Bus 1295: Shabbat, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs

While  the  last  few  days  of  our  trip  have  been  extremely  exciting  they  have  also  left  us  all exhausted. Luckily as the week came to a close we have Shabbat to look forward to and with it an  opportunity  to  catch  up  on  much  needed  sleep.  Shabbat  started  with  a  nice  lighting  candle ceremony  where  our  entire  bus  worked  together  to  light  candles  in  UVA's  sabers  as  a  nice throwback  to  home.  We  were  largely  left  to  our  own  devices  for  the  rest  of  the  day  with  the exception of the a great dinner.

For most of the students that was the extent of plans until lunch Saturday. However for so of the students, this was  an  active time  as they were  preparing for their Bar  and Bat Mitzvahs. Lana, Sammie, Lauren, Erika, Danny and myself (Daniel) all had our Bar and Bat Mitzvahs as Shabbat neared its end. After Shabbat we listened to a presentation given by Avraham Infeld. In addition to being and excellent speaker and giving the audience many laughs, Infeld also taught us some very important lessons on what it means to be Jewish, and in my opinion answered many of the questions people in our group were trying to answer. 

The following day we visited the graves of Theodor Herzl, Yitzhak Rabin and Golda Meir. We learned much about their accomplishments, struggles and personal beliefs during this visit and it really helped  all of us better understand the mindset of the founders of Israel. We next went to National Military Cemetery. In many ways it was similar to the Arlington National Cemetery and in many ways it was different. It was a very sobering experience particular when we think about how many of the fallen were our age and even in some situations were originally Americans.

We next went to Old Jerusalem where we saw tons of ancient architecture and gorgeous buildings, learning much of its history in the process. Much of Old Jerusalem is characterized by thin windy pathways making it very easy to get lost in. We finally reached the Western Wall, Judaism holiest site where were  able to pray,  and leave wishes. As we left the wall we  all received notes from home  telling  us  about  our  parents  impressions  about  israel, Jerusalem  and  wishing  us safe  get exciting travels ahead. It really is hard to believe it's been less than a week since we left, it feels so much longer.

Daniel Monaco '16
Bus 1295

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