Bus 937 Lands in the Old City

            Many could consider March 22nd, 2011, the defining day for the Taglit-Birthright: Hillel Bus 937.   If described in one word, that word would be “surreal.”  We were honored to have Avram Ingfeld , one of the founding members of the Taglit-Birthright program, open the morning with an inspiring speech.  He told the story of his journey towards discovering the meaning of being Jewish.  His inspiring (and at times comical) story was a perfect way to start this day because for most of us we were just beginning our journey towards discovering what Judaism means to us.

            After the speaker, our first stop was at the Theodore Herzel Cemetery.  There we learned and paid respect to the heroes of the State of Israel.  Whenever the history of the State of Israel is discussed, many names come to mind.  Entering the cemetery, we came face to face with the burial places of the heroes such as Theodore Herzel, one of the founders of modern Zionism.  As we went further into the cemetery we also came into contact with the burial places of people such as Yitzhak Rabin, Golda Meir, David Ben Gurion and other Israeli heroes.  However, what struck a note with our group was walking through the soldier’s section of the cemetery.  Upon entering, we were instantly hit the realization of the grave reality of war.  Learning the story’s of individuals whom lost there lives in the war and looking at the pictures of soldiers whom many were around the same age as us made us realize how everyone made sacrifices for their homeland.  This stop was important for appreciating how important Israel was to idea of having a Jewish identity

            The next stop was the entering of the old city and the Western Wall.  In Judaism it is customary to pray towards the Western Wall and located in the old city.  Being there was what can only be described as magical.  From Jews around the world all of their prayers were being directed at us.  Thinking about that idea gave us the realization that we were finally “home”.  Descending down the path towards the Western Wall was the pinnacle of our journey that day.  The wall embodies all the aspects and ideals of Judaism and being at that single spot in Jerusalem could be described by the word I mentioned earlier… “Surreal”.

            Finally we ended the night by making a road trip to Tel Aviv for the night to attend a play.  What was special about this play was that the actors and actresses either blind and/or deaf.  The play was not only brilliantly done, but it was inspiring.  The story of the play was about the actors and actresses themselves.  They described their dreams of living life to the fullest even while being blind and/or deaf.  Each character had a personal story and dream personal to them. 

All of the events today sum up an important message that our group learned.  The people of Israel love their land and everything about it.  We saw sacrifice, hardship, devotion and pure love for the land.  The events demonstrated how we as Jews needed Israel and that with love, devotion and sacrifice anything can be achieved.  To end this I wanted to stress once again that everything we experienced today was “surreal” and solidified an important aspect of discovering a Jewish identity.

-Scott Tarnowsky

(Pictures to follow...)