The day started at around 3:00am when I awoke with a start as a result of hearing a loud howling noise outside my window. It was the wind. It was violent. I looked outside the dark windows to see the trees shaking fiercly as if they were "Whomping Willows". After drifting back into an uneasy sleep, I woke again at 7:00am and made my way slowly to breakfast, and then prayers, and onto the buses.
From Ramat Rachel we made our short 20 minute journey to Malcha Mall, where we had free time to roam. I, along with a few of my friends made our way to Aroma, Adidas and a Music Store.
"Guys, its just not okay to leave 18 minutes after we planned. If you're late again I'll start handing out incredible punishments" - Gidon Tuch...
From there we went to the Herzl Museum, which was basically a walking tour through the museum through cinemas and rooms showcasing Herzl's possessions. It was pretty interesting.
We then headed to the hotel, where we had 30 minutes to relax whilst waiting for Benzi Gruber to come and speak to us. Benzi was an army general and had fought in all of Israel’s wars to date. He was an extremely inspirational speaker, explaining all of the moral and ethical issues the IDF faces during war-times. He was extremely engaging and interactive and helped many of us further understand the specialty and uniqueness of the Israeli army. It seemed like many of the issues he spoke about, which the Israeli army addresses, would not be taken into consideration if it was another army fighting.
After the enlightening talk we were given time to go and prepare for what was to be our incredible last Shabbat on IST.