8th Grade Israel Solidarity Trip 2024: Day 1

Day 1 - Thursday, May 9th

We woke up at 6:30 to get ready for the day, and headed down to breakfast at 7:00, and had a nice and varied hotel meal. We then went on the bus to the Memorial of the Foreign Volunteers. This memorial commemorates the soldiers from other countries who volunteered their time and effort to fight for Israel in the Independence War, and unfortunately died during battle. There we had Tefillah, and we also sang some of Hallel for Rosh Chodesh. Then we drove to the Bedouin high school near Rahat, where we met with some of the students, who were very nice. We were welcomed in warmly and given food and water, while we talked to a group of girls from the school. One big goal of the visit was to eliminate common stereotypes and get a real impression of how others live their lives. As we spoke to them, we learned specifically about how they live and how it differs from our lives. For example, in order to buy various things online they have to wait a couple of weeks and then drive an hour up to Be’er Sheva. After our round of conversation starters, we had a competition to see who could learn the most Arabic words in five minutes. To close it out, we learned a Bedouin dance from them, which included bending our knees and clapping in sync. 

Next, we drove to Ofakim and visited the tech center there. We had a good lunch with fresh fruit and pastries. The kids from the school showed us the complex robots that they made for their robotics competitions made possible by Hausner community donations.and explained the competition rules. After that, we walked with the students down the streets of Ofakim where people were killed on October 7th. We learned how people fought the terrorists with barely any weapons in order to protect and save other members of their community. Rather than try to hide, they went out and risked their lives to try to keep others safe. Although the city rebuilt most of the destruction, we still saw some of the damage that was done. There were walls riddled with bullet holes, and posters of the dead spread everywhere. We then heard a story from one of the girls from the school about how her father was a police officer and went to help against the attacks on October 7th. Sadly, he was killed by the terrorists, but saved many lives in the process. This story was very powerful and showed us just how real the attacks were. Before this, it was easier to separate ourselves from what had happened, but after seeing these places and hearing the stories it showed just how much everyone in Israel was affected by October 7th. We also lit yizkor candles at each of the sites to remember those who were lost and pay our respects. We then went back to the school and the teacher told us about Yonatan, an alum that was killed in combat in Gaza. They then gave us shirts to wear on Yom Hazikaron with Yonatan’s face on it. We got gifts made by the students that included bookmarks, kippot, and havdalah candles. This experience was very meaningful and showed us how kids our age were personally affected by the attacks. 

Our next stop was the memorial for the people killed and taken hostage at the Nova music festival on October 7th. This memorial was very powerful, due to it being created entirely by families and friends of the victims. All of these loved ones came together to design and build their own special memorial. This attack was also more significant because it was one of the largest in Jewish history, only five kilometers from the border to Gaza, around a two minute drive. It felt a little bit weird being so close to the border, just a few kilometers from explosions. In the memorial site there were large stands with pictures and information of the victims. Each picture had ceramic Kalaniot (anemone flowers) around it. There were two pictures of people who had died and they had personal notes taped onto the photos of them. The note talked about how they never stopped missing that person, how it was the sixth month anniversary from October 7th, and how they’ll always miss the person’s smile. It was very meaningful and showed the impact that this had on the families and loved ones. We discussed how it’s important to focus on each of the individuals personal life, and not just what happened to them on October 7th, but who they were as people and how they lived happy lives. 

After that we started our two hour drive back to Jerusalem. There we had dinner on Ben Yehudah street and we got to choose what to eat. Most of us ate falafel or pizza. We also stopped for some shopping and dessert. Back at the hotel we had some free time in the rooms, and there was some guy outside our room playing really loud music. We ended our day watching Israel in the Eurovision semi finals (we qualified for the finals!!!) and then went to sleep.