Hello, Sam Maller and Ilana Crankshaw reporting live from Bat Yam at the end of our first full day in the Promised Land. After settling in last night, the Fellows did their best to wind down and get some sleep for today. We started our day by visiting where it all began: Independence Hall is not the most beautiful of buildings, but it offers powerful insight and solid history lessons to all who visit. After the video that everyone told us they’d wake us up after, we saw where it all happened. In the hall of independence that doubled as a bomb shelter we learned about the struggle and events that lead to and followed the founding of Israel.
Then we moved to Rabin Square where we found shade and learned the history of the area. We read the song that Rabin sang after his famous speech and we stood in the spot where he was assassinated (kinda creepy). We looked into his leadership style and were asked the question that he faced – Is it better to lead by what you think is right, or lead by consensus? After taking a quick group photo, we headed to Shankin Street for shopping and Shawarma. After we all got over the humidity and the heat, we all had a great time poking around the Shuk and eating lunch in the park.
Our final program took us to South Tel Aviv where we visited the first and only functioning secular yeshiva in Israel. We got a sample of the studying that takes place in the Yeshiva, which is located in the most impoverished section of the city. After our discussion, we toured around the area in southern Tel Aviv. We saw how little help the people there receive from the Israeli government and learned about what the yeshiva is doing to help. We were all surprised to see this part of Israel which is so different then what we picture when we think about this holy place.
We wrapped up the day with some R&R on the beach where we were all quickly introduced to a school of baby jellyfish that were hanging out in the low tide. We indulged in a great dinner and played games on the beach while we were watching the sunset. After our night circle, we tried to find some peace in the circus that is the lobby of our hotel…which we are sharing with 80 South African teenagers and a group of 20 USY kids.
Until tomorrow…Dillers signing off.
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