8th Grade Israel Solidarity Trip 2024: Day 6

Day 6 - Tuesday, May 14th

We started Yom HaAtzmaut morning by praying at the Western Wall. Praying so close to such a holy location such as the Western Wall reminded us of how special this city is. We also said Hallel because it was Yom Ha’Atzmaut and the special section in the Amidah that is added for Yom Ha’Atzmaut. 

After that, we walked over to the Davidson Archeological Center. This museum showed a large section of archeological findings and artifacts. We saw different ancient arches, gates, and stairs that gave us a picture of what Jerusalem looked like through the years. We also watched a movie about the memory of rocks that explained how the area around the Dome of the Rock has so many different stories surrounding it and represents Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. We walked through the museum a little more and talked about the origin of the name Jerusalem. It was interesting to hear about how one place can be so important to so many different people and cultures and the history of who controlled the area at different times.

From there we proceeded to take a tour in the Kotel Tunnels which run under the Kotel and Muslim Quarter. The tour guide talked about how we were under an aquaduct that was used for thousands of years and we learned about the different techniques ancient people used to create such structures. She also talked about the process of digging up the ancient tunnels underground. As we walked around the tunnels we saw an ancient Roman bath house, a beautiful synagogue which was constructed not too long ago, and more that showed us the various layers of the city. It was a very interesting tour that helped us gain perspective on how people lived thousands of years ago. Even though there are definitely differences between people’s lives back then and now, it still showed us that the area is still very complicated and is constantly being fought over by different religions and cultures.

After our tour of the Kotel tunnels, we drove to the coast and stopped for lunch at a pizza place in Rishon Le’Zion. The pizza tasted very good, and sitting together at lunch was great. After that, we drove down to the beach to wind down and have some fun. It was a black flag day, so we took safety precautions and stayed close to shore as instructed. Most of us sat down at the edge of the water and let the waves crash over us. It was extremely fun to splash in the water with our friends it was nice and refreshing and definitely worth it. Then a fish washed up on shore, and a local girl helped us bury him in the sand. Some people were afraid of running in to jellyfish, and even though this beach had only had one jellyfish spotting this week we ended up seeing at least two. So we decided to leave the water and come together to dig a hole in the sand. We had lots of fun digging the hole and hanging out. We ended up even being able to dip our feet in the pool we dug. After that we cleaned up and all enjoyed some sweet frozen treats and returned to the hotel to pack for tomorrow, eat dinner, relax and pack…