Today we said goodbye to Jerusalem! After being surrounded by thousands of years of history and being surrounded by Jerusalem stone for four days, we went to the Jaffa lookout. There, the contrast of a breathtaking view of a modern city on the shores of the Mediterranean came into view. This city is only 100 years old, and was sand dunes prior to the early 1900’s. A group of Jewish pioneers built the first modern Jewish city on the shores of the Mediterranean.
We arrived in Tel Aviv after spending the morning at Neot Kedumim.
During our visit to Neot Kedumim, (The Biblical Landscape Reserve) we learned about plants in the bible and the ancient prophets’ connections to the land. The relationship between an and nature was used for teaching ideas and values and are reflected in Jewish traditions today.
It was amazing to see the seven species of fruit trees growing in Israel–in the place where they belong. We talk with our children about these fruits and trees, but now we can provide the children with first hand knowledge from the reserve.
We better appreciate man’s relationship to the land and his existence on this land. One of the seven species, the date palm, grew in the hot humid weather and the dates were dried and preserved. Trunks of the date palm were used to make baskets for crushed olives.
We further discussed the three main species (wheat & barley, grapes and olive oil) and how they represent the temple in Jerusalem. This interconnection between man and nature is also linked to Judaism through weekly Shabbat practices of lighting candles and blessing the Sabbath wine and challah.
In late afternoon, we visited Independence Hall. It was here on May 14, 1948 that David Ben Gurion and over 350 others, crowded into the small room on Dizengoff Street, Ben Gurion read the Declaration of Independence standing under a large picture of Theodor Herzl, the father of modern Zionism. It took only 40 minutes for him to speak followed by the singing of Israel’s new National Snthem, Hatikvah.
We have collectively been teaching Israel for over 35 years, in preschool classrooms and in a 5th grade classroom where the entire year was focused on Israel. A couple of us, being religious school teachers, have studied every fact and have passionately presented the events that led to Yom Ha Atzma’ut. We already knew quite a bit, but we were not prepared for the intense emotion that came from this lesson in history. Suddenly, we were part of the birth of Israel, singing Hatikvah in Independence Hall and could not wait to return home to share the pride and love with the children in Pittsburgh.
We enjoyed staying up late in the city that never sleeps.
– Judy, Nina & Gail