Shalom from Jerusalem and Netanya! (Posted by Jasmine and Jordan)

Shalom from Jerusalem and Netanya!
On our last day in Jerusalem, we woke up to a breakfast at the Ben Rabin Youth Guesthouse. Shortly after, our chaperones introduced us to the American Michael Levin, a hero who showed exceptional passion for the Israeli Defense Forces, and so much so that he made Aliyah to Israel in order to fight for the IDF. His documentary was greatly touching, and reminded all of us of the sacrifices made to preserve this country's statehood. After the movie, we boarded the bus, heading for The Mount Hertzl Memorial. There, many notable Prime Ministers of Israel, peace leaders, war heroes, generals, and soldiers (including Michael Levin) are buried here. Viewing Michael Levin's grave site connected all of us to the film in a deeply profound manner. In fact, many of the Israelis and Americans shed tears for a man whom we have never met; the sheer national pride and optimism Michael had reminded us to not fear our enemies, take risks for the things we love, and to smile while doing all of that. On this day of remembrance, we then participated in a guided audio tour of The Yad Vashem (a Holocaust museum). It was difficult to listen to some of the things the tour guide told us because of how the Jews became like "subhuman" creatures, as the guide called it. One important mission of the Museum was to strive towards in the opposite direction of the actions of the Nazis, individualizing each and every victim of this tragedy by keeping and updating an archive of their names, instead of generalizing the Jews as a population that did not deserve life. By showing us some of the names of the victims on a screen, a personal connection was made, and as a result, we gained a greater understanding of what six million deaths means. That number is more than just a figure; it is really a collection of people's tragic deaths, for example, Dorotka Goldstein. If one wants to envision what a million is, he first has to understand the concept of one. After our morning and lunch in Jerusalem, we drove to Netanya, where we will stay for the week. We met our host families, had an evening activity, got ice cream, then relaxed until 11:00.


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