Earlier this week we went on our second seminar. Through our program organizer, Israel Pathways, we have 8 seminars throughout our 10 months in Israel. These seminars are in different cities all over Israel and generally have a specific theme for each one. This one in Jerusalem was on Israeli Society.

We started off our seminar on Sunday by going to Givat Chaviva, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting peace and collaboration between divided communities. One of the programs we learned about consists of children, both Arab and Israeli, learning how to take photos and develop them (although I think they use digital cameras now). These children then switch homes temporarily (Israeli in an Arab family's home and vice versa) and they are allowed free range to take photos of anything they want. This helps them to realize that they are not so different. It creates an understanding between two cultures. When an Israeli child opens up the fridge to take a picture, they might notice that they eat the same food. They aren't so different after all. There is a similar program for mothers as well. I think that this project is very interesting and it's a really cool way to learn about another's culture and community. In my opinion, the best way to learn about culture is to be immersed in it.

After a lecture at Givat Chaviva, we went to the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv. This is a museum dedicated to the 5th Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated on November 4th, 1995. According to the Hebrew calendar, Sunday (October 28th) was the memorial day. Learning all about Yitzhak Rabin on the memorial day was very interesting. After our tour of the museum, we held our own memorial ceremony for him. This is one of the most monumental days in Israel's history and it was a really interesting experience it with Israelis.

Following the end of our ceremony, we loaded the busses to head back to Netanya. We stayed at the Blue Bay Hotel in Netanya. This was a little strange because I was staying at a hotel in the city that I live in and also because I stayed at this hotel on Birthright. Either way, it was really nice because of the food! The one thing I always look forward to at these seminars is the delicious food at the hotels! After dinner we went to a Henna party, specifically for us. Usually these Henna parties are designed for weddings, generally occurring a few weeks before the wedding. I had no idea that this was a part of Jewish tradition, specifically for Yemenite Jews. We learned about the customs, put on traditional clothing for these ceremonies, and then danced to Israeli music. It was fun (and a nice change) to just let loose and goof around with friends rather than having a set activity.

The next morning we loaded the busses and headed to Jerusalem. We started the day with a walk through the Ha Chashmonaiim Tunnel. This tunnel was a VERY narrow tunnel that took about 20 minutes to walk through. It was a really cool walk and I definitely enjoyed it, but I felt bad for anyone on the trip who was even slightly claustrophobic. After the tunnel we went to the viewpoint of Armon Ha Natziv. We ate lunch here (pizza!) and just enjoyed the view. After another group activity we took a little bus tour and then went to our hotel, the Crowne Plaza. We had a little bit of free time to walk to the Mechane Yehuda market before dinner. After an amazing dinner we had our MASA opening ceremony including an Idan Raichel concert. This ceremony was for over 3,000 MASA participants from many other programs other than mine. MASA has over 200 different programs offered to Jewish people all over the world. The ceremony and concert were held at a concert hall right outside of our hotel (I think it was actually part of the hotel). The ceremony consisted of a few key speakers, a video including some of the MASA participants, and of course, music performances.

Then next day we had a short bone marrow lecture in the morning. This basically just consisted of them telling us about the Gift of Life bone marrow program and how the process works. We were given the option to get tested and sign up to be donors if we wanted. Of course, I did. After the lecture we packed up and loaded the busses to go on a hike. The hike at the "Sattaf" was mostly downhill with a nice view. We then drove to a spot right outside the old city to eat lunch and change before actually entering the old city. While in the old city, it is not appropriate to show your knees or shoulders. Most women wear skirts, especially at the Kotel (Western Wall). After lunch we took a walking tour of the old city. We started with the Muslim and Christian Quarters before ending up in the Jewish Quarter. This was a really nice tour because it was different than what we saw on Birthright. We ended the tour at the Kotel, where we were able to have a little time to ourselves. After another group activity we finally got on the busses to head home. It was a very long and tiring seminar, but it was nice to be able to go to Jerusalem and learn more about Israel.