Day 3 - Ariella
Today, some of us started our day bright and early. At 7am as the gym opened, half our year flooded in energised for a morning workout. I pitied the other hotel guests who had to deal with our noise (and the lack of treadmills due to our invasion). It was such a refreshing way to start our day and I felt wide awake.
We were treated to a delicious Israeli breakfast. Only in Israel do you have roasted vegetables and salad as part of your morning meal!
For our daily tefillah session, we took a few minutes to think about what we have experienced so far, and what is to come. We each chose a goal that we would like to work on over the next month and learnt something very special: it takes 21 days to break a habit, so we will use this month to break our negative habits and replace them with something positive. For example, instead of talking Lashon Hora and gossiping, we will try to give compliments to people instead. It was such a beautiful experience, and brought us all closer together and united in our common goals. I felt very connected to the other girls, and I can’t wait to build these new habits over the next month.
We then started our activities for the day. We headed to Yad Sarah, where we learnt about the incredible work that the organisation does - providing medical equipment and resources for people in need, as well as emergency medical assistance. As we walked into the building, I was starstruck by the level of technological innovation before my eyes - underscoring Israel’s status as ‘the Start Up Nation’. We saw equipment ranging from a small machine to help disabled people to put on socks, to a chair powered by air pressure rather than electricity to be used on Shabbat. But what was equally amazing, was that almost every single person working there was a volunteer, giving up their precious time to help those who need it most. After an eye-opening tour of the building, we were given the opportunity to volunteer ourselves by building crutches. Last year in STEM we built crutches out of toilet rolls and sticky tape, but this was the real deal. I know that they will be put to great use, and help people recover.
In the afternoon we went to an archaeological dig site where we were able to dig for ancient artefacts. Our group managed to find two coins (we beat bus 3 by one!!) as well as lots of pottery, glass, special stone and even bones. It was mind blowing that these items were touched by people 2000 years ago, and that some of them were so similar to what we use today, highlighting to us our ancient links to this land.
Then, it was time for laser tag. It was at a picturesque location in the Israeli hills, the light pink sunset sky and a view of Jerusalem framed by magnificent lavender flowers. We were surrounded by abandoned army tanks and buildings and when dressing up in our laser tag vests and hats with huge guns in our hands, we truly felt like Israeli soldiers. It was so much fun playing with and against my friends and gave us a taste of what it would be like to join the army one day. And the location definitely helped.
We ended our day with a visit to Malcha Mall where many of us were reunited with our family from Israel. I didn’t have any visitors today, but it was such a special moment to see my friends meeting their families after so many years. It was amazing that they retained such a deep connection - and was a visible reminder of the enduring link between the diaspora communities and our brothers and sisters in Israel.
IST so far has been indescribable. Even though it has only been three days, we have done so many incredible activities, met so many people and bonded as a year group. Tomorrow we are going to Yad Vashem which I know will be both fascinating and emotionally daunting. I can’t wait to learn more about this dark moment in our history and the challenges that we were forced to overcome.
