Day 3: we started the day at Yad V'shem which is the Holocaust remembrance memorial in Jerusalem. We got a guided tour through the memorial. The memorial had a very deep meaning and impact on the whole group because everything about the memorial represented something about the holocaust or had a meaning relating to the holocaust. Everything from the building to the way the floor was laid out to the way you walked through each exhibit held meaning; as we walked through the memorial we were overwhelmed with a lot of emotions and feelings. We also visited the children's memorial and came out with tears in eyes.
After we had a quick break and discussion as a group, we walked over to Mt. Herzel, is the national cemetery for soldiers who have passed away. We visited graves of prime ministers and other significant Israeli political figures. We even went to the most recent graves that were added to the cemetery. We saw in particular Max Steinberg's grave who was a lone soldier who was killed in the war last summer who was from LA and raised in the valley in Woodland Hills. It was a very powerful sight to see and everybody was overwhelmed with emotion..
We then had a closing maagal (circle) where we discussed our feelings about these visits and It was very emotional and special to the group. We finished our day at the shuk (market) which was very exciting for everyone to see and we all enjoyed ourselves. Overall the day was a very powerful day And was filled with a lot a lot of meaning. Los Angeles Diller cohort 8 signing out. ©
By Justin Greenwald and Adam Benezra
Day 4: After a wonderful opportunity to sleep in late Shabbat morning, we joined many of the other peers at the Great Synagogue. Sadly we were unable to go into the main sanctuary but we had an amazing service downstairs that the rabbi let us in, including an intellectual sermon on geopolitical matters that was taking place in the world. After this we had a very cultural talk among the fellows leading us to become more worldly people and better equipped citizens of the United States of America.
We had a delicious lunch at the hotel and after lunch we enjoyed a beautiful walk around Jerusalem into the old city. Our tour guide Leor let us through a tour showing us all the amazing land sites that existed thousands of years ago. We went to the Wailing Wall (Kotel) and many of our fellows had very deep discussions with Jews that were praying as well as some Orthodox Jews regarding political matters and the ideological views on Jewish people in Israel. Later we walked back and had a beautiful dinner Shabbat dinner at the hotel and a nice maagal that bonded the group closer than ever.
Then, we had a beautiful havdallah service concluding shabbat, but the night was just getting started. The fellows walked to Ben Yehuda street and had a delicious dinner, some ice cream, and even bought clothes for siblings back home. It was a great time for all.
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