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| The view from the top of Aish Hatorah |
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| It didn't happen unless we have a picture of ourselves. :) |
In "Discovering the real you" we learn about the 3 personality types: Chai (Life), Bracha (Blessing) and Tov (Good). Everyone identifies with one type for their body and another type for their soul. Once you've figured out someone's make-up, you've unlocked the key to everything -- interacting, who to hire, parenting, marrying, etc. It was interesting to hear, but I am not convinced we easily fall into these 3 buckets.
Once the lecture is over, we are broken into groups of 3 and we get to meet a local woman who lives in Israel. This is one of many Israeli connections we make. The lady we are paired with is named "Devorah" and she has 4 kids. She has lived in Israel for 8 years. Devorah and her husband moved to Israel from England. We instantly hit it off. Devorah is fabulous! We exchange email addresses and Devorah has already written me twice. What a lovely person. I wished we had more time to chat. It went way too quickly.
The first of a few trips to the Western Wall is about to take place. It is just outside the Aish Hatorah Center requiring a very short walk. On the way out of the building we are given personalized Siddurs for us to have. It is a very nice touch. As I am approaching the Wall, (Dawn is up ahead and has already made her way to the front), it hits me where I am. Really hits me. I am at the Western Wall. The tears start flowing and I am overcome with emotion. Call it utter exhaustion, call it being moved, but I am now a bawling mess. I make my way up to Dawn and tap her on the shoulder, telling her through my tears and heaving sobs that I can't believe we are here. Before Dawn can even acknowledge what I am saying, we both start to hear music playing. It is the strangest thing. We don't know where the music is coming from. It is then we realize Dawn's cell phone is going off. Instantly my tears turn laughter. I made my way to the Wall with all my little notes. If you are even closely associated with me, a prayer has been said on your behalf. :)
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| The Western Wall |
Our day is not over yet and we now have an over THREE HOUR walking tour of the Old City and a tunnel tour of the Western Wall. To say I am barely standing is an understatement. It's already been a long day and the lack of sleep over the past couple of nights has started to catch-up. I'd love to tell you how great the tour of the Old City is but I was really just waiting for it to be over. The tunnels under the Western Wall were interesting to see, but again, at this point sleep is desperately needed.
Dawn and I finally got some downtime and believe it or not, I decided against taking a nap. It is now after 7:00pm, and I was worried that an hour of sleep would keep me from being able to fall asleep later that night. Plus, now that I could venture out on my own, I really wanted to visit Ben Yehuda street. It doesn't take much for me to get a second (or is it third or fourth by now!?!?) and go shopping. Dawn and I went with two other women from our group and grabbed a drink and a bite to eat. What a great way to end the day.
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| A picture with our waitress (she is in the center). She came moved to Israel from Chicago, after a Birthright trip. |
I collapse into bed and am asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.
On Thursday (July 3rd) we have, in my opinion, the most awesome day. Every single thing about it is perfect! The day starts off with camel rides. Benny our camel was very sweet. Getting off the camel is something I will never forget. Let me tell you, no matter how much you lean back, it is not enough. I am not sure what kept me from doing a front flip off the camel's head as he was kneeling down to let Dawn and I off; I guess I got lucky.
Next is a trip to Masada. "Wow" is all I can say. We took a cable car up to the top. Masada is breathtaking. One of the coolest things JWRP arranged to do was give women who didn't have Hebrew names, their names at the old synagogue atop Masada. It was beautiful to watch the quick ceremony. Dawn found a Torah scribe in this little alcove. You wouldn't even really know he was there. There are like only 30 to 40 of these men who still scribe the Torah by hand. This gentleman works 18 hour days, writing all day. Dawn convinced him to write our names (in Hebrew) for us on parchment paper. It was really awesome.
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| On top of Masada |
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| Moishe, the Torah scribe |
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| I love this picture! |
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| Our Hebrew names written by the scribe. Mine is the bottom one. |
We get to visit the Dead Sea after Masada. All of use were handed mud to put on our bodies before going in the water. Wow, does the mud make your skin feel soft. I was surprised how warm the water felt, like a hot tub. And no matter how much you want to do something other than float, you can't. You are suspended in the water, just hanging out. It is really cool.
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| That's me, all covered in mud! |
We end our day with a BBQ in the desert. The food is always so plentiful and delicious! I love all the many types of salads. Very yummy. After dinner there is a drum circle and we play various types of bongo-type drums and dance around the tent. It is very festive.
It was a great day and I am happy to have gotten back to the hotel before 9:00pm. Dawn and I go back out at 10:15pm. I am noticing that so many families have young kids up very late at night. And these kids all seem so well-behaved. I guess sleep is overrated. :)
Stay tuned for Israel, Part 4.....It's all about Shabbat!
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