Jerusalem, Israel

After listening to 2 enlightening speeches, we left for Yad Vashem- the holocaust museum. The museum location is spectacular- the architect designed a triangular structure with no windows jetting out of the mountain into thin air. The other triangular side jets up towards the sky with a huge window. It is quite a symbolic design- from total darkness to light and hope! There are no words to describe the atrocities the Jewish people lived through during the holocaust the photos we saw- the films we witnessed from the survivors- the artifacts exhibited from the life of the Jews and the tears we all shed-do not come close to what the Jewish people must have felt in living through this hell. We were all numb when came out after just a 2 hours tour, what must it be like to be a survivor? We lightened up a bit at the Shuk, which is a open air market- where you can get the best spices, unusual teas with dried fruits, fresh fish, middle eastern pastries, lots of small restaurants and just too many people! Julie and I bought some kosher wine to get ready for Shabbat. We only had 2 hours to get ready for Shabbat at Aish Ha Torsh in Jerusalem, and I don’t know where that went. We all wore our prettiest clothes and were driven to the Aish center- we all left out purses, phones and cameras there under lock until tomorrow after sundown to honor the Shabbat completely. ;Something quite unusual for some of us. Tonight was a very special night, our favorite person and new friend in Israel Estee Yarmish( who was from New York) but made Alyah years ago- that means making Israel you home.. Estee spoke with such meaning about the Shabbat candle lighting- after this I’ll never think of it as just a ceremonial gesture as her explanation moved all of us. It turns out it was also her parents 50th anniversary and they were celebrating it with us! Before the dinner, we all went to the Kotel and watched as young girls- older women and children were dancing and singing Israeli songs. Some of us chose to hang out on top of staircase leading to a prayer room. From there we could see the men and women praying and dancing. What a moving sight, a sight forever engraved in my mind! To think that there is so much unrest in this country but their spirit is so enlightened that they refuse to succumb to fear and with such pride choose to remain joyful. We came back to our banquet room, overlooking the wall, listened to speeches and prayed before eating a delicious meal. Estee’a father spoke very calmly and with this very soft voice- but it was funny to watch his wife occasionally roll her eyes or utter some comment under her breath. he Shabbat felt more like a wedding with lots of speechless, dancing and a lot of food. We started to fall asleep one by one at the table, very embarrassing. We finally all left around 11 and we had to walk back. We walked back with one guard in front and one in the back through old Jerusalem. There were very few people walking on the street.