Friday, December 30th
On Friday, December 30 Bus 166 left Tel Aviv to a Holy city in Israel, the capital of Israel - Jerusalem.
After waking up from a night in Tel Aviv, we prepared ourselves for the holiest place of our religion - Jerusalem. We got off the bus and entered the Old City of Jerusalem, the center of our religion. It was an amazing experience to walk through a city more than 2,000 years old that has been conquered more than 80 times. We walked through the entire Old City until we arrived at a location close to our final destination, the Western Wall. Even arriving to the Wall, however, was an experience -- our trip leaders made us walk in two lines, side-by-side, with our arms on the person's shoulders in front of us, and our eyes closed. This game of trust brought us all the way to the Wall, which was much different than what most of us expected. The sacred Wall is divided into a men's section and a women's section. We were all given a piece of paper and a pencil to write our notes to put in the Wall. After writing some extremely personal prayers for our loved ones (we were taught that the prayers should be about others rather than ourselves), we all put our notes in the Wall. Many of us were in awe by the intense emotions that filled the air surrounding the Wall. After we were all finished, we took yet another group picture, and left for the Shook, a Middle Eastern farmer's market.
None of us expected what the Shook had to offer. It was complete insanity, and much more crowded and hectic than any farmer's market in America. We had about an hour to walk around the Shook for lunch, where we found falafel, shawarma, sandwiches, olive bars, and rugalach from a very famous bakery called Marzipan. Everything was delicious. A bunch of us had falafel from a stand where we learned that in Israel, lines do not exist, and if you don't push through the crowd, you won't ever get your food. Everything was well worth the wait -- the food was delicious. After eating lunch, we all bought a Parve snack for the Oneg, which is the reception following Shabbat services. We then boarded Bus 166 and headed to the hotel in Jerusalem, which happens to also be on a Kibbutz.
At the hotel, we were given some time to prepare ourselves for Shabbat. When we were ready, we walked outside as a group and said a prayer to begin Shabbat. The boys then stayed outside while the girls went inside to light candles. The boys then came inside, each one of them carrying a yellow rose to give to the girl of their choice. Then we all had the choice of three Shabbat activities: Shabbat services, singing, or a discussion on Israel. Many of us went to the services, which were very similar to those in a reformed temple in America.
Shabbat Shalom!
