Today is Sunday, July 5th and we just returned a few minutes ago from our second day of touring. First things first and that is we a fitness training session this morning. The guys only have 6 balls remaining, as 3 did not even bring their balls to Israel, as we instructed numerous times before leaving the US. The other 11 balls have been launched over the fence into a locked area that so far is not accessible. It is really hard to do training properly without an adequate number of balls and that is the position we now find ourselves. We ended training after 1 hour and 15 minutes, so we could get back to have breakfast before we left at 12:15 for Ancient Jerusalem.
What and incredible experience we had today. We started the tour by going to the Haas Promenade, which overlooks Ancient Jerusalem. What a sight to see! We then got back on our bus for our short journey to the Western Wall. This was perhaps one of the most moving experiences I have had, short of seeing Dachau, just outside Munich, Germany, which actually brought me to tears. We all wrote notes and placed them in the cracks in the wall. We took lots of photos of everyone and especially of Sean and me against the wall. I also said the Kaddish in honor of my parents. I was touched very deeply to be at the holy sight and be able to honor my parents and family in such a reverent way. Most of the kids put Tefillin on and went to the wall for their prayers. It is very hard to put in to words what this meant to all of us. I only wish my wife were here with us, although she would have gone to a separate part.
After leaving the wall, we went to the South Wall and then to the steps where over 2000 years ago, our ancesters walked. After that we went to Hezekiah's Tunnel. This took 45 minutes to complete. This tunnel is filled with water and very a long, low and narrow path. King Hezekiah was the one who attacked through this passage. It was very interesting, but actually walking through this could have been better, if it lasted maybe 5 minutes instead of 45! Oh well, we all made it through and left Jerusalem for our hotel. What a day to remember!
Tomorrow, we will train at 7 AM and then depart at 12 noon for Modern Jerusalem and Yad Vashem (The Holocaust Memorial). We will then go to Hebrew University for a Bar and Bat Mitzvah, for those that wish to participate, after which we will have dinner and then return home to our hotel. Sean will post some photos after we train Monday morning.
Thank you for reading my blog and I hope everyone is enjoying it. I am trying very hard to re-capture what we did through facts and not necessarily through any type of story.
Take care and stay well,
Preston and Sean from Israel
What and incredible experience we had today. We started the tour by going to the Haas Promenade, which overlooks Ancient Jerusalem. What a sight to see! We then got back on our bus for our short journey to the Western Wall. This was perhaps one of the most moving experiences I have had, short of seeing Dachau, just outside Munich, Germany, which actually brought me to tears. We all wrote notes and placed them in the cracks in the wall. We took lots of photos of everyone and especially of Sean and me against the wall. I also said the Kaddish in honor of my parents. I was touched very deeply to be at the holy sight and be able to honor my parents and family in such a reverent way. Most of the kids put Tefillin on and went to the wall for their prayers. It is very hard to put in to words what this meant to all of us. I only wish my wife were here with us, although she would have gone to a separate part.
After leaving the wall, we went to the South Wall and then to the steps where over 2000 years ago, our ancesters walked. After that we went to Hezekiah's Tunnel. This took 45 minutes to complete. This tunnel is filled with water and very a long, low and narrow path. King Hezekiah was the one who attacked through this passage. It was very interesting, but actually walking through this could have been better, if it lasted maybe 5 minutes instead of 45! Oh well, we all made it through and left Jerusalem for our hotel. What a day to remember!
Tomorrow, we will train at 7 AM and then depart at 12 noon for Modern Jerusalem and Yad Vashem (The Holocaust Memorial). We will then go to Hebrew University for a Bar and Bat Mitzvah, for those that wish to participate, after which we will have dinner and then return home to our hotel. Sean will post some photos after we train Monday morning.
Thank you for reading my blog and I hope everyone is enjoying it. I am trying very hard to re-capture what we did through facts and not necessarily through any type of story.
Take care and stay well,
Preston and Sean from Israel
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