Day 5: Yad Vashem, Mt. Herzl, and the Wailing Wall

We began today at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial and Museum in Jerusalem. It’s obviously a somber place to visit, much in the same way the Holocaust Memorial in Washington, D.C. was for these same students last fall. Before we started our tour, we listened to a holocaust survivor, Hannah Goslar, talk about her experiences. As her story unfolded with details about growing up in Holland, we were amazed to find out that she was a childhood friend of Anne Frank! It was truly a bittersweet treat for all of us to hear her story. We had a guided tour through the memorial which helped us to focus our attention on certain aspects of the holocaust.

After having a large lunch at Yad Vashem, we took a short bus ride to Mt. Herzl, an Israeli national cemetery which is similar to Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C. It contains the tombs of soldiers that have died in the Israeli Defense Forces, as well as former prime ministers. Theodor Herzl, the father of modern political Zionism, is also buried there, the cemetery bearing his name.

We traveled back to the hotel to change into clothes appropriate for welcoming Shabbat at the Wailing Wall. We walked through the old city and arrived at the wall as the sun was going down. We had a short Kabbalat Shabbat service with Rabbi Tsipi leading, and then let the kids go to the Kotel. The whole experience was in stark contrast to the somber mood earlier in the day, as there was a lot of singing and dancing at the Western Wall. Everyone was very welcoming, allowing our students to join in with their celebrations.

Israel Trip - Day 5