Only in Israel can the happiest and saddest days of the year
be 60 seconds apart. I am of course speaking of Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut
which were commemorated and celebrated on Sunday and Monday respectively, and
are a crazily accurate depiction of the constantly dynamic and sometimes topsy-turvy
lives lived by Israelis; often times, happiness and sadness follow each other
far too closely. Our marking of Yom Hazikaron featured a moving ceremony held
by MASA for every one of their roughly 10,000 program participants at Latrun
including beautiful renditions of various songs as well as the paying of
respect to many of Israel’s casualties of war and terror with special mentions
to outstanding individuals who had fallen serving their country. Sunday also
saw us arrive at Kiryat Moria, our accommodation for the next few days, and
settle back into Jerusalem.
A majorly popular Yom Hazikaron commemoration for Israelis
is Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl, we joined thousands of other Israelis there and
paid our respects at the official service as well as with our own service and
the laying of flowers on a grave of our choice. Following this we were let
loose in Jerusalem for the next day and a half to celebrate Israel’s Independence
Day in whatever way we chose; a huge night followed and fun was had by all!
Tuesday night saw a bombshell dropped as bad weather prevented our desert
experience from going ahead and our schedule for the next few days completely
changed. The next morning we awoke and left Kiryat to the south of Jerusalem,
our first stop was a short hike known as Sataf followed by a delicious lunch of
schnitzel sandwiches which were delivered directly to us.
Next up we headed to a system of underground caves which
were previously used as escape tunnels but now allow members of the public to
crawl through the system. It was certainly not for the fainthearted or claustrophobic
as the bravest of us headed in and some for a second time. Our final stop of
the day before arriving at Kibbutz Galon, our accommodation for the next few
days, was the biblical Valley of Ella where, it is told, that David famously
bested the behemoth known as Goliath prior to achieving the kingship of Israel.
After a short discussion as to the reliability and truthfulness of the torah
and other religious texts we headed off to our accommodation. We were shocked
to see a kibbutz far nicer and better equipped than those which we had stayed
in earlier in the program.
Thursday featured a viewing of ‘The Wave,’ a film which
features the dangers of blind faith from a holocaust perspective, followed by
discussions surrounding our expectations and inhibitions for our upcoming trip
to Prague and Poland. The day was rounded out by some fun games before bedtime
and our release for yet
another free weekend.
Another awesome week down, 50 days to look forward to!
Jake
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