Our last day in Jerusalem- Experiencing Ancient History with New Friends

Nate Weinstein

Day 6 | 2022 Children’s Village Teen Volunteer Program

Today, we woke up late for breakfast at 8:30. The breakfast was pretty good. We had mozzarella and tomato salad, a large baguette bread with a buffet of toppings, and some pastries. Off to the side there was a cherry and almond bread pudding (my personal favorite). Once done, we all went back upstairs to prepare our day bags, and started packing up our things, because sadly this would be our last day in Jerusalem. During this time my roommate, Tadao, and I were relaxing on our beds. Suddenly we heard a loud knock on the door. However, when Todao went to check on it, there was nobody there. By the time I had gotten to the door Tadao had already left the room, and out of nowhere I heard him scream. Around the corner I stood and stared at three large bumps extruding out of the long beige curtains covering the wall. I heard a muffled laugh, turned around, and went back into the room. Izzy, Rinnie, and Tadao appeared in the room a few seconds later. 

Once everyone was ready, our first stop was the Israel Museum, where we visited the shrine of the book. As you entered the courtyard where the shrine sat, a tall black wall, with water spilling over its edges symbolized the non-believers. Opposite of that, a large white funnel, with an opening at its top symbolized the Jewish people and their connection to the skies above. We walked through the courtyard, but before entering it, we passed by a massive replica of the old city from 2000 years ago in Jerusalem. We saw all of the canals that we had walked through just yesterday, the busy neighborhoods, and the Temple Mount, where the Western Wall is. 

Moving on, we took a tunnel underneath the Shrine of the Book. This is where the Dead Sea Scrolls are preserved. Looking through the exhibit I could feel the thousands of years of history behind the Jewish texts we have today. 

Passing by the Dead Sea Scrolls, we finally entered the actual museum. If you don’t know, the museum is huge. We tried to stay in the history of Israel section, which in itself covered five thousand years of history. We had free reign to go anywhere we wanted within that area. I started by heading to the Ancient Egyptian era. They had authentic coffins, statues, paintings, and shrines. There was also a really cool Greek and Roman exhibition, displaying their culture, gods, and artifacts that were found in Israel. Near the end we all met up and looked at some of the massive mosaics from ancient temples and churches. Besides that, there was also an art museum which some people went to.

           Next we had a good lunch at a restaurant called Deja Bu. They had warm fresh bread, and a pepper-filled Israeli salad. From there we walked back to the old city. This time we stayed above ground. As we went through each street, our tour guide Roi pointed out the differences between all the quarters. There were many more people running through the streets. When our group went back up to the rooftop and looked over all that we had walked through together, we could see the towering Rock Dome, and the steeple of an ancient Catholic church. We visited that church, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and watched as the priests entered to pay their respects to Jesus, whose tomb is inside the chapel. Afterwards, we went to the last supper room, King David’s tomb, and Dormition Abbey, the final stops for our trip. 

Enjoying our last minutes with our awesome tour guide Roi and our bodyguard Dolev, we walked back to our hotel rooms, packed up, and went to dinner. We ate at an excellent Lebanese restaurant. Next door, there was a little shop that served a sweet dessert made of different melted cheeses glazed over with multiple coats of sugar. We had a two hour van ride back to the Children’s Village, and along the way we said a heartfelt goodbye to Dolev and Roi. Finally, back at our home we sat together and reflected on the amazing trip we just took. 

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