Birthright Israel Blog June 12 2015

Looking out over the entire city of Jerusalem, our group learned of the historical background to the city from the 8c’s to this day.  The panoramic spectacle that is seen on the promenade is not only beautiful, but a great backdrop for pictures to send back home.  Our next activity was going to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum.  As we walked the museum seeing the picture, videos, and listening to the personal accounts, the reality of the shoah lived before us.  This subject is sensitive to all of us.  As jews, we remember the past for a better future. The horror of the holocaust is great, but it is history.  As our tour guide best put it, the holocaust does not define our entire history, but it cannot be our entire identity.  This is what Taglit is about, finding and developing our Jewish identity.  We discussed the meaning of the trip with our Mifgash before we said goodbye to them.  The friends and family we build through Judaism is what makes most of us connected.  After heartfelt goodbyes, we parted ways and went to the Mahane Yehuda market for lunch and shopping.  This market was crazy, colorful, and full of the preshabbat craziness only Israel can contain.  We ate our weight in Rugalach and came back to our hotel for Shabbat.  We received letters our parents wrote us from our staff, and welcomed the close of the week.  It is hard to believe that Birthright is almost over, when it feels like we have been here for months, the brevity and speed of the experience is hard to ignore.  We have been through so much, but we still have some nice things left to go.  Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem.

-Zoey Rosen

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