We started the day today with an update on the situation in Israel. This mostly involved looking at maps of how the ruling of the land that is Israel has changed over the years, especially from a religious viewpoint. We talked about whether Judaism is a religion or a nationality/people. This is a big debate that leads to a lot of the current conflict. However the talk was mostly boring since we had heard most of the information previously by our awesome trip leader, Matan.
Then we got on the bus and headed to Mount Hershel, which is the national military cemetery. It was difficult being there and I did not feel it was appropriate to take pictures. The only thing I did take a picture of was the big Menorah at the front gate.
Mount Hershel
We started our tour of the cemetery at the grave for Hershel, an important Jew who helped create the site we were at. We then saw the Greats of Our Nation burial ground, a place for prime ministers and high political officials to be buried in. While interesting to see and learn about nothing here was overwhelming.
Then however we moved on to terror memorial. This part of Mount Hershel was particularly bothersome. It was composed of walls that listed chronologically the people who were killed in Israel from terror attacks. We started at the very beginning of the 1900s where one of the soldiers told us about his great grandfather being beaten in the head for being Jewish and not selling his horse to an Arab who wanted it. Then the closer to present we got we saw some full families listed on the wall as killed. And in the most recent years some of the soldiers were visibility upset as they knew someone on the wall. The worst part of the memorial however was when you get to the end there is an empty wall waiting to be filled with more names. I was really taken back by this and the seriousness of the situation became a reality for me.
Then we moved on to see the grave sites of several soldiers. Each grave had the same information carved on it- like rank, division, age, death date, ect.- was raised and had flowers planted on top, but none were personalized. A lot of the stones had rocks placed on top as is customary for Jews to do when visiting a grave site. We learned about a few soldiers but one really stood out because he decided to sacrifice himself by driving into a death trap so the others could see where people were hiding and kill them. He did this knowing he had know way of getting out of it alive, he gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Then we walked to the newer graves which have begun to be personalized with pictures and places to leave things as well as the traditional headstone and flowers the rest of the cemetery has. While here we stopped by Michael Levine's grave, a lone soldier from Philadelphia who was home on break when his company was called to war and took the next flight back to Israel to fight where he lost his life. Personally I had heard his story in religious school before but it was overwhelming to see how many things were left on his grave to show people's love, admiration, respect, and thankfulness for him. You could barely see the grave from everything placed in it and their was a lot of Philadelphia memorabilia as well as birthright lanyards and rocks. It was just overwhelming to see and therefore feel the raw emotion that surrounded this man and what he did and stood for.
Finally at the cemetery, we visited another lone soldiers grave where Matan read a poem called "He Won't" which talked about all the things this soldier would never get to do or see in his life. This hit a chord with me, especially after realizing how young the soldiers are. Most graves were between 18-24 which is really shocking, scary, and eye opening. We then left and washed our hands on the way out since bodies are considered impure in Judaism.
One last thing I took away from my visit to Mount Hershel was something Matan said that I think can be spread to anyone who has passed- "they gave us their deaths now it's up to us to give them meaning". Remember and celebrate those who died and make changes in your life to honor the way they lived.
After that emotionally trying start to the day, we went to a local outdoor shopping mall where we got good, spicy Falafel, suggested by Matan. My friends and I ended up going into an Israeli grocery store which was really cool to see everything in Hebrew. Plus we got to buy chocolate which is never bad.
Grocery Store
Then we went to the amazing Israel museum. It features an outside exact replica of Old City Jerusalem. It turns out the huge wall we associate with the western wall was actually just a retaining wall and the building itself was so much taller. The replica was completely accurate including the surrounding topography.
We then walked around the rest of the museum which was really cool, including the Dead Sea scrolls. I stayed in the Archeological section of the museum but there was also an art section. There were really interesting coffins that were discovered in the Gaza Strip on the border of Israel and Egypt, the reminded me of mummy's but were not since there was no mummy inside. The museum was huge and I could spend hours in there, I was very impressed.
We ended our visit with a group picture at the אהבא, love, statue before heading back on the bus. Once on the bus we took a long drive to the Negev to spend the night at a Bedouin tent.
אהבא statue
We got there and realized just how cold the desert can get at night, cold. We bundled up and went to dinner in the main meal hut at where we sat on the ground. We ate couscous and chickpeas as well as sauce and some vegetables on laffa, which is like a tortilla. It was really good. But the best part of the meal was the tea that we had after eating. It was hot black tea with the perfect amount of sweetness and flavors.
We then went to a Bedouin hospitality session where they taught us about who the Bedouin's are and what they believe in. We learned about how they welcome guests using a container to grind coffee beans to a certain beat. It was a lot of fun to listen to the beat and clap along. Then we left and our group went out into the desert. Once away from the lights we could see all the stars. We spread out and laid on the ground listening to "The Sound of Silence" and then just laid there in silence staring at the stars. It was magical. The silence of the desert and the light of the stars was enveloping. Then we looked at constellations with the strongest laser ever and walked back, losing someone on the way but we found him not long after. We then spent the night around the bonfire and playing cards.
Until tomorrow,
Laura
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