Jerusalem
Hello from Jerusalem, where we have been since last Thursday. I apologize for not writing sooner, but it has been a very, very busy period of time here. Here are some highlights:
-Welcoming Shabbat at the Western Wall on Friday evening. The scene is like nothing else in the Jewish world, with the entire wall area filling up with Jews of all types, from everywhere, praying in their own customary ways. The highlight here was a large group of religious IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) soldiers who loudly sang their rallying cry, “Am Yisrael Chai” while dancing in a circle with a smaller circle of American Birthright students in the middle.
-Visiting Yad Vashem, the nation’s memorial to those who died in the Holocaust. I had been to Yad Vashem before, but had forgotten about the most powerful part of the visit, exiting the museum in sight of a breathtaking vista of the land of Israel.
-Travelling to Bethlehem (more on this later) and visiting the West Bank for the first time. In short, I was very impressed by the state of the infrastructure and am hopeful about the future of the region.
-Touring East Jerusalem, including the hotbed of Sheikh Jarrah, and seeing firsthand how the Separation Barrier affects the lives of the Palestinians living behind the wall.
