Jerusalem Love

Jerusalem

Is there any other place in the world that you wouldn’t mind walking close to a dozen miles in the scorching sun all day?  Is there any place in the world you wouldn’t mind waking up at 6:30 AM and going non- stop until 11:30 at night?  Is there any other place you would want to spend hours touring buildings that are five thousand years old and filled with old, smelly men in suits? The answer is no.  You would only want to do all of that in the most beautiful and holy city in the world: Jerusalem, where the students and staff of bus 1071 were fortunate enough to spend time in today.

The day started much like any other: An early wake up, and a typical Israeli breakfast (don't expect common breakfast foods like apples, hash browns and sausage, but do expect foods filled with chocolate spread, vanilla pudding, and rice). We then listened to two interesting lectures about political science in Israel (from an award winning professor at Hebrew University) and about how Israel's public perception can be changed quickly due to media biases (from an organization called "CAMERA" which provided some of the funds for us to have our free trip). Finally, we took a short bus ride to the old city of Jerusalem, where we were quickly greeted by the burning sun, a walking tour of the old city, and extremely informative stories and information, told by our amazing tour guide, Muki, about everything from where exactly the stones that support the buildings came from to exactly how many shwarma shops there are in the old city. 

The day was filled with a variety of sights, smells (some good, some VERY bad), and explorations.  For the people whose first time it was in Jerusalem, the emotions were overwhelming.  There's just something about walking around within the walls of the old city that just feels so different, something that you can only dream of and that most people will, unfortunately, never get to experience in their lifetime.  Just to think about our Jewish biblical ancestors once roaming about on the very roads that we were roaming about on is a surreal feeling.  Many tears were shed as we all prayed for our friends and family at the western wall, and the men got to try on tfillin and talis while getting the authentic orthodox praying experience.  After more walking (and sweating) we finally took a break and got to relax, eat, drink, and shop at an outdoor mall.  This was a welcome change of pace from the cheap, but fun, knick-knack souvenir shops in the old city, that all sell the same tourist oriented items (even though most people were successful in finding plenty of gifts for friends and family).

This amazing day came to an end when we were lucky enough to watch two short films from the Jerusalem College of Video and Media. With one about the moral dilemmas that Israeli soldiers face on an everyday basis, and one about the difficult lives lead by daughters of rabbis, there was much conversation to be had together afterwards.  Jerusalem is an amazing city, and not one that any of us lucky students will ever forget.

-Max Lippitt

Boker Tov!

Boker Tov everyone!  We are all having an incredible experience so far in Israel.  The past three days have been extremely special.  We are all getting to know one another better and are enjoying learning about how incredible Israel is together.  On Sunday we went to the Holy City of Safed  where we got to see ancient temples of mystical and rationale Judaism.  While the Temples were beautiful it was also interesting to learn about a type of Judaism that many of us were not very familiar with.  The girls also loved the shopping!  Later that day we went rafting on the Jordan river which was very relaxing and refreshing.  Finally, we went to `Mount Bental where we learned about the Battle of 1967 between Israel and Syria.  It was especially moving to be able to experience it with the Israeli soldiers on our trip that we have all learned to know and love. 

Monday and Tuesday were even more busy then Sunday!  On Monday we went to Yifat where we got to meet people involved in the partnership between the metro Detroit area and their designated city in Israel.  This was especially meaningful for me because last summer my family hosted two girls from Nahalal which is Ann Arbor's sister city in Israel.  It was very cool for me to be able to see where the girls were from and be reminded of how important these partnerships are.  Later that day we went to climb Ein Ovdat which was very special.  I am afraid of heights but even I could greatly appreciate the beautiful view.  After that we went to visit the first Prime Minister of Israel, Ben Gurion's grave.  I loved learning more about this incredible person's life and why he chose that place in the dessert to be buried.  Finally, we made our way to the Bedouin tents in the dessert where we got to ride camels!  All of us were so excited for this.  While the Bedouin tents did not provide for the best sleep, it was very cool to be able to meet up with other Birthright groups from all over the country and I think it made our group even closer.

After that sleepless night we woke up at six in the morning to climb Masada.  The climb up to Masada was fairly easy and we greatly enjoyed learning about King Hordos and the sprawling castle he built upon this beautiful mountain.  The way back down was a little harder and all of us couldn't wait for lunch after that!  After that we made our way to the Dead Sea which sounded so great after walking in the dessert in extremely hot weather.  The Dead Sea was very cool, we all rubbed mud over our bodies and then jumped back in to wash it off!  After this we all crashed on the bus and made our way to the Holy City.  Upon Arriving in Jerusalem we were greeted by a woman from Hillel Israel at Mount Scopes which looked down upon Jerusalem leaving a beautiful view.  It was a very moving experience looking down on Jerusalem and saying the Motzi and reciting the Shecyanu.  It was so fun dancing around with our Hillel groups.  I am so excited to explore the old city tomorrow and go to the Western Wall.  I can't believe it will already be our seventh day, I already know I'm going to be missing Israel and the lifelong friends I've made.

- Maya Greifer 

Bus 1071 Adventures

Greetings from Israel!

Hello from Israel!  To all the parents who have been checking this blog to see how we are all doing, don't worry, we are great! Between the arrival, activities, and celebration of Shabbat this past weekend, we could not get to a computer to write to all of you and let you know how we are doing.  So we guess we'll just start from the beginning.  The first flight was long but meeting everyone was a great thing to do on a long flight because honestly we didn't have anything better to do than talk on a seven and a half hour plane ride.  The multiple days of travel definitely took a toll on our sense of time, it felt like 4 or 5 days not 36 hours.

The flight into Tel Aviv was nice, customs was a breeze and meeting the Israeli soldiers was a great experience to have.  The soldiers are all from different parts of the Israeli army and all have very cool and interesting stories as they all are at different parts of their tours and all have different stories to tell.  The soldier's names are Aviv, Noga, Gal, Chen, and Ya'el.  They are all on vacation from their tours and it's really nice to know that even the people who live here haven't seen it all or done it all.  They are people just like us and like we haven't all seen all of our home states and countries, they haven't seen all of the things there is to see in Israel even though it is their home.  But I digress.  The first place we went to was Ashkelon and it was a great time meeting everyone fully and visiting the town, getting the first real taste of the Israeli lifestyle was a fantastic experience to have.

On Friday, we visited Ceasaria and had our wonderful tour guide, Muki, show us the first of many great places we have seen thus far.  We visited Herod's Palace and learned of the Roman occupation of Israel.  we got to get our first taste of the mediteranian sea since we were able to feel the sand,  smell the air, and hear the water. ramot hamadiv was the next place that we traveled, followed by the memorial garden in zichron yachov. This is the memorial site for Barron Rothschild. It was a beautiful garden that showed how prosperous the area is and is resilient throughout time. We enjoyed a secular shabbat service led by Muki and Jess (a participant on the trip). We had a wonderful dinner that evening. The next day was Shabbat so the entire town was shut down. We were able to take a walking tour of a Druez village which we are currently staying in.

Shabbat ended with Havdalah. We then had a free night in Naharym and were able to bond with one another in the land of Israel. 

Keep checking back for more updates from Bus 1071!