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Friday started off quite early as our TJJers woke up at 6:30 am for a challenging hike through the Zavitan. The hike took about 4 hours in total! Afterwards we went back to Afik where we had a special program called the “Shabbat Shuk”. We had four stations where we wrote “Shabbat O Grams” (nice letters to each other wishing one another a Shabbat Shalom with something written inside that was personal to that person), made challah covers, made chulent (an traditional Jewish stew made for Shabbat), and believe it or not a haircut station ran by myself to give whoever wanted a clean cut entering into Shabbat (didn’t have to many takers although I do have a nice amount of experience).
The Shabbat was filled with spirit, singing, relaxing, and great sessions on the topic of emotions in Judaism. We ended of Saturday night with pizza and a movie (Inside Out).
On Sunday we made our to Jerusalem first stopping by Mt Scopus for a breathtaking view of the old city and then a really cool activity in Emek Tzurim where we got a chance to sift through concrete of ancient ruble. We ended up finding a lot of pottery as well as a few ancient coins from the First Temple Period! We ended of the day with some free time on Ben Yehuda street (Jerusalem’s most famous tourist street) and a great dinner at Burger’s Bar.
Today on Monday we had quite a powerful day. We went to the Kotel and walked as a group with everyone’s eyes closed until we were right in front of the wall. It was a very emotional moment for many TJJers as well as our staff. The day though transitioned into a bit of a somber note as we went to visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum and memorial. To try and put our emotions into words in an email would be very difficult. Seeing the history of such a terrible senseless genocide as we toured the museum and memorials was enough to make anyone cry, and the Bus 5 Family was no exception.
From Yad Vashem we traveled a short way to Har Hertzel where we took in the military cemetery. We were moved by learning all about the different conflicts that the IDF has fought in and the people who have defended our Jewish State. The Bus 5 Family visited the graves of many of Israel’s leaders like Michael Levin as well as many IDF heroes who fought in recent wars. We learned about these political and military heroes, their lives, and how each of in their own way gave everything to ensure a Jewish State.
Tomorrow we continue our journey as we explore the Cave of the Patriarchs and Machon Tzomet!
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