Greetings from the holy land!

San Francisco Diller cohort 16 has landed! It might have been just 48 hours ago and we have begun our journey her in the land of israel. 

As we landed Thursday afternoon we we greeted by our wonderful "Moreh Derech"- Tour Guide, Lior, who was waiting for us with lunch and a luxurious air conditioned bus.

First stop was Mini Israel, a miniature model of Israel, where Tal Gale came to meet us and give us her opening words. We learnt about Israel through a scavenger hunt in Mini Israel.

From there our bus took us to Jerusalem, starting with Haas promenade, where we observed the old city.

Tired but excited, we got to our fine hotel - Jerusalem gate hotel.

Friday was an extremely powerful day. We started in "Yad Va'Shem", the holocaust museum. After the museum tour, our "Moshe"s (leaders of the day)- Hallie and Ari, prepared a short emotional ceremony for us.

Next up was a short climb to Mount Herzl, Israel's national cemetery. We learned about Herzl, visited Israel's past prime minister's graves, as well as brave soldiers'.

Shabbat! We put notes in the "Kotel" (Western wall), and had our lovely Kabbalat Shabbat, courtesy of our "Moshe"s on the old city rooftops, overviewing the Kotel.

Shabbat morning we had an option between an Ultra-Orthodox service in one of Jerusalem's most famous synagogues. (talk about stepping out of comfort zone...) and alternative reflective-fresh air-spiritual time.

We then walked together to the "Kneset" (Israel's parliament), where we started learning about Israeli politics (which is very different from the US').

After a much deserved Shabbat rest we had another walking tour in one of the oldest Jerusalem neighborhoods "Mishkanot Sha'ananim", before having a beautiful Havdallah service in nature.

There's so much more to say, and the experiences are sometimes too meaningful to describe, so we'll leave that to our wonderful fellows to publish their own words.

Shavua Tov!