This is Just a Start On How the Last Few Weeks Have Been

So the pictures on the post below are from Akko, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv. Some were taken with my mom and most at the end were taken on a trip I took with the Ulpan a few days after my mom left.

First of all she had amazing weather because when we went to Jerusalem with the group it was so cold and rainy and we were not properly dressed for the day. And when we went to the Holocaust Museum it feel like we really experienced the bitter cold that the Jews experienced.

My mom had a wonderful time. She said that she can see why I love Israel so much and that she felt very safe. It was an amazing trip because she really got to see all the major sites and a lot of off the beaten path places. It really was wonderful to see her here. I went with her for her first time to The Wall. That was great. To see someone else go through that. It is such an emotional thing.

-What did you feel?
-It was like falling into an embrace. Of something you were always searching for, but didn't know till the moment you felt it that it was absent from your life.

I said WOW. Maybe it would be an interesting book to collect people’s first impressions of The Wall.

The Western Wall, or Ha Kotel ha Maravee, is all that remains of the Holy Temple. And so it is considered the most holy spot for Jews. Also on top are Muslim shrines that are some of the most holy to Muslims. And of course Jesus spent a bit of time kicking back at the temple. Just a little bit of stuff going on at this place.

My first feeling at The Wall was really interesting. The first time I felt like I was flying, it was very out of body. The second time it feel so REAL, very grounded. Both times were the complete opposites. And both were amazing.

It was so super to travel with my temple. I got to catch up with some people and really get to know some others that I hadn't had the opportunity to know. The guide was wonderful, the bus driver was even more wonderful. He really showed a true slice of Israeli driving, by driving the tour bus through Jaffa's Old City streets.... on a Friday...you had to be there!

The food was amazing too. I have gotten rather bored with Kibbutz food and this stuff was really good! We went on the last night to a Yemenite restaurant in Tel Aviv that was yummy yemmy food!! I had a stomach ache all the next day because I ate so much!!!!

We had a good chance to catch up. And it is interesting to be the daughter looking at the mom and think, she is more than a mom. In just a few months with all the kids gone, I think she has had time to breath and look at herself and her life and wants.

It was pretty hard to go back to the Kibbutz. I think everyone is antsy because the time is coming to an end, and also I think we all are wanting to move on. Ask me in two weeks though, when I only have two weeks to go, and I will probably tell you that I am so sad to be leaving. But right at this minute I am yearning a bit for a new adventure.

So I got back and a day later we went to Jerusalem on a trip. That is Jerusalem three times for me in less than two weeks. But it ok because I love it so much. Jerusalem is such an intense place. There is such a heavy feeling in the air, but it is amazing.

With the Ulpan I went mostly to Yad V Shem, which is the Holocaust memorial in Israel. I had been to it two years ago, but they redid it and it was absolutely amazing. There was so much footage and so many pictures I had never seen. Actually there was only one picture I recognized. Everything was real and little personal stories. I saw real bunks from Auschwitz, a cattle car used to transport, and real cobble stones from Warsaw Poland. There were pictures of women after the death marches and footage of bodies tumbling over each other and the dirt. It was stunning and shocking. It was very personal and very moving. At the end of the museum, there was this room with stories of bookcases and the shelves were filled with folders and the folders were filled with names, and yet they only had 3 million.

It was very moving and eye opening. I watched people on TV screens giving their testimony in Hebrew. And when you walk outside you realize, Wow would Israel have happened so quickly if it were no for this tragedy? And how many other Holocausts are going on right now, but we are still turning our back on other humans. It was a lot to think about.

Actually as I am writing this over the days that are passing, there are still more things to understand and ponder about the Holocaust and the State of Israel. In my class we watched this two-part movie about this girl named Aviya, whose mother was a survivor and was crazy because of the Holocaust. It makes you think of all the things the founders of this country went through. Genocide, Camps, Fleeing Countries, Hatred in Israel, War in Israel…… The more you think about it the crazier it is. In so many ways Israel should not exist based on just about everything that was going on in the world at the time.