May 6, 2017

My apologies…I have started this blog entry several times, but I am having problems uploading the photos. It seems to be fixed now!

So– where did we leave off? We spent Thursday morning meeting teens from an Arab town in the Lower Galilee called Deir el Asad. The teens were excited to practice their English and we spend several hours at the school getting to know them, and how we are all so similar in many ways. I was impressed with their ethics painted on the staircase, while Rabbi Tsipi is advocating for us to adopt their uniforms. Needless to say, we all had a nice morning connecting to these teens.

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Following the “mifgash”, we had lunch in a Druze Village and had a chance to learn more about the Druze religion and culture, plus their amazing food. We didn’t eat till 2pm, so needless to say, everyone’s plate was clean!!

After lunch, we got back on the bus and ascended the hills of Jerusalem. Everyone was excited as we entered this holy city. But before we got to enjoy the holy cites, we went to the Jerusalem “shuk”- Mahane Yehudah. There everyone got to taste different foods (we weren’t even hungry!) and to try our hand at bargaining. For anyone who has been to Mahane Yehudah in the past, you would be surprised to see how many nice restaurants there are no

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The next day was Friday and we got to tour the old city- first by walking the rampart walls and then by seeing the Jewish quarter up close. Here is our first FULL group photo in the Old City!

We went back to our hotel to get ready for Shabbat, and then returned to the Old City to welcome Shabbat at the Kotel. What an amazing feeling it was to connect with Jews from all over the world- to sing and dance together- united in welcoming Shabbat. It was a very emotional and powerful evening for many of us!

Saturday morning we attended the Conservative Center services (boy…who knew how quickly the service could be!) and by 11am, the services were over. We spent some time hanging out in the park in Jerusalem, with many of the locals. Lucky for us, one of them had a few frisbees so our group was easily entertained!

We returned to our hotel for lunch and some rest time, before heading off to the Israel Museum, where we got to see the Dead Sea Scrolls. After some more resting, we had dinner and havdallah then went out to see the Sound and Light Show at the Tower of David.

Sunday morning started in Jerusalem at Yad V’shem Museum in memory of the Holocaust. We had an incredible guide who shared stories and kept us all engaged. It was a very moving and important morning.

We then went south to Beit Guvrin, where we had the opportunity to dig in the caves there. We were lucky to make some exciting finds. Just look at this piece of jewelry that was discovered by several of our students!

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Upon completing our dig, we continued further south into the desert to Yerucham, where we are staying in a new and fabulous hotel! (who knew!?) We are getting some rest, for tomorrow we have jeep rides, camel rides and some hikes ahead as we explore the Negev!  Signing off from Yerucham….