temple. It was beautiful and amazing. After viewing the model, we went inside the museum and saw the shrine of the book as well as many more scrolls. When that was over, we went to view the art models they have at the museums. We walked around there for a while and then headed back to our hotel. On the way back to the hotel, it was freezing and raining. It even hailed! We had to wait under a bridge for the hail to stop. Even though it was freezing, it was still a fun experience. Finally, when we got back, we immediately had to listen to a speaker named Neil Lazarus, who talked to us about the security problems in Israel. Surprisingly, Neil was extremely funny and made it a more interesting topic to discuss. When Neil left, we sat in a circle and talked about the Holocaust because we were going to Yad Vashem, a Holocaust museum the day after. Next we did Havdalah and went to a mall called Mameela to eat dinner. We ended our day by watching a light show beside the tower of David. It was tremendously cold and rainy but, as a result, I had fun and I believe everyone else also did.     

 

Sunday April 12 2015

Day 4

Jacki

Hello everyone!

Today was our last day in Jerusalem and a very powerful day for all of us. We visited Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum), where we learned a lot about the Holocaust and World War 2. The building itself is a huge triangular prism and the layout is very unique. There is only one path to take through the museum which represents how during the Holocaust the Jews did not have a choice about their fate. At the end of the museum there is a room called; The Hall of Names. It is a room with a giant pit in the middle. When you look up you see pictures of Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust, and when you look around, you see shelves full of testimonies. When you look down, you see yourselves and the pictures blurrily reflected in a pool of water. This shows that it is our job to pass on the memories and make them clear for the future. After seeing Yad Vashem, here in Israel as well as The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC it has become very clear to all of us that we are the future, and we need to use history as a lesson to ensure that something like the Holocaust never happens again. After Yad Vashem we went to the Hertzel Museum, where we learned about Theodore Hertzel’s wish of creating a Jewish state that is now a reality. Theodore Hertzel is an inspiration to all of us, as he showed us that dreams can really turn into realities. We are now on the road again, driving up to the north part of Israel where we will meet our pen pals. So far this trip has been an amazing experience and we are all having the time of our lives! Looking forward to some more fun days!!