Friday, Saturday, Sunday: Celebrating Shabbat in Jerusalem

The group has had a powerful first few days in Israel. Bus 35 enjoyed calling Jerusalem home from Friday through Sunday, celebrating Shabbat and visiting the Old City and the Western Wall, Israel's Parliament building and the Supreme Court, Ben Yehuda Street (a popular pedestrian mall), Yad Vashem (the world center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust), Mt. Herzl (Israel's national cemetery), Machane Yehuda (Jerusalem's outdoor market, also known as the shuk), and more.

Welcomings

Upon arriving at Ben Gurion Airport, the participants were greeted by several key people. Micha'el, the tour educator, whose storytelling skills and vast knowledge have already captivated and enriched the students on the trip, began making the students feel welcome before they even boarded the bus that will continue to transport them for the duration of the program. The participants also met the eight active Israeli soldiers who have been given special dispensation to leave their posts for the next several days to accompany the group in a peer-to-peer mifgash (Hebrew for "encounter"). Many of the eight soldiers hail from Baltimore's sister city in Israel, Ashkelon, or nearby Ashdod. Their names are Chen, Or-Tal, Gavi, Snir, Amir, T.B., Gal, and Yoav. Because of Israel's compulsory military service, the Israeli soldiers and North American students are the same age. The mifgash lets trip participants see Israel through unique and relatable perspectives, as well as reintroduces the soldiers to their home through the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time.

With the soldiers, students, luggage, and staff on the bus, the group made its way toward Jerusalem early Friday morning. Bus 35 stopped at the Haas Promenade to be formally welcomed to Jerusalem with a taste of wine, some rugelach (fresh pastries), and the opportunity to say the Shehecheyanu prayer, giving thanks for having reached a momentous occasion. Micha'el oriented the group with an impressive run-down of Jewish history from the time of Abraham to the founding of the State of Israel (1948) in less than twenty minutes.

The group continued on to the hotel, where they dropped off their belongings before setting off for the Old City of Jerusalem. There, the group visited the Davidson Center to gain a sense of the ancient layers of Jerusalem's history. Ongoing excavation efforts through the Davidson Center, some 100 meters south of the Temple Mount, allowed the students to observe and stand in places that had been completely buried until very recently, where stones had been thrown down during the destruction of Herod's Temple in the year 70. Virtual reality reconstructions also allowed the students to glimpse what the Temple might have looked like prior to its destruction nearly two thousand years ago.

The students then enjoyed lunch on their own in the Old City, and many chose to enjoy their inaugural Israeli falafel, much to their satisfaction. After some free time for shopping, the group reconvened and made its way to a rooftop overlooking all four quarters of Jerusalem's Old City (Armenian, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian). Micha'el pointed out that for folks using Europe, Asia, and Africa as their geographic frame of reference, the Middle East is central. In the heart of the Middle East is Israel, in the center of which lies Jerusalem. At Jerusalem's core is the Old City. The group's rooftop position at the nexus of the Old City's four quarters afforded everyone the chance to be welcomed yet again--this time, to the very center of the world.

One astute student asked why the group was being welcomed again and again; isn't it redundant? The group then learned about the Jewish injunction to practice hachnasat orchim, welcoming guests, as well as the value of mindfully savoring moments. The group was also told of the following legend regarding the creation of the world. Each day of creation is said to have a partner: the first and fourth days are linked by the initial creation of light & the subsequent creation of celestial bodies; the second and fifth days by the creation of a firmament separating the waters above and below and the later creation of birds & sea creatures to populate those realms respectively; and the third and sixth days by the organizing of bodies of water to expose dry land and the antecedent creation of animals and humans to populate the land. Shabbat, however, had no partner. Therefore, it is said, the Jewish people itself serves as a partner for Shabbat, the day of rest. In traditional Jewish liturgy for Friday night, Shabbat is described as a bride to be welcomed by her partner. The liturgy was penned by mystics who did just that, venturing outdoors at dusk on Fridays in order to greet the Sabbath bride and re-center themselves, much like the group was doing this past Friday on a rooftop in the center of Jerusalem.

Shabbat

With the sun descending on Friday evening, the group made its way on foot to the Kotel HaMa'aravi, the Western Wall. That the visit was on Shabbat meant experiencing not just a special place, but a special time. The students had witnessed firsthand the transformation of the Old City during the afternoon into a frenzied pre-Shabbat zone, and then into a place of stillness and palpable spirituality as people stepped into the day of rest. Thousands of people amassed at the Kotel to mark the start of the Sabbath with prayers. Some of the members of Bus 35 were whisked into circles of people dancing: jeans among throngs of black suits and hats, voices rising together.

The group endured a long walk back to the hotel (about 1.5 hours) before getting its first night of sleep since leaving the United States. Needless to say, the students made their way to bed as soon as they finished a delicious Shabbat dinner back at the hotel.


On Saturday, Bus 35 walked over to the K'nesset, Israel's parliament, and the neighboring Supreme Court building. The group saw the iconic menorah, pictured here, outside of the K'nesset, and learned a little bit about how Israel operates and its system of governance. Everyone then settled in at a rose garden to have the first of several facilitated group conversations, this one about Jewish Memory.

After a light evening meal back at the hotel, the group bid farewell to Shabbat with a brief ceremony called Havdallah. The students enjoyed two hours of free time on Ben Yehuda Street that night, learning from their soldier counterparts to haggle over prices with store owners in true Israeli form.

Sunday

A lot of Taglit-Birthright Israel groups are in Israel right now; Bus 35 was staying in the same hotel as six other groups over the weekend. When the group reached Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust commemoration museum, on Sunday, 1,700 personal listening devices had been checked out.

Sunday was a tough day emotionally. Many members of the group were particularly touched by the Children's Memorial at the museum. The museum tour guide truly brought to life many of the artifacts housed there. He spoke of the impossibility of understanding what had happened, and of the importance, therefore, of remembering what had been lost, feeling a sense of loss, and ensuring that similar atrocities never again happen.

The group also had a special audience with Duki Gelber, a Holocaust survivor from Holland who has lived in Israel now for more than fifty years. He had had a relatively privileged life as an "Exchange Jew" for much of World War II, but he spent over a year at the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen before being liberated.

Micha'el, the tour educator, pointed out the juxtaposition of Israel's national observance of Holocaust Memorial day, Yom HaShoah, and Israel's Independence Day, Yom Ha'Atzma'ut, which falls immediately on the heels of Yom HaShoah. With that contextualization, the group took a trip to Machane Yehuda, a boisterous and jostling open-air market where many Jerusalemites shop regularly for produce, bulk spices and dried goods, and local treats. The vibrant sights, sounds, and tastes of the market were a welcome change in the midst of weighty day. Pictured here are students enjoying two Israeli delicacies: Krembo puffs and Aroma iced coffees.

The group then proceeded to Har Herzl (Mount Herzl), Israel's national cemetery, named after the founder of modern Zionism. There, Micha'el shared the story of the solitary survivor of a pogrom in Russia, who grew up without a sense of his Jewish heritage. He also told the story of a boy whose mother put him on the last Kindertransport train leaving Austria during World War II and who was ultimately raised by an Anglican priest in England, also without a Jewish identity. After offering the two stories, Micha'el shared that the Russian boy was actually his mother's father, who is now 101 years old and living in Israel. The Austrian child, Hans, was to become Micha'el's father. The stories illustrated the significance of the State of Israel being born out of the ashes of a war-torn Europe. As a result, people like Micha'el's parents and grandparents were able to re-make their lives and discover lost identities, family members, and pieces of themselves. It is against that backdrop, Micha'el pointed out, that the sacrifices made by members of Israel's Defense Force and by Israeli citizens in general must be seen. It is why people are willing to give their lives. The group learned of Ro'ee Klein, z"l, who was an Israeli lieutenant colonel in the summer of 2006, at the time of the Second Lebanon War. Finding himself in a room packed with the rest of his battalion when he spotted a live grenade, Ro'ee called out the words of the Shema and he hurled himself onto the grenade to successfully save the lives of the rest of his team.

It was a powerful, intense day, to say the least, but the students have demonstrated extraordinary maturity and willingness to engage personally with difficult matters.

In the evening, Goucher College President Sandy Ungar joined the group for dinner. Bus 35 was treated to a program with an Israeli filmmaker on Sunday evening, and the group left Jerusalem today to spend a few days in the southern parts of Israel.