We heart Tel Aviv!
After experiencing Tel Aviv's nightlife, the group awoke to a brand new day in Israel's cosmopolitan capital. We ate some breakfast and took to the beach to see the beautiful, blue pool of the Mediterranean Sea. Walking down the beach, we walked toward the ancient city of Jaffa and learned about the roots of Tel Aviv. Over our shoulders, the city's skyline stood as a testament to a century of progress and Jewish achievement. But, as Lior made sure to remind us, the land wasn't always this way and getting to this point certainly wasn't easy. Our first stop was at the first Jewish neighborhood in Tel Aviv - a bit removed from Jaffa and headed by a large school left over from that time. Next, it was on to Independence Hall, for an exhibition on the early days of Tel Aviv and its forming from a small band of Jewish people. The Hall featured an emotional and informative presentation commemorating both Mayor Dizengoff (the city's first mayor and the former inhabitant of the house that museum is held in) and the formation of the State of Israel in 1948. The official announcement of statehood was made by David Ben Gurion in that very museum. After spending nearly 24 hours in the winding and metropolitan streets of Tel Aviv it was remarkable to see how the city came from so little and withstood so much violence, warfare and condemnation to become the site of Israel's national birth.
While Tel Aviv started as just a heap of sand, neighboring Jaffa has been a commercial center and city for millennia. A major port city mentioned in biblical stories, Jaffa has the feeling that one might expect of an antiquated Arabian place. We were guided down the winding and narrow streets to learn of Jaffa's unique history and to learn about how this once great city became a suburb for Tel Aviv. As we learned, it is not easy to reconstruct a city - to change an established identity - but Jaffa has succeeded in becoming a place for Arabs and Israelis to co-exist as well as a new center for art and creativity. The group lunched in Jaffa, separating to experience the numerous culinary delights and after it was on to the holy city of Jerusalem.
