Friday morning we left the north of Israel, loaded the bus incredibly early, and headed to Jerusalem. It takes lots of time to load the bus, as everyone is staying in different towns all around Kiryat Shmona with our Israeli home hosts. Asa and I boarded the bus at 8, and we didnt actually leave the city until 9:30 or something. There were a few Israeli's who had a test on Friday morning and who came to meet us in Jerusalem later on that day at lunch.
Arriving in Jerusalem on a Friday afternoon is incredibly hectic. As the heart of the Jewish world, you can imagine that there is a lot of hustling and bustling being done to prepare for the Friday night Shabbat. The bus dropped us off...at 2 ish?...at a Shook (market) and we had an hour and a half to walk around, eat some lunch, and check out the goings on of the Friday afternoon hustle. The market was full of every type of person, and the stalls were full of different kinds of food. Challah stalls smelled of the most wonderful bread. Fish stalls, spices, fruits, veges, and everything else. I, along with a few others, went to eat lunch at a place I don't remember the name of. I ordered the business meal and had Asa actually order it. Beef something, rice with some stuff on it, salad, pita, pickles, a drink all for 48 sheqels (this is a good word for scrabble...no 'u'). It was good. After that we walked around the market for a bit and headed back to the bus. Every time I go into one of these places, the markets or somewhere for lunch, I wish we had more time to walk around, see the people and smell the sights. Although I know on an 11 day trip, this is generally not possible...this will not be the last time I say this to myself either.
At 3:30 the bus picked us up and brought us to our hotel to prepare for Kabbalat Shabbat http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0011_0_10515.html. at 5:00 we loaded the buses again and were brought to the old city, rejoined by our guide from the previous weekend Hadara, and headed to the Kotel for the service.
What an amazing sight an an amazing experience. We were able to welcome the Sabbath as a group at the one location that is central to the Jewish people. On Friday nights around the world people are facing towards this spot to pray, and here I was at the centre of it. The experience was uncanny. At the Kotel, people customarily will write a prayer and put it in the cracks of the wall to reach God. I sat in front of the Wall, walked around and through the halls that are open, leaned my head against the wall, toched it and kissed it and left my prayer there. Not only was this an incredibly religious experience, but an deeply spiritual one as well.
After services, we went back to the hotel for another Friday night Tish (see 'A Rainy Shabbat' for explanation). This did not last as long as the last one, but I drank Scotch and was happy. Afterwards, a group of Canadians and Israelis went to a bar for some drinks and dancing and good times. But oy was I tired at the end.
Saturday morning we got to sleep in, which was amazing, since everyone was bagged from the crazy busy week we just had. I slept until noon, which rarely happens. Lunch was at 12:30 and we met outside another hotel to begin our walking tour of the Old City. But the first thing we did was visit the protest tent for the return of captured Israeli Soldier Gilad Shalit (I have included the opening paragraph from Wikipedia below, and I highly encourage everyone, with every once of my sole, to read this section at the least). Gilad has been held hostage by Hamas since June 25, 2006 (his 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th and soon 25th birthdays).
Gilad Shalit (Hebrew: גלעד שליט, born 28 August 1986) is an Israeli soldier who was captured[2][3][4][5] on 25 June 2006 by Hamas in a cross-border raid. He was captured near the Kerem Shalom crossing (in Israel), and has been held as a hostage[6] at an unknown location in the Gaza Strip by Hamas since then.[7][8]
Shalit, holding a rank of corporal in the IDF's Armor Corps at the time of his abduction, has since been promoted to staff sergeant.[1]
He was the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants since Nachshon Wachsman in 1994.[9][10][11] Shalit holds dual French and Israeli citizenship,[12] a fact that encouraged France and the European Union to be involved in efforts to release him.[citation needed] Hamas has refused requests from the International Committee of the Red Cross to allow the ICRC to visit Shalit on the grounds that any such visit could betray the location where Shalit is being held. Several human rights organizations have stated that the terms and conditions of Shalit's detention are contrary to international humanitarian law. To date, the only contact between Shalit and the outside world since his abduction has been three letters, an audio tape, and a DVD that Israel received in return for releasing 20 female Palestinian prisoners.[13]
In exchange for his release, Hamas is demanding the release of all female and underage Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, as well as a further 1,000 prisoners. The main sticking point in negotiations between the sides for the release of Shalit is Hamas' insistence of the release of Marwan Bargouti, currently serving five life sentences in Israel for murder.[14] [15][16][17][18][19][20][21] The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, which released a report in September 2009, has also called for Shalit to be released.[22] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilad_Shalit.
Gilads father, mother and brother were at the tent as well, but I did not have the heart to talk to them, not knowing what to say. Instead I grabbed some stickers, and some yellow ribbons which I have attached to my knapsacks so everyone can see that I support him and think of him.
We then toured the Old City, and while this was an amazing learning experience for me, I will not go through it. You will have to visit the city for yourselves and see what it is. I can tell you that as a lover of history, and my favourite international city being Rome, this is a beautiful place to come and see and learn about. Many bargains to be had and wonderful gifts to be bought. One thing I want to mention is the area between the Christian and Armenian quarters. Since it was Shabbat, the Jewish quarter was basically shut down for the day,bt the bargaining, selling and touring of these areas was still very alive. Here again, I wished I could have had more time.
After a 3 hour tour, we ended Shabbat with Havdallah overlooking the Kotel. Another incredibly spiritual view. It was too bad that it was so cold out, and everyone was hungry, but I still love Havdallah, the songs, the love and the togetherness of it all. After spending such a significant week with these people, it was the perfect way to end the trip.
On Saturday evening, the Israeli friends we made headed back up north to their homes and back to school, and we headed back to our hotel, with tears in our eyes and sadness in our hearts. I personally know I will see them all again in the future, but it is always hard to leave. Thinking back to the first day when we played games to get to know each other on the grass outside of Tel Chai college and introduced each other over dinner (I introduced Rotem), it is incredible to see how us as a group have come together and grown friendships. I know I have places to stay next time I come to Israel, and they have places to stay when they come to Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Ottawa (but they should come to Calgary first!!). It is amazing how relationships can grow over 8 days together.
I am going to leave the end of the trip and travel to Tel Aviv for another posting, as I want this to be the end of todays. One final thought I have about my trip and my stay with Asa and my time with all the people I met here. I lived with them and got to know who they are and about their lives, and have become a better person because of it. There is no better way to meet some people than to experience what they experience, and to learn what they see everyday and hear what they believe in. I know I will come back to experience this again. My travels in the north, helping an underfunded school that does incredible service to the community and country, and experiencing the Old City of Jerusalem with these new friends will forever be one of the greatest experiences of my life.
Now I am going to enjoy the sun and sand of Israel, and will continue the saga tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Elliot S. Weinstein
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