Day Seven: Memorials and Markets of Jerusalem

Yesterday began as probably the most emotionally difficult day for us all. We began our day at Mount Hertzel in Jerusalem. As we walked through the cemetery we heard stories of Israeli heroes who either made a significant difference in Israel or died heroically for this country. We visited the grave of Theodor Hertzel and of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and heard the story his assassination. Our tour guide Yoni also took us to see the graves of some heroic soldiers such as Hana Senesh and Benjamin Natanyahu's brother Yonatan, who was killed in Uganda after his troop saved a group of Jews from abduction. Some stories he told brought tears to a lot of our eyes. We then moved on to another tough place, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum. Our museum guide took us through from before the war to the aftermath. We had an interactive session where we discussed important questions that arose about the Holocaust, and finally finished with a walk through the children's memorial. To lighten all our moods, we moved on to Machane Yehuda market in Jerusalem where they sold a variety of foods, deserts, spices, candies, breads, nuts, clothes, souvenirs, and many more. We ended our night on Ben Yehuda, where we were free to get dinner on our own. What was very special about it that it was Jerusalem Day, and there were people playing music and dancing in the streets waving Israeli flags. I think it was an amazing experience because it made our emotionally distressing day a lot happier and showed us the pride Israelis have for the country and how they celebrated their love for Jerusalem and Israel. -Sharone