Shalom from Jerusalem!
We had a wonderfully busy Friday seeing the sites and preparing for Shabbat and today, Shabbat, provided an opportunity to relax and process what we've zooming through for the past 5 days! We arrived in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem early Friday morning to explore the Old City.
We met a legend of the old city, Jeff Seidel, at his office where has been for decades. Here we each got to take a sidur (prayer book) or tanach (bible) to keep for ourselves! After soaking in the history and astonishing views, we walked down the long staircase towards the Kotel, the Western and only remaining Wall of the 2nd Jewish temple. This, we learned is where every Jewish congregation in the world directs their prayers. To stand and pray at this spot was indescribable. Many of us cried, some of us were lost for words, but we all agreed that none of us could possibly forget the way we felt standing at such an awe-inspiring place.
After taking what seemed like 1,000 pictures, we departed for lunch at an outdoor shopping center. It was fascinating to see all the shops closing at 2 or 3 for the sabbath. We returned to our hotel and got ourselves ready for Shabbat and did a Kabbalah shabbat (prayer) service, had a great dinner, and then did a scavenger hunt that was planned and run by our Israeli participants!
This morning began with an optional morning prayer service outside on our hotel's second floor balcony. It was followed by a light breakfast and a gorgeous view of Jerusalem's hills.
After breakfast we took a short walk to a clear area near our hotel and we explored a few Jewish concepts relating to this week's Torah readings. The discussion we had was about making others happy and fulfilled through non-materialistic ways. This allowed us the chance to share stories to one another about our own experiences and grow closer to the others in our groups.
We then broke for lunch, followed by a program on Jewish identity. This program explored the differences and similarities between the Israeli and American's Jewish background and culture, as well as to share and relate to each other's customs.
Dinner tonight was at a gigantic mall in Jerusalem, allowing us time to eat and shop for gifts!
Following dinner, we had a preparation program for our Yad Vashem (the Holocaust museum) visit tomorrow. We discussed our knowledge of this tragic event, if anyone knew someone who was an survivor, and how anti-semitism still affects us today on college campuses. While a very hard conversation to have, it still is going to lead to a very enriching and powerful visit to Yad Vashem tomorrow morning.
Overall, Shabbat was a much needed relaxing day for us. We got a chance to connect on a more personal level with one another as well as discuss some very interesting topics. We hope you all had a refreshing Shabbat as well!
