Day 7

Happy Star Wars Day everyone and may the fourth be with you! Also, yippee-kayee it’s another day in the Promised Land, as we rush onto the bus with our luggage and go on our way to the next hotel. But before leaving the holy city of Jerusalem, we had our usual morning tefillah, today lead by Yaakov, Yoni, and Ben. We then left for Yad Lkashish, a place where the retired learn a certain craft in order to make money.

Only after shopping for a bit in Yad Lkashish’s gift shop did we head onto the bus, away from the city of Jerusalem, and drive north.  On the way we stopped for lunch, where we split into groups depending on what we wanted to eat.

When we got back on the bus we went off to see our pen pals that we wrote letters to a few months ago.  There we learned how the Jews managed to defend themselves when they couldn’t have guns under the British Mandate. We talked about how important it is that we can defend ourselves now.  After that visit, we went off to the Emuna center, where we learned a bit about the center, made t-shirts for Yom Hatzmaut, with the kids at the center and played sports with the kids there. We did tug o’war and we won. We told Shlomo, the director, that our win makes up for all the losses we have had in soccer when we have gone there in the past.

The class then went to Falafel Golani for dinner where we were thoroughly impressed by the server’s falafel scooping skills. We then went to where we will be staying for the next few days, Degania Bet.  After watching the members of the kibbutz preform their very powerful ceremony for Yom Hazikaron, we went back to our rooms for a few minutes before our very inspiring ceremony that left many in the class in tears.  We then all went back to our rooms to process what had happened during the last hours and to get ready for bed.

Days 5 and 6

There is a time to cry…there is a time to sing…

Day five here in Israel (Friday).  Today we woke up at seven and went down to eat breakfast, during which Zach broke a glass. (Mazel Tov!) We did tefillah overlooking Jerusalem from Yad Vashem. Rachel, Yoni and Ben led. They did a beautiful job. After our very moving tour we left and saw a cattle car with a poem written by Dan Pagis that we discussed. It was there we said Kaddish for the victims of the Shoah. Our last stop was at the Garden of the Righteous Gentiles where each of us said a little about the righteous gentile we are writing about in our final research papers. Some of us also found our person’s name inscribed on the wall of the garden.

And off we went to the Shook (market), a very crowded place in which at times it can be hard to breath. The boys and girls split up and went shopping for lunch and presents.   Bargaining in Israel fashion is very hard, but fun at the same time. Lots of us bought gifts for our families.

We then went back to the hotel where we showered, called home and most off us watched Race to Witch Mountain.  Just before we left for the kabbalat Shabbat, the boys gave the girls roses and the girls gave the boys chocolate kisses. We lit candles, sang and danced (and that was before we stepped outside the hotel lobby!) Our guide Yonit took us onto the rooftops in the middle of the four Jerusalem quarters and Eitan led kabbalat Shabbat and Yoni led ma’ariv. Apart from a few slips on the Jerusalem stone, we were all good, even when we were dancing and jumping around singing Shabbat and Israeli songs at the tops of our lungs. Yonit said that we should make sure that everyone at the Kotel knew that we had “arrived.” We definitely fulfilled that mission. Once we arrived at the Kotel plaza the girls joined together in a line holding hands and walked towards the wall itself where we prayed individually and then we joined a group of girls on the March of the Living and danced and sang with them for a while. It was a fun but emotional time. The boys joined in the general chaos of singing and dancing on the men’s side. We were all meant to meet at a certain palm tree at a certain time and the boys and girls don’t really agree as to who got there first, but from there we pretty much ran to the hotel to arrive by 9 P.M. or else we would not have gotten dinner. Let’s just say that Rabbi Amanda and Morah Amalya arrived a little later than everyone else. Just so that you know though, Morah Amalya has been counting steps and yesterday we did over 30,000, so they might have arrived slowly, but they got there in the end (Sorry, Larry).

This morning we decided to visit the Great Synagogue so that we would have a different experience than we have in America. There was a bar mitzvah there, but it was very different from American synagogue celebrations. We ate lunch at the hotel and had some free time (Yes, a whole two hours!) Then we walked to Givat Ram to hang in the pool. At the pool some of us didn’t want to swim and we found a table tennis table, so we began a championship. Dudu won by 2 points, and Rabbi Amanda came in second.

We ate again, did havdalah led by Zach, Rachel and Yoni and we packed because we are leaving Jerusalem. It’s been quite the experience, one that won’t be forgotten for some time. Crying, singing, eating and dancing together really brings you closer. We have a new Ezra cheer, that we will show you when we get back.

Day 4

              HELLO! Day 4 here in Israel! Today the class woke up early in the holy city of Jerusalem. We rushed to Robinson’s Arch where a meaningful tefillah was led by Josh, Zach, and Eitan. Using a Sephardi sefer Torah. Zach, Julia, Rachel and Jennifer once again read the Rosh Hodesh Torah readings.  We then learned about the Temple, and how and why Herod the Great decided to create such a huge structure.

We then went to the Kotel. We explored the caves underneath it and all said a prayer at the closest place to the Holy of Holies. When we came back up we all went to the Western Wall and had an opportunity to put a note in it.  We traveled into the City of David; in which we learned its history and how it was attacked from outer forces. We learned how the people of the city survived these multiple sieges. They did so by building tunnels to protect their water supply from those who were besieging them.

The class went exploring in the water tunnels. The conditions were not great, as many students would tell you. The caves were extremely claustrophobic and in some places the water came up to Josh’s waist.  However, we were able to splash our way through the freezing water and sing our way through the cramped space. But after Ben started singing it didn’t seem too bad; that is, until we had to go through an old sewage pipe. 

After we dragged ourselves out of the pipe we went back to the hotel to clean up for the mall in which some of us met our friends and family.  At the mall we split into groups: everyone with a visitor went with their visitors, while the rest of us stayed with Morah Amalya and Dudu.  When we all got back together after dinner, we went back to the hotel for a good night sleep.

Day 3

Day three of our adventures in Israel!

We were all woken up at five fifteen in the morning as we got ourselves packed up to leave the hotel. We put our luggage on the bus (no easy feat) and headed off to Masada. Although too tired to show emotion of any kind, all of us were undoubtedly excited to take on whatever this day had to offer.

After the nauseating, roller-coaster-like ride to Masada, the class charged up the Roman Ramp. On Masada we saw amazing sights such as where the Romans broke into the fortress and the synagogues that were used. We had a very special tefillah at the fortress, with people coming in and taking pictures.  We literally, as Zach and Kayla put it, “Became a tourist attraction.”  Yaakov, Avi and Julia led tefillah. Torah readers were Julia, Zachary, Jennifer and Rachel. Everyone did a splendid job, and we received a lot of compliments about tefillah from those who had “popped in.” After some more sightseeing we got ready for the long descent down the mountain’s snake path. The tricky part wasn’t getting speed, it was containing it so that you didn’t fall straight down the path. Rachel came down first and promptly did twenty jumping jacks. Hard to know where she gets all that energy. After finishing the trail, the class enjoyed cold popsicles as we waited for the bus, and waited, and waited…

Then we took off for the Dead Sea.  Of course, we had to eat first. Then we got changed and we went into the water.  After making the astonishing discovery that we could float, we had a lot of fun in the water.  Soon we all had to take showers and went straight to the mud pits, where we covered ourselves from head to toe in Dead Sea mud.  After that, we were all  extremely muddy, so we went back into the sea and repeated the cycle.  And then we BURNED in the painfully salty sea.

Once we left the Dead Sea we headed over to Ein Gedi, the oasis in the desert.  There we went on yet another hike, SO MANY STAIRS, to a lake with a refreshing waterfall. The whole class had a water fight in which each one of us, countless times, were pushed into the water and splashed in the face. During this time we drenched Yonit, our tour guide, seconds after she got in the water! Luckily the bus driver didn’t notice as our soaked tour guide got into the bus. We dried off, got on the bus and went on our way to the holy city of Jerusalem.

We finally arrived in Jerusalem. The Welcoming Committee (Kayla, Jennifer and Rachel) set up an activity for the whole class. With our eyes closed, we wandered out of the bus holding onto the person in front of us. We were led to an overlook of the City and we stopped to breathe in the Jerusalem sounds.  We opened our eyes at the same time and each took in the breathtaking view that is the City of Jerusalem. Four of us had never visited Jerusalem and each one of them spoke about how different it is real life rather than in a picture. We stood in a circle singing Yerushalayim Shel Zahav and we thanked God for bringing us here together.

We got settled into our new hotel rooms, we ate dinner and headed out to Ben Yehuda Street.  There we split into three different groups and went exploring.  Although the main purpose of this expedition was to buy gifts, we ended up just buying food instead.! Peanut butter was a popular choice, as was Nutella and ice cream. Shocking.

So as the eighth grade gathered around a table, we all ate our various food choices and headed off, back to the hotel. The Jerusalem Tower is so close to Ben Yehuda, it is totally cool.

We hope to write tomorrow, and we will if we have time to blog before Shabbat.