Feeling hot, hot, hot! Literally!
Today was a very busy day for all of us on bus 818! Not only did we have a lot to see, but we traveled through Israel's two largest and most iconic cities, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem!
We began the day at Independence Hall, the historical site in Tel Aviv where David Ben Gurion signed Israel's Declaration of Independance and declared that the state of Israel had been born. We learned about the War of Independance and the circumstances leading up to the creation of the State of Israel from the Hall's staff and a brief movie. It was incredible to be able to learn about how much went into creating this magnificent state!
Our next journey was to the Mediterranean Beach in Tel Aviv. The weather was absolutely perfect and the water felt amazing in the hot weather! We had so much fun swimming around, splashing each other, and just enjoying the relaxing time in the sun. Some of us even ventured to some giant rocks out in the sea and met some people from other birthright trips! It was such a great way to spend the afternoon!
We drove to have a quick lunch in Modiin, followed by a stop in Neot Kedumim. Here, we visited a JNF site where we all had an opportunity to plant trees! We had learned that Israel in the only country in the world that plants more trees than it cuts down and perhaps we can credit the Israeli's challenge to make the desert bloom. Just before planting our individual trees we learned the Jewish wisdom, "if you find a tree in the desert you will have shade but if you plant a tree in the desert your children and grandchildren will have shade." Seeing as Israel is a large portion desert, this is something that Israelis take particularly to heart.
Our final stop for the day was also our most moving: Jerusalem. We toured the old city, learning about the significance of the city to the three major monotheistic faiths and we were able to get a taste of the history that is embedded in its walls. We ended our tour at the Kotel, or the Western Wall. For almost all of us, this was our first time visiting the Jewish holy site, and there aren't words to describe the magnitude of the religious and historical experience. Some of us even realized that we were the first people in our families to visit the remains of the holy Jewish temple after literally thousands of years of yearning.
After our visit to the Old City, we drove to our hotel for the night, enjoyed a wonderful and filling dinner, and participated in a group discussion about our Yad Vashem visit tomorrow. We will be spending the entire first half of our day at the Holocaust memorial museum so we took time to discuss and learn why this museum is Israel's most visited site. We shared our personal (familial) connections to the Holocaust and discussed why we believed it is still relevant today. While it will be an emotional morning, we're looking forward to learning more about our People's path to the present.
