Tel Aviv and Jerusalem!

Monday, December 19,

We group 167, The Shemers as in Shorashimers as we like to call ourselves, started our day off at the Sea Net Hotel in Tel Aviv. We had a great night seeing Tel Aviv, and today we adventured to the Independence Museum. Here we learned the history of Tel Aviv of how it was bought for a great amount of gold from the Turks and rapidly transformed into a modern city in the early 19th century. From there on we learned who David Ben Gurion was and how the ceremony of Independence was held and the actions leading up to and after the event occured. Later on that day we drove to Jerusalem. Here we walked the paths of the Old City learning the vast history and discoveries found in it. We had some free time and got to walk the road where we got to do some shopping in a very cool bizaar. At the end of the trip in the Old City we arrived at the Western Wall. We learned that the Western Wall is actually not part of the old temple, but of the platform that the temple rested upon. When we split, men to one side and women to another, it was a very nervous environment being so close to such a historical site in the Jewish faith. Most of us placed our notes in the wall, some did the Sh'ma and others had their own silent prayer. After this we went to the hotel, had dinner, then had a group discussion about our next day at the Yad Vashem.