By Mike Levine and Stephen Cofer. Hi Mom ;)
To begin our day group 89 met with Rabbi in the activity room for a ”Taste of Jewish learning”. The debate was whether the belief in god is considered a mitzvah, or should be an understood principle of our religion. From there we drove to the Prime Minister’s home. Gilad Shalit is an Israeli soldier who was captured by the Hamas about 5 years ago, and his family set up a tent to urge the government to negotiate a deal to get him returned home. In Israel, negotiating with terrorists is an everyday part of life unlike in the U.S. The controversy surrounding Gilad, is that Hamas is demanding the release of approximately 450 captured terrorists in return for Gilad. From there, we walked to a park in Jerusalem and held a closing session with the soldiers where everyone including the soldiers expressed how they felt about the trip and about meeting each other and what we had learned from each other. This is also where we had to part ways and say goodbye. This was a bitter sweet moment for us all, as we were all so grateful to experience the trip with each other, yet so sad to see part of our “family” leave. The relationship built between the soldiers and our Mayanot family is unexplainable, and something that we would cherish and not let it fade in the future. As were getting closer to concluding our trip, we will go back to the reality of our everyday American lives, while the 8 of them all go back to the harsh reality of serving in the Israeli army.
After the park, we walked to the Old City. Upon arriving we took a quick tour of the outskirts of the city, along with an inside tour and explanation of the archeological sites. The Old City is divided into 4 quadrants, each practicing their own religion. We were given a couple hours of free time in the city to get lunch, and to shop in the various stores that populate the city. We then made our way to the western wall also known as the Kotel. We took 20 minutes for self-meditation to jot down our thoughts and prayers, and went to the wall to enter our prayers and to pray while touching it. The guys were given the opportunity to put on Tefillin at the Kotel, while we placed our notes into the wall. We also got to witness an IDF induction ceremony commencing at the wall, and saw all different types of soldiers and people there. We then chose to walk to the other end of the wall where there would be less people to carry out bar and bat mitzvahs. We had 4 boys and 4 girls who performed the right of passage, and spoke to the group and celebrated with their Mayanot family by singing dancing and throwing candy.
After our great experience in the old city, we took a 3 hour bus ride to the Bedouin tents located in the dessert in southern Israel. Each group was given their own tent and given sleeping bags to sleep in. We had a family meal in a tent, provided by the Bedouins. After this, we hiked into the desert, in order to have a meditation session without any distractions in the open barren desert. We formed a large circle in the group, and everyone was given time to reflect alone on life and to meditate under the moonlight, and quietness of the desert. We brought the group back together, and held a discussion where we reflected on our experiences so far in Israel. Everyone got a chance to speak to the group, and see how much this trip has truly changed everyone’s lives. We returned to the campsite, started a bonfire, and continued to learn about each other in a bonding moment sleeping under the same tent in the desert.
To begin our day group 89 met with Rabbi in the activity room for a ”Taste of Jewish learning”. The debate was whether the belief in god is considered a mitzvah, or should be an understood principle of our religion. From there we drove to the Prime Minister’s home. Gilad Shalit is an Israeli soldier who was captured by the Hamas about 5 years ago, and his family set up a tent to urge the government to negotiate a deal to get him returned home. In Israel, negotiating with terrorists is an everyday part of life unlike in the U.S. The controversy surrounding Gilad, is that Hamas is demanding the release of approximately 450 captured terrorists in return for Gilad. From there, we walked to a park in Jerusalem and held a closing session with the soldiers where everyone including the soldiers expressed how they felt about the trip and about meeting each other and what we had learned from each other. This is also where we had to part ways and say goodbye. This was a bitter sweet moment for us all, as we were all so grateful to experience the trip with each other, yet so sad to see part of our “family” leave. The relationship built between the soldiers and our Mayanot family is unexplainable, and something that we would cherish and not let it fade in the future. As were getting closer to concluding our trip, we will go back to the reality of our everyday American lives, while the 8 of them all go back to the harsh reality of serving in the Israeli army.
After the park, we walked to the Old City. Upon arriving we took a quick tour of the outskirts of the city, along with an inside tour and explanation of the archeological sites. The Old City is divided into 4 quadrants, each practicing their own religion. We were given a couple hours of free time in the city to get lunch, and to shop in the various stores that populate the city. We then made our way to the western wall also known as the Kotel. We took 20 minutes for self-meditation to jot down our thoughts and prayers, and went to the wall to enter our prayers and to pray while touching it. The guys were given the opportunity to put on Tefillin at the Kotel, while we placed our notes into the wall. We also got to witness an IDF induction ceremony commencing at the wall, and saw all different types of soldiers and people there. We then chose to walk to the other end of the wall where there would be less people to carry out bar and bat mitzvahs. We had 4 boys and 4 girls who performed the right of passage, and spoke to the group and celebrated with their Mayanot family by singing dancing and throwing candy.
After our great experience in the old city, we took a 3 hour bus ride to the Bedouin tents located in the dessert in southern Israel. Each group was given their own tent and given sleeping bags to sleep in. We had a family meal in a tent, provided by the Bedouins. After this, we hiked into the desert, in order to have a meditation session without any distractions in the open barren desert. We formed a large circle in the group, and everyone was given time to reflect alone on life and to meditate under the moonlight, and quietness of the desert. We brought the group back together, and held a discussion where we reflected on our experiences so far in Israel. Everyone got a chance to speak to the group, and see how much this trip has truly changed everyone’s lives. We returned to the campsite, started a bonfire, and continued to learn about each other in a bonding moment sleeping under the same tent in the desert.
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