Then, on Thursday....
After visiting the Kinneret cemetery and the graves of great Israeli poets like Rachel (Bluwstein) and Naomi Shemer, we took a refreshing dip at Sachne (Gan Hashelosha) a natural hot spring. We enjoyed a picnic lunch of schnitzel baguettes and salad before we hopped back on the bus. We stopped briefly at Beit Alpha to see one of the world's oldest synagogues, and then…we arrived in Tel-Aviv! It’s Zach Zinman here. Our class had the opportunity to experience the electric energy of the coastal city. It was not only the sites that made us feel this way, though. The people in this city had a welcoming vibe. This attitude made for great interviews. We were asked to talk to people in Tel-Aviv about the upcoming election. I found it fascinating that very different people can have such similar beliefs.
Seeing where and how Yitzhak Rabin was shot was very chilling. The fact that another human being, let alone an Israeli, was so consumed with hatred that he committed this horrendous act, frightened the class. It really made us stop and think about politcal diodes in this country. This memorial did an incredible job at capturing this moment of history. It did this by securing plates into the ground, showing where everyone was during the incident. Knowing that a very important man was shot at the exact spot we were at, was difficult to comprehend.
We loved the beach. I didn’t know that looking out at the Mediterranean Sea was so mesmerizing. Besides the great pictures, running around on the gorgeous white, soft, sand was enjoyable.
On Friday morning, we had the privilege of being hosted by our sister school, Shimoni in Givatayim. It was amazing to see a K-8 school like ours, but with 800 students! We did some activities together in library before the really friendly students took us on tours throughout the school. We played basketball and they made an escape room for us, too. It was amazing to just hang out and find out how much we had in common, and how similar our lives are, but kinda different, too. We all exchanged email and Instagram and we’re really excited about our new friends in Israel!
After that, we all headed off to our host families for some R&R. Our JDS friends spent Shabbat in Jerusalem. We met back up on Sunday morning and toured around the city, did the Independence Trail down Rothschild Boulevard and also checked out Migdal Shalom and the Technology and Innovation Museum in the Tel Aviv Stock exchange.
Tel-Aviv is a special city. It has the buzz and rush of New York, along with the beaches of paradise. Definitely a highlight of our trip!
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