Carl Rice

Today was a short, low-key day. The group started at the City Hall in Tel Aviv. We went to the spot where Prime Minister Rabin was murdered in 1995 by an Israeli extremist. Rabin was an advocate of peace with Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians, which created resentment towards him within the Jewish community.
From the City Hall the group rode to the city of Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv. We started with an explanation and background of the Nalaga’at Center, a theatre with deaf and blind actors. Next we visited the Ben Zion David Art Museum and Art Gallery. Ben Zion David, the silversmith and owner, has a Yemenite Jew background. While in the museum we watched a short documentary on the history of Yemenite Jews. We learned about their perseverance in a Muslim society as well as their journey back to the Holy Land of Israel. From there the group walked around the streets of Jaffa for lunch and to visit the flea market.
After lunch the group drove back to Tel Aviv to see Independence Hall. This is where Ben-Gurion announced the establishment of the State of Israel to the world. We learned that 11 minutes after Ben-Gurion’s speech, President Truman accepted the establishment of Israel despite the opposition of all his advisors.

I am a Descendant of the Mighty Lion, Hear Me Roar

We sat the other day on steps across from the Western Wall, the "wailing wall," in Jerusalem.  Sitting adjacent to us on the same steps were 40 or so cute little Ultra Orthodox Jewish girls.  We of course had no idea at the time that they were Ultra Orthodox, this we would learn moments later, when the great descendant of the lion (the black and white stray kitten) approached the children, and with that a special sort of anarchy broke loose on our steps.  As the children ran for their lives (while trying to save their lunches) we were informed that Ultra Orthodox Jews detest dogs and cats, and little girls are terrified of them. The tail end of that anarchy is witnessed in the video below: 

Joseph Sathe

Today was our last day in Jerusalem. In the morning we visited the Israeli Government Hub which was actually only about half a mile from our hostel. While there we first learned about, and walked through, the Supreme Court building. The architectural style of the building was meant to be representative of a crossroads where communication can be established and where everyone is equal under the law. The layers of symbolism were so multifaceted that to attempt to explain them all without a totally comprehensive understanding of the history of Israel would prove to be a fruitless endeavor so I will just say that the Supreme Court building is a very memorable and interesting structure. We also visited a bird sanctuary that is in the Government Hub. Israel is on the migration path of many birds and can be host to more than half a billion at a time during heavy migration season. We were unable to visit the Kneset, the Israeli Parliament, but were able to see the outside of the building which is fashioned in an ancient Greek style to symbolize the influence that Greek culture has had on Democracy and modern government.
We then left Jerusalem on our new, much bigger bus. On the way we learned about the war in 1948, known in Israel as the War of Independence. We made three stops along the way at places that were significant in 1948. The first was a hill from which could be seen what was going on for miles around and allowed whomever was in control of this hill to see what the other side was doing. The second was a memorial for the fallen Israeli soldiers who lost their lives attempting to liberate the road to Jerusalem when the city was under siege. The third was from a viewpoint where we could see the major strategic points from the war. At this point we had left the “mountains” that Jerusalem is in and were now in the “lowlands” which is much flatter we could see everything around us.
We then drove to Tel Aviv and visited the Museum on the University of Tel Aviv’s campus. This museum focused on representing Judaism in the period after the Jewish people were exiled from what is today Israel until the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.
We are now staying in the Tel Aviv Guest House. Although this is our fifth day here we have already learned so much. It will be very interesting to see what is in store for us in the remainder of the trip.

Andrew Burstein

We started our day out by going to Bethlehem and seeing the Church of Nativity. We had to enter through a check point to get inside Bethlehem, which is part of the Palestinian Authority; Israelis are not allowed to enter; so are tour guide (Amir) could not enter. We were met by another tour guide at the check point in Bethlehem named Gabriella. Gabriella took us straight to the Church of Nativity. The church entrance is roughly five feet high due to the Byzantine change of the church. The original entrance was enormous and big enough for large animals to enter, but the Byzantine decided to change it for only people to enter. The inside had a very high celling with lanterns hanging down. They also had old mosaics by the Byzantines on the floor and on the wall. We learned from our tour guide that the church is used by three different groups: the Greek Orthodox, the Armenians, and the Roman Catholics. Each group uses a different section of the church for their worshiping. An interesting thing we learned was that the Greek Orthodox celebrated Christmas on January seventh, not December twenty fifth and the Armenian will celebrate Christmas on January nineteenth . We then headed down into the cave underneath the church which is where Jesus was born. The spot of his birth was marked with an eight point star on the ground. Then right by the star was the place where he was placed in the manger. Once we exited this part of the Church we entered another cave under the church where we saw a mass conducting in German. They also had a grave site (not the real one) of Saint Jerome (Hioronimous). He is the Saint who spent a long time in the cave translating the Hebrew bible to Latin and the new testament from Greek to Latin. Once leaving the church we went off to the Shepard's Field where we saw a beautiful view of Israel. We had another who was Palestinian tour guide who discussed with us his views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Around the area were old caves where people in the 1st century dwelt. Once back in Israel we met with Amir and he didn't tell us where we were exactly going, but took us to his house in a settlement outside Jerusalem. There we discussed his views of the area and the construction of Israeli settlements going on in the West Bank. Interesting enough we learned that some of the builders of the Israeli settlements were Palestinian. One of the students noticed that Amir was standing next to a picture of William Shatner. We learned that Amir was a tour guide for William Shatner and even got to visit him in his house in LA, he also did tours for Martha Stewart and the Dali Lama. Once leaving we went to the Israeli Museum and saw the exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls. We had a quick discussion of how they found the scrolls and where they come from. We had to be quick because we only had an hour before the place closed. The exhibit was rather small so many of us wandered around the museum, which had vast amounts of other art work from different time periods and different parts of the world. Personally I wish we had more time to walk around the museum and see other exhibits. Once done many of the students decided to go back into Jerusalem to do some shopping before dinner. We ended the night with a speaker who discussed with us his work in interfaith encounters between Arab and Jews trying to overcome prejudice in this communities, not through politics, but getting to know each other religion and culture.

Angela Mehr

Day two in Jerusalem found us dropped off near Temple Mount. Amir, our tour guide, lectured for approximately an hour about the origins of Islam and how Jerusalem became a center for Muslims in addition to the Christian and Jewish religions. We were able to walk around the temples and view their architecture, designs of which are without people or animals to prevent the worship of idols. Muslim architectural designs utilize mostly mosaic tile in repetitive patterns on temples that are round in shape to symbolize a God without a beginning or end.
After leaving Temple Mount, we walked through narrow side streets that were decorated with oriental merchandise by Arab vendors. There were rows of colorful candies and sweet pastries, golden trinkets, tapestries sporting Middle Eastern patterns; rugs that looked like they may be magic carpets from the time of Aladdin.
Upon reaching the plaza next to the Wailing Wall, we seated ourselves on a staircase as Amir told us about his experience as a youngster and visiting the Western Wall for the first time. After his mother passed away when he was eight, he begged his father to let him go to live on a Kibbutz, which was a cooperative Jewish community . During the Six Day War, he talked of time he and the other children spent in a bunker until they woke up one morning and saw tears of joy in the eyes of the women who took care of them. The war was over and Israel had gained the territory that included the Wailing Wall. As Amir and his father, along with scores of other Jewish people, looked for the Wall, there was a feeling of euphoria at being able to visit the most Holy place for Jews. It was at this point that I realized as an outsider, the importance that these religious locations mean to the Christians, Jews, and Muslims that live here. These places are part of their personal identity and while I will never feel the reverence that they do in regarding them, I do acknowledge the value they have to these people. There is a difference between reading about conflict based on religious values and being on location, knowing personally the people who are involved, and seeing the dilemma these people are faced with each day.
Next we toured the ancient City of David and spent a bit of time looking at the archaeological sites there. Some of us ate ice cream because we were warm, while others were cold from the dampness and chose to have tea. The alleged temperature was 66 degrees. I was questioning the wind chill because it felt much colder.
The last part of the afternoon was spent at Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Museum. Yad Vashem is Hebrew and means literally 'a hand and a name'. These people would then have their names memorialized forever.
We finished the day at approximately 10pm, after nearly two hours of discussion and then dropped into bed from exhaustion. So far, we are not disappointed and the trip couldn't be better.

Daniel Gerdes

After a decent night's sleep after a very long day of travel, the group met in the hostel's cafeteria for breakfast. The consensus seemed to be that the breakfast at the hostel was a far cry from a breakfast at any American hotel. Choices varied from eggs scrambled or hard boiled, to yogurt with granola and honeydew, various fruit and vegetable salads, toast with spices, juice, water, and coffee. It was a well needed meal as the day was very long.

We started off the morning with a ride along the Jerusalem belt road--the road the circumvents the city. From this road you can see the West Bank and many other small developments surrounding Jerusalem. At some points you can see straight across the desert to Jordan on the eastern side of Jerusalem.

We then moved on to the Mount of Olives. Located on the southern side of Jerusalem, this is the spot where Jesus entered the city during the Christian holy week, and where King David fled the city when his son Absalom tried to over throw him. From the Mount of Olives, you get a clear view of the old city, and it's surrounding developments. From one spot, you can see the Temple Mount, the church of the Holy Sepulchre, Gethsemane, the site of the last supper, and much more.

After a short lecture at the Mount of Olives, we walked into Gethsemane, where we toured the Roman Catholic Basilica grounds and visited the site where Jesus was said to have sat on a rock in contemplation, asking God to find another way to save the people without sacrificing himself. We then walked from Gethsemane through the valley to follow the Via Dolorosa (latin for the way of suffering)--the path Jesus took between his trial and his burial. After a great explanation from our tour guide Amir, we ate lunch at a small Arab shop, where we could choose from falafel or chicken pita sandwich.

Afterwards we continued our tour of the old city by visiting various historically important sites such as the oldest church in the city, nearly 1500 years old, it was one of the only churches not to be destroyed in one of many conquests Jerusalem experienced, seeing excavated sites around the Jewish quarter, including a 2300 year old wall of protection, and a central road erected by the Romans roughly 1800 years ago.

We then skipped ahead to modern times and began to discuss 'the seam' or the dividing line that divided Jerusalem in 1967. The seam has caused great separation in Jerusalem and is now the cause of anger over Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

We have another full day of travel tomorrow. We will again be touring Jerusalem and learning more about 'God's City' and it's religious and historical significance!

Jerusalem

Started our first day with a tour of Jerusalem. Visited Mount Olive, Via Dolorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and Rachel Kibbutz. Details to follow soon!