Friday, July 20, 2012. Israel day 4
As we boarded the bus for Jerusalem, excitement was in the air. We were
all anticipating the holy city and could not wait to get there as a
group. After a two hour drive from the kineret, we arrived to a
beautiful viewpoint overlooking the ancient city. The
guilded domes of buildings rose above the horizon line and the famous
stacked architecture of the city was spread out in front of us, inviting
us to come explore.
Our first stop was the City of David, an ancient underground water
tunnel system. Escaping from the heat of the day we climbed down into
the dark coolness of the waterways, and traipsed through the 1/2
kilometer walk singing and laughing the whole way through.
After leaving the tunnels, we started walking towards the jewish
quarter. All around us, chaos ensued as it does every Friday afternoon
in the old city with everyone hustling to prepare for Shabbat. We made
our way across the slippery stone paths and winding
stairs up until we reached the Jewish quarter. Lunching on shwarma and
fallafel, we took in the rich Jewish history of our surroundings.
Walking just a minute from the Jewish quarter, we reached the kotel, the
western wall and the most holy place for us as Jews. Approaching the
smooth yet cracked stone, we could feel the spirituality and the pure
belief. Weather or not each of us was religious,
there was mutual understanding in the importance and symbolism of the
kotel.
After a great day of sightseeing, we headed back to the hotel to get
ready for Shabbat. It was our first shabbat in Israel, and we wanted to
take advantage of the opportunity to try something new for many of us.
So, once the sun went down we headed across
the street to an orthodox synogogue to experience observance of the
sabbath with Israelis.
Your Leaders of The Day,
Emily Rubin and Jenny Gross
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