Journey Home

This was my first view of Jerusalem. We spent hours in JFK before we boarded our Israir flight. Then when we arrived in Israel we went through Israeli customs and had our passports stamped. I was so excited. I couldn't wait to get through the customs to have my stamp that said I was there. Finally!

I went through. Got stamped. The stamp was so light. Hardly discernable. But it was there! And I walked through and waited for my friends. I was so excited. We didn't go to our hotel or Jerusalem right away. We stopped in Jaffa to see Jaffa gate and Tel Aviv before going down the road to have lunch by the Mediteranean Sea. I was amazed. I stood at the scorpio point of the Wishing Bridge. And I can't remember what I wished for but I think in that moment I wished to be there forever. It was amazing. I was so amazed I don't think I was even in my body anymore. We saw Independence Hall and then we had a long drive to Jerusalem. Before we entered Jerusalem we stopped off at the edge of a mountain or cliff and looked over the Old City as the sun began to set. It was gorgious. I loved the beautiful sight. But I couldn't wait to be in it.

When we finally checked into Lev Yerushalaim I couldn't wait to see my room. It wasn't anything extraordinary but I loved it anyway. I could hear music outside and I went and opened my window. Right outside my window across from Ben Yehuda Street there was a giant chanukiah was men in a lift lighting the candles for the third night of Chanukah. So exciting. Not like in America where every street corner has a Christmas tree and the radio belts out songs of jungle bells, chestnuts, and Santa. I felt like I was at home. It was just amazing. It was like I knew right away that I wanted to be there forever.



This is Tzafat. One of the four holy cities of Israel. We stopped off here towards the end of our trip. We explored the old city, saw it's age, learned some stories, and helped aid in the rebuiding of a girls' school that had been wrecked by a ketusha rocket fired from the Lebanese border by Hizbollah. It was wonderful. We moved 40 tons of sand and rock in 37 minutes. The people on this trip were phenominal and it was really special to see us all work together to try to accomplish as much as possible as efficiently as we could in what time we had. I wish we could have done more. But I'm happy that I could have done anything at all.