Our final day of our trip was a free day, with our participants going in different directions throughout the day. One group got an early start and headed south for a tour of Masada and some time at the Dead Sea in the morning and early afternoon. The group got a glimpse of the reddish hills at the top of the Negev and learned about the great desert palace and fortress that was Masada. At the Dead Sea, the group floated in the salty and mineral laden waters, then enjoyed the therapeutic powers of the black Dead Sea mud.
Group pic at the top
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| Friendly birds atop Masada |
Other members of the group spent the morning at the Israel Museum. The museum is currently featuring an exhibition on the architectural works of Herod the Great, including the top of an enormous column from a structure built opposite the Temple on the Temple Mount itself, and Herod's own tomb, recently excavated from Herodium, just south of Jerusalem in the Judean hills. Also on display were the museum's permanent exhibits of judaica and other artifacts illustrating Jewish lifestyle in various countries throughout the world, a series of reconstructed synagogue interiors, and the Dead Sea scrolls, displayed at the famous "Shrine of the Book."
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| The grounds of the Israel Museum |
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| The smell of fresh honeysuckle fills the air on the museum grounds |
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| Shrine of the Book, containing sections of the Dead Sea Scrolls |
Some of our participants also had a chance to head back to Ben Yehuda Street as well as Meah She'arim, a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) neighborhood of Jerusalem.
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| Moshiko Falafel and Shwarma, on Ben Yehuda Street |
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| The last shwarma! For now... |
Everyone was back in Jerusalem to enjoy the buzz and excitement of Yom Yerushalyim--the anniversary of the Day that portions of Jerusalem, including the Old City, was liberated from Arab hands at the end of the Six Day War. Live music was set up in different locations throughout the city and many roads were closed to allow for additional pedestrian traffic into the Old City. Throughout the day, throngs of people made their way into the Old City, finally converging upon the Kotel. The entire Jewish Quarter was alive with activity, with vendors selling toys, cotton candy, popcorn, and more to the multitudes passing through the streets. The final stop for the masses was the Kotel, with many thousands filling up the plaza that lays in front of the Kotel, with a steady stream of thousands more making their way towards the Kotel from the gates of the Old City. Scores of young students poured into the Old City marching with their schools and youth groups, singing songs in praise of Jerusalem and beseeching G-d to rebuild the Temple as they came. It was an exhilarating expression of "Am Yisrael Chai"--The Jewish nation lives!
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| Some of the Yom Yerushalayim activity in the Jewish quarter of the Old City |
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| A crowd of thousands fills the Kotel plaza on Yom Yerushalayim |
With our final moments in Jerusalem bearing witness to the eternal Jewish spirit and its dedication to its homeland and its holy capital, we return home with the words of the psalmist engraved on our hearts--"If I forget thee O Jerusalem, may my right hand lose its cunning"
L'Shana haba'ah b'Yerushalayim habenuyah! Next year in the rebuilt Jerusalem!
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