Perseverance

This morning, we all woke up bright and early, packed our luggage after a night at the Caesar Hotel in Jerusalem, and enjoyed a lovely breakfast.

During our gratitude circle, Sara Apfelbaum shared her inspiring story about her fight through cancer, and its effects on life. She decided to open up to us in this way because of the tight bond between each person in the group and the immense trust and acceptance that it holds. Sara's story led to the trip's theme of day: perseverance. We loaded onto the bus and headed to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum. During the ride, we were mentally preparing for the emotional experience. From the moment we stepped foot into the museum grounds until we returned to the bus, everyone's mind, body, and spirit was fully invested in absorbing the information in Yad Vashem: the photographs, videos, artifacts, quotes and art. Our theme of perseverance shone through while watching the Holocaust survivors' interviews, and how they persevered through all of the evil brought upon them. 

After Yad Vashem, we continued south to David Ben Gurion's grave in the Negev, and learned about what an amazing man he was and the tremendous role he had in creating the Jewish state of Israel. We also learned that he lived in a kibbutz with a younger community and did everything he could to contribute to it. 

In the evening, we arrived in the kibbutz Mashabei Sadeh where after a yummy dinner of schnitzel and couscous the Israeli members of our birthright trip led an activity. We split up into small groups and learned the words to an Israeli song and made up a dance. We concluded the day with a wonderful time dancing, singing, and laughing.