Israel in a nutshell

Israel….where do I begin. Obviously I gave up on blogging this trip partially because there were not very many chances to use the internet but also because I felt guilty about spending my time in an internet café when we were limited to the amount of time we could spend in any one place. To say this trip was a whirlwind would be an understatement.

I’ll do a quick day by day sum up of what we did and then put my own thoughts on the experience in another blog post…

This is more of a brain dump on my part so I'll remember this in the future being that my blog is like a journal or diary.

Thursday, June 19
We arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and took the bus to a lookout point so we could see all of Jerusalem. We did Shehechiyanu, which was a welcoming ceremony where we said the blessings for the bread and wine and we were welcomed home. (welcome home is important and I’ll talk about it later)

We went to the Old City Walls around Jerusalem and got to see many vantage points of the surrounding neighborhoods in the area. We checked into the Jerusalem Gate Hotel and went to Ben Yehuda Street to do some shopping and people watching. Ben Yehuda was such a neat area and cultural experience. There were musicians and dancers in the streets as well as soldiers in uniform carrying M-16s. (they weren’t loaded but the mags were on their hips)

Friday, June 20
We got up at 6:30 am and had a horrible breakfast. Little did we know that this would become a theme throughout the trip. All the hotel food was AWFUL but all the street food we had during our free time was awesome! We headed to Mishkenot Shaananim, which was the first neighborhood that was built outside the walls of the Old City with the help of Sir Moshe Montifyori. We then went to the Old City to explore the history and beauty in the small alleyways of the Jewish Quarter.

We went to the Western Wall (Wailing Wall), which was one of the most moving experiences I had. I wrote a wish/prayer on a piece of paper for my family and friends and walked down to the wall. I put my head up against it and put my hand on the wall, which had rock that was smoothed down from thousands of years of Jews coming there to do the same thing I was. The lady next to me was whispering a prayer in Hebrew and I just sat there and listened as tears weld up in my eyes. It was a very emotional experience for me and I don’t have the words to describe why.

After that we went to Machne Yehuda Market, which is the largest open air food market in Jerusalem. Shabbat starts sundown Friday night so there was quite the hustle and bustle in the market with people buying food for Shabbat and the weekend since Shabbat is the day(s) of rest. I can’t even begin to describe how crazy it was in the market with people yelling, pushing their way to the front of the lines, and salesman trying to bring you into their booth to buy goods.

After the market we went back to the hotel to prepare for Shabbat. We had the option of which service we’d like to attend. There is something really amazing about a bunch of Jews in a room singing and saying the same prayers. We all come from different walks of life but what we have in common is our Judaism. This was the first taste I got of feeling like we were apart of something much bigger.

Saturday, June 21
We did the Shabbat morning prayers and had breakfast at the hotel. Since it is the day of rest there were no cars on the streets, no shops open, etc. We did a walking tour of Kiryat Hamemshala, which is where all the governmental buildings are located. The rest of the day we got to rest and relax. After dinner we went to a talk by Avraham Infeld, who is the President Emeritus of Hillel International, and one of the founders of Birthright Israel. It was really interesting to here his perspective on why he started this program and what it means to be Jewish.

The evening program tonight was Israeli Bar Night!! We were the only group who go to go out to a bar/dance club. Everyone was pretty much trashed by the end of the night and we were all dancing and singing on the bus. Our bus driver was so pissed at us but soon came to love our sing alongs, which because a regular part of our time on the bus. I have to say that this was a big bonding thing for everyone as we burst out into song on the bus. Our theme song quickly became “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

Sunday, June 22
We got to talk to Neil Lazarus and get an update on the current security and political situation in Israel. After the talk we had 8 Israeli soldiers join our group. They were going to be with us for the next 5 days to experience the trip with us. Little did we know that they were the center piece around the trip and what really made the trip special.

We jumped back on the bus and headed to Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is such a different city from Jerusalem. In Jerusalem all the buildings have to be built out of limestone and very tall buildings are not allowed. Tel Aviv has much higher buildings and fewer restrictions on the types of buildings or materials - it is much more of a high-tech city. Here we learned the historical beginnings of the city and how the city was literally built from sand.

We got to swim in the Mediterranean Sea on the Tel Aviv shore as well as walk through some of the streets and get lunch. Of course I didn’t really “eat breakfast” at that point so I had a Shwarma and 2 pieces of pizza! Then, we went to Jaffa and walk the old alleyways of Jaffa and see its ancient port. We also got to go to Independence Hall where it all began. The small hall hosted the historic Declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel.

That evening we got to see “Bible Rap”. I don’t think that’s the best way to describe it but the guy who did the raps said he should have called it “Torah, bitches”. The guy was from the US originally and now lives in Israel. He started to write raps about stories from the Torah and it was pretty funny stuff. One of his songs was about how he identifies with Judaism and he called it “I’m Not White, I’m Jewish”.

Monday, June 23
We went to Mt. Herzl, which is Israel’s national cemetery where the leaders of the nation buried their solders who sacrificed there lives for the nation. There are famous people such as Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin. We all walked through this beautiful cemetery mostly unaffected by the presence of soldiers who had lost their lives. Sharon (one of the soldiers that was with us) told us a story of three 18 year old boys who went to the 2nd Lebanese War. One was her boyfriend, who lost his life and one of them lost their legs and the other their site. Not one person said a word the entire way back to the bus. This really hit us all very hard when we realized that these soldiers are just kids and they are losing their lives for the security of Israel. They were losing their lives for us.

After the cemetery we went to do a Tzedek Project by packing lunches and peeling potatoes for the homeless/less fortunate in Israel. There are many Holocaust survivors in Israel that can barely afford to eat because they spend all their money on medications. The group we worked with helps serve hot meals every day of the week, including holidays.

Once we were done with our Tzedek Project we drove 3 hours to Kfar Hanokdim. This was an area of the desert where the Bedouins roam and where we would be staying the night under a tent in the desert. We got to ride camels here as well as donkeys. The donkey in front of me tried to pee on my leg so I jumped off my donkey and got on another one that was a few back in the line from mine!

We had an amazing dinner under one of the tents with grilled chicken, rice, pita, veggies, etc. Later that night we sat down as a group and talked about our experience in Israel so far, which was really fun and very enlightening.


Tuesday, June 24
We got up at 4 a.m. to hike Massada via the Roman ramp and watch the sunrise from the top. This was up there with the best moments on the trip. The sunrise over the Dead Sea was beautiful. Masada was the palace of King Herod and the site of the last battle against the Romans during the First uprising.

After Masada, we headed to the Dead Sea where we got to swim in the lowest point on Earth as well as cover ourselves in Dead Sea mud. It was nice to relax by the water and also swim in the pool they had nearby. The Dead Sea is such a weird feeling. You can’t even stand up in the water you just hover over the ground.


Wednesday, June 25
Wednesday we headed to Massuah, which is the Jewish People’s memorial to those murdered during the Shoah (Holocaust). I was really bummed out we didn’t get to go to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem but that’s just another reason to go back to Israel sometime soon!

However, we got to meet and hear this amazing story of how a young boy masked himself as a German in order to save himself from the concentration camps. He ended up becoming a soldier in Nazi Germany and was able to save his life for a couple of years before being reunited with his brother.

Once we were done at the musem we went to Zichron Ya'akov, which is the main street of Zichron Ya'akov, one of the famous Moshavot (villages), and learned some of the history behind this area. Later that night we went to the shores of Lake Kineret where we had bonfires, dancing, live music, and hookahs.


Thursday, June 26
We got up in the morning and went to the top of Mount Bental. This area has an overlook of the north of Israel and Syrian border. After that we went to the Golan Heights Winery. I have to say, I was thoroughly impressed with their Kosher wine though the cab was not very good.

We then drove to the Jordan river where we walked down the river and kayaked part of it. The Jordan River is one of Israel’s main water sources from the foothills of Mount Hermon and the height of Golan. He who controls the Golan Heights controls the water source so it’s very important that Israel maintain Golan as part of Israel.

We also said goodbye to our soldier through Mifgash, in which we talked about our time with them. Once we said goodbye to our Israeli friends we checked into our new hotel, King Salomon Hotel in Tiberias.

Friday and Saturday, June 27 and June 28
We visit Tzippori where we walked in the footsteps of those who wrote the Mishna in the 3rd Century in this place where religion and politics stood side by side. We also got to go to Tsfat and experience the city of Jewish mysticism, where the great Kabbalists lived and studied.

As the sun went down Shabbat started and so began our day(s) of rest.

We spent all day on Sunday at the pool. It was nice to have a day to relax before our long journey home on Sunday.

Sunday, June 29
We left the hotel around midnight on Sunday for the airport in Tel Aviv. I was beginning to feel pretty sick but there was nothing I could do short of flying home, which I was already doing. I didn’t think going to a hospital and getting stuck behind was an option. We embarked upon a 47 hour journey back to the Seattle, which included bus rides, planes, delays, and sitting on the tarmac in NYC for 3 hours. I couldn’t have been more relieved to land in Seattle and be home finally. I was sooooo sick.