Mt. Herzl, Ben Yehuda Street, and the Kotel

Freedom isn’t free, in America or Israel or anywhere. This morning, we visited Mt. Herzl. Israel’s military cemetery is located there, the resting place of many of the 23,000 Israelis who have died defending their country. Some were born in Israel, others immigrated from all over the world. Some died in 1948 and before, some died in 2011. Some died relatively old and a great many died very young, younger than many of us. But generals and privates are buried together on Mt. Herzl. All of their sacrifices have helped Israel and none of them should be forgotten.

Also buried on Mt. Herzl are many of Israel’s most important leaders, although deciding what makes one a great leader is nothing simple. We talked about it for a while, and we visited a few of them: Golda Meir, first female prime minister, who helped show Israeli women how critical they were to the future of their people. Yitzach Rabin, a life-long fighter who committed himself to peace and made the ultimate sacrifice for it. And finally, Theodore Herzl himself, whose imagination, hard work and perseverance made Israel possible when many believed it never would be.

We spent the afternoon on Ben Yehuda street, eating some more delicious Israeli food and picking up snacks and souvenirs for our friends and family. We spent a little more time at the Wailing Wall, writing a few of our thoughts and memories of the last ten days. And we went back go Kibbutz Harel for dinner and a little more time together.