Days Four And Five:

Yad Lakashish-

At Yad Lakashish we took a tour of a tzedek project aimed toward helping elderly people socially, economically and physically. The project was started by a teacher who wanted to bring resources to impoverished elderly people. The seniors were given jobs that ranged from knitting to metal working and book binding. They were given a stipend, hot meal, bus pass and resources for all there work. Although most of the people spoke very little English or Hebrew they were still able to communicate with some of us through languages such as Spanish and Russian. 

Tour of Ultra-Orthodox Neighborhoods-

Because of the strict dress code enforced by the Ultra-Orthodox we were unable to walk through these neighborhoods. We took a bus tour during which Gilad, our tour educator, guided us and explained how these people live their daily lives. He discussed the ins and outs of all the different sects and divisions within the community which expand our definition of "orthodox" into something much more complex. Tiny variations in dress code signal which sect one belongs to, and what we realized is that this community is much more multi-faceted than it would appear to the uneducated outsider.

Ben Yehuda

This is the tourist center of Jerusalem, where tourists such as ourselves are hustled everyday by the quick witted salespeople peddling cheap souvenirs. Guys and girls started off shopping together but quickly split up; the girls heading for shoes and scarfs, while the guys went straight towards the army-navy store. I, Matt,  ended up falling in love, with a sweet guitar in the window of a music store. For 250 sheckles (about 65 bucks) I was able to acquire a nice little acoustic guitar which will become an invaluable asset to our group jams.

Yad Vashem

An incredible an unforgettable experience. This trip to the holocaust memorial lasted four hours, but will live on and continue to stay with us for the rest of our lives. The recently redesigned memorial is a brilliant marvel of modern architecture, containing elements of symbolism and artistry that leave any visitor in awe. Gilad led us through a journey of words and images which took us through the chilling story of one of humanities greatest tragedies, but eventually led us to a message of hope and redemption for the Jewish people and the world. We left Yad Vashem with a new sense of what it means to be Jewish. 

After we returned from Yad Vashem we did a short preparation session for our mifgash (encounter) with the Israeli soldiers who would be meeting us tomorrow. Later in the night we were able to go let off some steam at a local club which was rented out specifically for all of us birthrighters from all across the USA. We all danced like it was 1999 and then called it a night and went to sleep happy.

Day Five

Tel Aviv

Today we left the holy city of Jerusalem for the beach city of Tel Aviv. Right before we arrived at a scenic overlook in the nearby city of Jaffa, we picked up three of the the five soldiers who will be with us until Friday. After taking a few pictures we drove to Tel Aviv, where we met the other two soldiers. In a park in Tel Aviv we did a few more icebreakers in order to become better acquainted with our fellow birthrighters and the soldiers. Afterwards, we took a tour of Yitzhak Rabin Square and learned about Israeli politics. Gilad also taught us about the assassination of Rabin, the popular Israeli Prime Minister, by a fellow Jew in 1995. To lighten the mood, we went for lunch in downtown Tel Aviv. 

To continue our education about Israeli history, we the went on to Independence Hall.  It is an unassuming house in the middle of Tel Aviv.  From this house in May 1948, David Ben Gurion proclaimed Israel's independence and created the Jewish state.   

After we finished Independence hall, we left Tel Aviv for the long drive north to the Kibbutz Gonen.  

There you have it, two days in the life of birthrighters.

Brought to you by:

Ross Kleiman-  2012

Matt Mantel -  2008

Dan Rauchwerk -  2011

Adam Stambler - 2011