August 3, 2014
By: Reut Cohen and Courtney Marks
The day started when we woke up for our last morning at Masada to the beautiful views of the Dead Sea and Judean Hills. Exhausted from the night before, which included an amazingly energetic havdallah, we ate a quick breakfast and piled on to the bus for our journey to Jerusalem.
On the way, we were introduced to our new tour guide Ilan, who will accompany us for the rest of our stay.
Today, people in our group saw Jerusalem, our eternal capital, for the first time. It was truly amazing to see their reactions to the Old City appearing before us as we approached. Though there are people in our group who have been to Jerusalem countless times, they were still able to see it through new eyes due to being with our entire cohort.
Our bus dropped us off at Ir David, a "city" that straddles East and West Jerusalem. We spoke about the annexing of East Jerusalem in the Six Day War and discussed who the area truly belongs to. After some historical background, we entered Hezekiah's Tunnels, the aqueducts used by Jews in the time of David to conquer Jerusalem from the Jebussites. We wandered through the main tunnels before taking the path to the water tunnels, and along the way stopped for a short discussion about how miraculous it was that the Jews were able to capture Jerusalem. We realized that our cohort went through a similar experience, with all the uncertainty about our trip. To us it is a miracle that we are here.
We don't think that any of us knew exactly what we were getting into -- the tunnels were dark, wet, and required the taller members of our group to crouch most of the time. We found ourselves turning this way and that to fit through the skinnier passages of the tunnels. Yet, it was amazing to experience history firsthand. After exiting the tunnels, we enjoyed some authentic Israeli falafel for lunch, and made our way to the Israel Museum.
At the Israel Museum, we split into two groups and alternated between activities. We saw a short movie about the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the history of the religious sect known as Yachad, who lived on the banks of the Dead Sea where the scrolls were discovered. Afterwards, we walked around a beautiful model of Jerusalem at the time of the second Temple. We discussed the divisions between the Jewish people at the time, with different sects like the Pharisees and the Sadducees controlling different aspects of the city. So much senseless hatred between our people led to the destruction of the Temple and our exile. Hearing this really hit home for our group, which bases itself on pluralism, and gave us a concrete example of what lack of mutual respect and cooperation can do.
On a lighter note, we were then able to visit the most amazing art installation, Big Bambú. Big Bambú is a huge structure that reaches 18 meters tall, made entirely out of bamboo stalks and reaching in all directions. Truthfully, it's something you have to see for yourself. There are staircases, places to sit, complete with cushions, and lookouts over the Israel Museum.
Once we were back on the ground, we were given some free time to explore the museum. Some chose, of course, to visit the Shrine of the Book, while others went to the new exhibit on clothing, and still others spent their time in the gift shop. The gift shop has beautiful art, books, an Judaica, but also incredible inventions such as coasters shaped like hamburgers and submarine-shaped pieces of plastic that hold a tea bag while you steep it. An amazing thing about our cohort is that discussion is constantly being encouraged, and even in the Shrine of the Book, Dillers could be heard discussing their feelings about the Bible and even whether or not God exists.
Finally, we arrived at Kiryat Moriya, our home for the last leg of our trip. We even were able to meet some British teens on youth movement tours. After an intense night activity where we were divided into groups to debate between the areas proposed for the Jewish state in the early 1900's (Team Uganda clearly won), we called it a night.
We are all anticipating an emotional day tomorrow at Yad VaShem and Har Herzl, and wishing everyone an easy fast.
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