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.