Time Is Flying... Israel IS More Amazing Than Ever! I Wish I Could Stay!!!!!

The past two weeks of TRY have been amazing though it is sad to realize how fast they are passing.  3 weeks from now, I will be back home.

The last Shabbat I stayed with Maia and German again, German had his police van so he gave me a tour of the car and when it was time to go to the bus station, he took me in the car! It was really funny to watch the cars move to the other lane because they were scared of the car! At the station, I met up with my friend Jenna and Naomi to catch the same bus back. On the bus, a Shomer Negiah guy was flirting with them and tried to convince us that he was a drug dealer but then said just kidding. 

On Sunday night it was lag Baomer, we had the awesome opportunity to walk around the streets of Jerusalem and see the massive Bon Fires.

On Tuesday we went on a Tiyul past the green line to learn about the settlements. We went toGush Etzion, a settlement which was built 3 times after being destroyed, one of the most brave battles of the War of Independence was fought there. We then went to Efrat to listen to a right wing speaker tell us about what he thinks should happen with the Palestinians. He said that we need peace, but that we cannot have two states, it has to be under Israel.

On Thursday we went to volunteer either to a soup kitchen, or to a farm. I volunteered at the farm and we began to clear the rocky Jerusalem land from locks to make it suitable to farm. Later, we walked to a beautiful synagogue and met up with the shutaf kids for sports day. It was really a great experience, the kids were happy to see us and we were happy to see them! I was having fun, but then I fell during the obstacle course and hurt my toe L We then had our free night early at emek rafaim. I went to go eat at a really good vegan restaurant with my vegetarian friends.

Shabbat Yachad, Shabbat together was really fun! On Friday, we had the amazing opportunity to go to a soccer game. It was great because I really miss soccer, and it got me into the mood for the world cup this upcoming year! Even though the game was really bad, it was still really fun! The team we were chearing for won the game 9-1. We then came back and it was time for Shabbat! I got ready, and I went to Shir Hadasha, the orthodox synagogue that has a mehitzah (Separation between men and women) but women wear tallit and read the Torah. We then had Shabbat dinner, and I crashed early because I was so tired.

            On Saturday I woke up at 6:00 to go to my madrich, Avihai’s synagogue. On that day I learned that Yemenite Jews sound like a herd of goats when they pray, and that goat noises should now replace all of the sleeping music on my Ipod. Everyone was out. We then came back and I slept until 1:00. We then had free time until 4:30 when it was mincha. We had activities and by the time we were done it was time for havdallah.

On this past Tuesday, instead of going on a tiyul, we had an ICC project. We were assigned to different groups and given an article to write topics on. My group chose the topic Yizkor (Rememberance) and we went to Yad Vashem and Har Hertzel to interview 10 people. Out of all of the interviews, my favorite one was when we met an aboriginal survivor from Canada in Yad Vashem who was sent away from home to rehabilitation schools to become more “Civilized” Like what happened to the native Americans in America.

            On Thursday we woke up at 1am and got on a two-hour bus ride to the middle of nowhere in the Negev. We got out of the bus, and began hiking. We hiked for an hour and a half and we had 35 minutes to our selves to watch the sunrise and the beautiful mountains. We then hiked up to David Ben Gurion and his Wife’s grave, the first prime minister of Israel.

We then went back to the hava and we were all exhausted. We slept until 2:00 and then did homework all day until our free night, I went to Ben Yehuda with my friends and walked around for two hours.

Women of the wall

This past Friday, I had the opportunity to attend a Women of the wall protest. WoW is a group of women who gather at the kotel every rosh hodesh to pray freely, out loud, with tallit and tefillin. I have allways wanted to go to a WoW protest because I believe that everyone should have the right to pray freely without being persecuted for what they believe in.

We woke up at 6:00 In the morning, got in Taxis and drove to the Kotel. The first taxi on the street we hailed had a religious driver and he said that he would not take us. We then hailed another taxi and after the worst taxi ride of my life, we got off and began walking towards the kotel. At first sight of the plaza, there were thousands of people. I thought that this was normal at first because it is rosh hodesh! Only later we learned that all of the people there were Haredi (Ultra orthodox) trying to block the monthly protest. After finally pushing our way through the crowds, we made it into the area were the service was being held. A handful of police officers had barricaded the area so no one protesting could enter. For the first time, the police were defending WoW because a court order was passed that the WoW are doing nothing wrong and that no more arrests should be made. We began to pray, and it was one of the most amazing feelings I have ever had in my entire life. We drowned out the whistles and the yells of the Haredi men who were trying to stop the service. When I turned around again, hundreds of soldiers and police were there, the haredim had turned violent.

They began calling the people trying to protect us Nazis, and called the women whores. A man started yelling at me and he said “You are not Jewish! Why do you support this? Take your tefillin off now!” I was in shock. Soon enough they began throwing things at us, garbage, water, coffee, and even a chair! The police and Haredim began hitting eachother! 

Two of my friends from TRY: Meital and Jenna

 We decided that it was time to leave, we did not know at that time that the Police had made a pathway for us to go through so we tried leaving by pushing through the haredi women. At first, they would not move, but then, my friends put me in the front so I could push through because the Haredi Women are Shomer Negiah (Do not touch men) All of the sudden, it felt like I was moses and the red sea had parted. When we got to the end of the crowd, there was a police human chain, which would not let us out so we went back to where the services were. We found the actual exit and went through. The soldiers and police had ran out of barricades so they made a giant human chain through the entire plaza of the Kotel. As we went through, the haredi men tried to break the blockade, and called my friends whores. We eventually got out, and I thanked as many soldiers as I could. We were trying to get into a taxi as fast as possible because the Haredi saw us leave and began to follow us. A teenage boy, my age, started yelling things at me so I just looked at him, smiled, and waved. We got into a taxi and went back to school. I will never forget this experience; it will stay with me forever.

On Shabbat I stayed with my friends Nate and Aden with my moms cousins. We went to the beach on Saturday and regained our much-needed rest. I also met a cat that was like a dog and it came to sit in my lap and would not leave. I should really stop petting cats because I am allergic to them. Oh well, time for our last two weeks of school!

This is The "Official TRY week 15 Video!"