Friday morning we woke up at the Jerusalem Gold hotel, had breakfast, and went over to the Holocaust museum of Israel called Yad Vashem. We spent about four hours learning at the museum which included a guided tour and video of a personal survivor's testimonial. The museum itself is designed chronologically, beginning in 1933 when Hitler came to power and ending at the end of the war in 1945. An important point of the museum is in its name, Yad Vashem which means "name memorial" symbolizing the purpose of this museum is to remember and identify the people that were a part of this event as individuals rather than a number, 6 million.
We needed to watch a video rather than hear a speaker because the number of living survivors is very few. The video was about a man from Greece who was taken to Auschwitz. He described many of the horrific events that occurred throughout those years until his liberation. At the concentration camp he met his wife, another prisoner, and because of his wife's deliberately botched sterilization surgery by a heroic doctor she was later able to have a child. Therefore, their Jewish lineage was able to continue which left an optimistic outlook on the events of the tragedy. At the end of the museum we went through a room of infinitely reflected candles to represent the number of generations lost.
We were left to answer the question, "what kind of Jew do I want to be? What kind of person do I want to be?"
For lunch we went to the marketplace which was very crowded and lively! There were a ton of vendors selling fresh produce, nuts, food, clothes, spices, meat, etc! We were also sent on a quest to purchase some items to eat and share with the group later on.
In the evening, it was time for Shabbat. We all dressed up in our finest attire and prepared to go to the Old City to visit the Western Wall for Shabbat. The rabbi explained the acronym "SAFE" meaning stop, act, focus, and enjoy the holiday. We had visited the Western Wall on the previous day, but on Shabbat it was a very different atmosphere. It was a lot more crowded and there were many people singing and praying intensely. It was very interesting to experience this after walking through the city to get there, because the city was very calm and deserted, unlike the day before when it was filled with tourists. After sundown, we walked back to the hotel which was approximately 45 minutes and 1.3 miles. We had dinner, a group bonding activity, and then it was time to go to bed (aka party in the hotel!).
We can't believe the trip is half way over and we don't want any of it to end!
Submitted by MALLOREE WINSTON AND LAUREN MCCOY
