Day 2 - Lehava - Eli
Today, our second day in the holy land of Israel, started with a shock to us all. I felt very nervous and anxious to hear about the two terrorist attacks and bombings that occurred in Jerusalem, one of which was around the corner of our hotel. After a comforting briefing from our security team, we felt safe knowing that they were in control of what was happening, and we were going to move our schedule around it.
After a short delay and a change of plans, we bussed to and walked around the Holy City, to arrive at the ancient and incredibly preserved City of David. It felt really awesome to weave through the remains of an ancient city of our Jewish nation, and to see the real palace and the architecture that was used. It felt amazing to connect to our 3000-year-old King David and to learn about the history and function of his large kingdom, situated on the peak of a mountain on the side of a valley which contained their central water source. It was interesting for me to learn about how they hid the water source from their enemies, and utilised an over 500m long tunnel to transport and distribute the water throughout the Kingdom. We then headed to walk through the exact tunnels that were used for this purpose, 3000 years ago. I didn’t know what to expect with the tunnels, I just knew that it would be a little wet and dark. When we entered the tunnels after touring through an underground chamber, it was incredible. We ducked our heads and walked 40 minutes in knee-high water, inside a very cramped and completely dark underground tunnel. I had never seen anything this dark before, it was truly pitch black, and none of us could see a single thing; it felt amazing. We were all navigating through the tunnel with merely our hands and voices, laughing and calling out to each other. We all really had a great time. I hit my head multiple times on the roof, had to walk sideways for a bit and I lost my shoes half way through the tunnel. Walking in a line in cold water with your friends for 40 minutes may not sound very appealing, but it was an absolutely amazing experience.
Shortly after the water tunnels, we then walked up to see the Holy Western Wall, the Kotel, for the second time in my life. Similar to yesterday, I felt a profound connection to the wall and to Hashem. I leaned my head against the wall, said the Shema, Amidah and my own personal prayers before collecting a piece of paper with the group. We all gathered a small square of paper and a pen, and wrote our own extremely personal prayers of praise, thanks and request for Hashem. I enjoyed writing my message and pushing it into the cracks of the Holy Kotel, embedding my message within the wall, with the utmost faith in it coming true. For dinner, we drove to Malcha Mall, a large Jerusalem shopping and food court centre, where many purchased meaningful Jewish items and had the option to customise a ring with their own personal Hebrew phrase. Overall, this day was truly a day to remember, filled with exciting and spiritual experiences, combined with important learning of our history.
Eli
