Day 8 - Sunday, December 23th
Our 3 nights at the
Hashalom hotel has come to an end and we are ready to continue our trek of
Israel by heading to the southern desert of Jehuda and of course, stopping at several
jaw dropping stops along the way.
For most of us, the sound of our alarms at 6 am was a
harsh slap in the face to the fact that going to bed at 2-3 a.m. was probably
not the wisest idea. However we pushed through
the sluggish morning managing to get our entire luggage on the bus and grabbing
a quick breakfast rather quickly. Now
that we were ready to go, we all met as a trip in one of the hotel lobby rooms. There, we all got into a circle and took
turns talking about how great of an impact the soldiers had on us Americans,
and how great of an impact we had on the soldiers. It was this afternoon that
our Israelis would be leaving us to go back to the IDF. The stories that were
told brought tears to many eyes, for it was that moment where reality hit us… That
after today, we would lose part of our family.
After we hugged the shit out of each other we boarded the bus and off we
went! Our first stop was only 5 minutes
from the hotel and was one of the most incredible overlooks of Jerusalem we
have encountered thus far. We took photos and Sarah pointed out historical
landmarks for not only the Jewish people, but also showed us how Jerusalem was
holy to Christians and Muslims, which was quite fascinating. The only crappy
part of this stop was that as soon as it was too late and the bus departed, I
realized my Apple headphones fell out of my pocket and I would never see them
again L. Our next stop was a second visit to the old
city of Jerusalem where we toured the beautiful tomb of King David and the Last
Supper Room . They were beautiful for 2 reasons. One, the architecture of the
tomb was unbelievable, and two, because it is one of the few places in the
world where Jews, Christians, and Muslims, can all come to pray. In fact, we happened to see a group of
Nigerians kissing the ground of the tomb which was rather interesting. After the Last Supper Room and the Tomb, we
had lunch and shopped around the city for couple hours. I bought a Mezuzah for my Mom, which meant a
lot for me because, ever since she moved into her new condo, she never managed
to buy one for her doorframe. Of
course, being the obnoxious ball of
energy I sometimes tend to be, when we were touring the outside of the Second
Temple of the Jewish People, I tried hopping over an ancient well and I tripped
and dropped my mom’s Mezuzah 40 feet underground. I have never been so pissed
at myself in my entire life. But it was
ok!!! Roy , our incredible security
guard, showed me an “illegal” entrance to the sewers of the temple entrance. I literally walked though the underground
tunnels of the holiest landmark of the Jewish people and found the
mezuzah! My mom better fucking
appreciate it J.
Anyways, we ended our tour at the Western Wall where we prayed and then walked
through the Bill Davidson Memorial, which meant a lot, especially to the people
from Michigan, because Bill Davidson lived in our Jewish community in
metro-Detroit. We boarded the buses for
the last time as a complete family. We
now left for the Central Bus Station where we said our goodbyes to Shaked,
Avioo, Yoav, Atar, Maya, and Rotem for
the very last time on the trip. Our soldiers all seluted us as our bus departed
which pretty was very sentimental. After
we left the station, it was pretty quiet bus ride and there definitely felt a
sense of emptiness. After two hours of driving south, it was dark now. We finally got to our destination where we
would be sleeping, which was the Bedwin village. We ate dinner in a tent while sitting on our
butts, and used our hands instead of silverwear. After dinner, Felix took us on a short hike
to a quiet spot in the middle of the desert, where he gave an chilling speech
on why Judaism is in the eyes of the individual. It was really deep. We then proceeded to lay in the sand, watching
the stars, and screaming out to G-d, our prayers we want to be answered. It had a mystical and spiritual feel to
it. We hiked back to our campground
where there was a bonfire ready and delicious Smores to snack on. We partied
till it was time for bed and then all got cozy as we fell asleep, together, as
a family, in our own Bedwin tent.
Written by:
Brett Feinbaum
aka The Bus 1026
president
aka tittie boi
aka 2 chains
aka mr. tru OG stunna
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