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Day 6: Shabbat in Jerusalem!

Tuesday, 12 June, 2018 - 4:55 am

Today was a great morning, we actually got to sleep for much more time then normal. We woke up at about 10:30 to find out our groups were splitting up for lunch with an Israeli family. We were given directions and we were told to walk, but a 30 minute walk in nice clothes in the heat of Israel was not the best walk I've done this week, but the reward at the end was awesome- an amazing home cooked meal. My family prepared a huge meal for us which started off with delicious, luscious challah with hummus, eggplant, and plenty of more toppings. They continued to put out 2 types of salads, then some fish. After the fish I thought that was all, but no- they continued to bring out 2 types of chicken, some cooscoos, and string beans. After we stuffed ourselves, we were ready to go, but all of a sudden they brought out fruit, ice cream, and gelato. There was an insane amount of food, and we weren't  expecting that but we just kept on eating to be polite, regardless of how full we got because it was so good, and of course it's rude to not eat as a guest. The family was so nice and enjoyable to talk with. They moved from New York and have been here  in Jerusalem for about 16 years now. We listened to them talk about Israeli politics for a little bit, we asked them questions about living here compared to the states, and had plenty of more conversations. It was such a great experience to meet new people, and be put in their atmosphere in their house, which was actually stunning. After we walked back to the hotel and just hung out for a little bit and got to relax. After some down time, we divided into 3 groups to discuss Jewish identity. We were given about 15 cards with different phrases on them representing different thoughts on Jewish identity. We then discussed and debated as a group as to which cards we thought were the most important facets for a lasting Jewish identity. It was a great exercise to recognize what was important to each member of the group in terms of their Jewish identity and explore what the future of being Jewish looked like to each of us. We then had some fun with RabbI by playing a game called stump the Rabbi. People asked questions to try to stump him.  All I can take out from this was that Rabbi levi is a Jewish genius, he was able to answer every question and it really showed us that he has a lot of knowledge and it was just an all around fun time with the rabbi. We then met in the basement of the hotel to exchange our secret Moses. One person would go say who they bought a gift for, light that persons candle with the candle they had, and then the person who received a gift then would present their gift. Every person had such great things to say about everyone and it was a good time just being with the group talking about the trip. Showing appreciation for other members of the trip was a fulfilling activity for everyone involved. After our secret Moses, we enjoyed a leisure night out on the town!


Signing off, 
Alex Lord 
Lucas Poznak
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