What a wonderful last couple days in Israel! First of all, Happy Father's Day from IST 2015 to all of the fathers out there. You are all amazing and we appreciate everything that you do for all of us.
On Friday night, we all had a lovely Shabbat service together followed by dinner and an icebreaker. Shabbat couldn't come at a better time after an emotional and exhausting time in Poland. We all had the chance to catch up on sleep and much needed R & R. We had the pleasure to go into Jerusalem on Saturday night to walk up and down Ben Yehuda Street trying new foods, shopping, feeling the energy on the street and just enjoying every moment.
Today we had an amazing tour of Mount Herzl (Har Herzl - which is Israel's "Arlington Cemetery"). We spent a few hours there learning about so many fallen warriors from Yoni Netanyahu on the raid at Entebbe in 1976 to Prime Ministers & leaders of government. Our guides Elaun & D'ror were incredible and providing such amazing stories and knowledge about this place and really enabled everyone to make a personal connection.
We followed this by heading to the Old City and walked along the Ramparts Walk, toured the Jewish Quarter and then headed back to the hotel for dinner and hearing the dynamic & fantastic Neil Lazarus speak to our group. (If anyone has the chance to see him in person, I highly recommend it).
Tomorrow we are excited to go to our first hike the Latrun Tank Museum and much more.....stay tuned..again...
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| Look who we found...our IST 2013 tour guide Lilach on Ben Yehuda Street |
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| Sweet!!! IST sign on Ben Yehuda St...I think they knew were were coming.. |
Team Building Games
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| Our first Havdalah in Israel |
Har Herzl Cemetery
Mount Herzl (Har Herzl) is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside Jerusalem Forest. It is named for Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism. Herzl's tomb lies at the top of the hill. Yad Vashem, which commemorates the Holocaust, lies to the west of Mt. Herzl. Those that perished while serving in the military are also buried there as well as dignitaries.
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| Michael Levin's grave Michael Levin was an American-born soldier in the Paratroopers Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who was killed in action in the Second Lebanon War, during the first round of fighting in the Lebanese town of Ayta ash-Shab. He was 22 years old. His death had a major impact in Israel—thousands attended his funeral—and inspired the creation of a support organization for other foreign soldiers in the IDF. |
Old City of Jerusalem
Neil Lazarus speaking to us
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| The Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial is the main memorial for all victims of terrorism in Israel from 1851 until today. The Memorial was opened in 1997, and every year a ceremony is held on the plaza, in memory of the victims of terror. |
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| IST standing around Herzl's grave while singing Hatikva |
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| Row of Israel dignitaries from Yitzhak Rabin to Golda Meir. |
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