Remembering Our Past and Appreciating Our Present

It's hard to believe that we could have a day filled with more emotion than when we celebrated Shabbat in Jerusalem, but I guess Birthright is here to shatter our expectations! 

Today was the most extreme emotional rollercoaster most of us had ever been on. We arrived at Yad Vashem knowing to expect a challenging yet meaningful day but nobody could've anticipated the number of lows and highs throughout. Everything from the design of the building to layout of the exhibits was done with symbolic intention and added layers to the experience. Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust and most visited museum, shines a light on one of the darkest times of our people's thousands of years of history. We learned about pre-Holocaust life for European Jewry and the conditions that allowed Hitler and his insane ideologies to rise to power. We learned about the horrific genocide of the Jews in details that made our skin crawl. The museum symbolically ended with a burst of light and a view of Jerusalem that brought us to tears. The symbolism was tangible and when we talked about our experience as a group, we couldn't stop thinking about how great our responsibility is to remember our history and dictate our future. Overall, learning about the Holocaust was a surprisingly empowering experience that none of us will ever forget.

Our next stop was down South to experience Beer Sheva, the beautiful city found in the middle of the desert. It was magical to see this sizable city blooming out of nothing but sand. One of our Israelis, Ilana Karwib, has connected so well to us all that she was compelled to open her home to show us how a real Israeli family offers hospitality. Her parents, grandparents, and younger siblings provided us with delicious treats and hot tea. Ilana provided our American participants an opportunity to see a residential community and the love and caring that Israeli families have for their fellow people. Her home, our experience, and the view of Beer Sheva from her backyard were all beautiful!

Tonight, we're resting easy in a kibbutz before our real desert experience begins...Tomorrow we finally get to ride camels!!!