Does this thing still work?

We spent last night sleeping in the middle of the desert, so there were no chargers for our handy-dandy blogging accouterment. Since it is 1:30 in the morning here, we’ll also have to keep this entry short and won’t be able to post pictures until we land back in L.A. again.

We spent last night huddled around a campfire, introducing our Israeli soldiers to the joy of s’mores. we slept in one big Bedouin tent and awoke just after sunrise for a morning desert hike. After learning about the geology of the terrain and even discovering some skeletons, we visited the grave site of the first prime minister of Israel, David Ben Gurion. The views and the heat were both profound.

We finally made our way to Tel Aviv, the beach city we had all heard so much about. We soaked up some sun and then sadly had to say goodbye to the amazing Israeli soldiers that had been traveling with us for the past 5 days. We ate a hearty dinner and got ready for our last night out.

We danced the night away and are all now sadly packing our bags either for the long 16 hour flight back to L.A. continued journeys. We’ll finish our last day as a group here in Tel Aviv, visiting the site where modern day Israelis can’t get enough.

Today was both physically and emotionally moving. We started our day in Jerusalem and are currently in the Negev desert in the south of Israel in the town of Arad.

The first half of our day was emotionally strenuous as we visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. This moving series of images, movies, and sounds was preceded by a special gift in the form of Asher Ud, a holocaust survivor that told us his story live. Our engaged group asked questions and hung on to his every word as he shared his unimaginable journey through war to eventually becoming an Israeli national.

After a private tour in the very crowded museum, we also stepped through an amazing exhibit in honor of the children of the Holocaust that had our participants walking through darkness and looking into mirrors reflecting candle light that symbolized the stars. The silence and emotion was palpable.

Next, we continued to Mount Herzl, the national cemetery dedicated to Israel’s heroes. Accompanied by our 8 Israeli soldiers, a security guard, and a tour guide who were all serving actively, it was moving to learn about the stories of those who had lost their lives in order to create and maintain the state of Israel. Our soldiers shared personal stories of loss and fear and the lesson became suddenly very real. They led our participants in a moving tribute to fallen soldiers and we wiped our eyes before heading back on a long bus ride south.

To pick up the mood, our tour guide taught us the “phrase of the day” in Hebrew. One of our Israeli soldiers, Or, suggested the hebrew word “fadicha” which means “embarrassment.” The morning’s tears if sadness shifted to tears of laughter as we filled the time on the ride by having participants come up to the mic on the bus and share their biggest “fadicha.”

We arrived in Arad, having passed camels on the road and gotten our first taste of the desert winds. We will wake up very early tomorrow morning (3:30 am) to climb Masada and watch the sun rise. As such, we are headed to bed early to rest our eyes and bodies for the long day ahead.

Shabbat Shalom everyone! We didn’t post about our day yesterday because by the time we finished with our days activities, Shabbat had begun and so we thought we would try to take a rest too! What a day Friday was though! We started by heading out to the old city to meet our Israeli soldiers that have joined our trip for the next five days. There are eight of them and they are all amazing! Once we got to know them a little bit, we headed into the old city to see what we could see! The amazing part about seeing the old city on Friday morning is that it is just before Shabbat. There is something truly magical about being in the old city at this time. There is literally a palpable energy in the air as people get ready for their week to come to a close.

We concluded our tour by going to the Kotel, or the Western Wall. Some of the guys wrapped T’fillin for the first time and Janelle led all of the women in an uplifting talk about the importance of being a woman in Judaism today.

We left the old city to head off to Machne Yehuda, an open air market that is especially busy on Fridays as people buy supplies and ingredients for Shabbat meals. Here we had lunch, and got to do some shopping. Janelle and I bought some snacks for the group for Shabbat incuding some Rugalah from Marzipan, which is known all throughout Israel as being one of the best bakeries in the country.

Once we finished up at the market place, we headed back to our hotel and after a minor hiccup in rearranging the rooms to accommodate our new friends, we all got ready for Shabbat. Janelle and I, along with several participants led the group in a very introspective Shabbat talking about different traditions and stories and what Shabbat meant to each one of us. There were definitely some warm fuzzies going around the room that night. Following services was dinner where participants Matt and Roy led our group in Kiddush and the Motzi to begin our meal. The rest of the night was filled with laughs, hugs and the joy of knowing we were going to be able to sleep in the next day!

Today there isn’t much to report. We all slept in until various hours of the morning and ended up by the pool for most of the day. Our hotel has a beautiful pool and basketball court and so most of our day was spent relaxing and continuing to get to know each other better. As the day wore on and our tans sunk in we joined together for dinner and then had a Havdallah service on a balcony overlooking the mountains that our hotel faces.

After Havdallah, we were greeted by someone from the David Project who gave us an Israel update and talked about ways that we as Americans can find out more information when we get home to continue to educate ourselves on the full context of what is happening over here.

Tomorrow, we go to Yad Vashem and to Mount Herzel, a military cemetery where people like Theodore Hertzl and Yitzak Rabin are buried. It’s going to be an emotional day for sure. We will end the day in Arad, which is south of Jerusalem and in the desert where we will be preparing to hike up Masada. Talk to you tomorrow!