Tuesday: A Day of Surprises and Adventures

Tuesday was filled with surprises and adventures as we explored some fascinating areas of Tel Aviv. We began our tour in the neighborhoods of Neve Tzedek/Neve Shalom, where we learned about the founding of this specific area and Tel Aviv as a whole. Students role-played a conversation among Tel Aviv's founders regarding whether their new city should be religiously Jewish or culturally Jewish, which led to an incredible discussion of whether this is a Jewish city or an Israeli city. (The answer, by the way, is Yes.) Many of our misconceptions about the cultural and economic capital of Israel were debunked; as it turns out, Tel Aviv has more than 5,000 synagogues and plenty of religious activity coexisting with nightclubs, ballets, other fine arts, and the stock exchange.While leaving this neighborhood, we saw a crew filming something--it turned out that the show being filmed there is similar to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

After lunch, we went to Hechal Atzmaut, the Hall of Independence, which is where the State of Israel was declared on May 14, 1948. We were reminded that this building was first Meir Dizengoff's home in the new Hebrew city of Ahuzat Bayit (which became Tel Aviv), then an art museum, before it became the place where David Ben-Gurion read the Scroll of Independence on that historic day. (For those who remember our Yom Haatzmaut celebration at CJHS this past spring, when we reenacted the Declaration, it was exciting to once again be in this room that we recreated in the CJHS gym. The setting looked pretty familiar!)

We also had a big surprise when one of our students got a special phone call: she's an aunt!

We then had time to wander around Nachalat Binyamin, the artists' colony, where many students and staff found lovely gifts for friends, family, and themselves. We walked to dinner and then, already a bit exhausted, we headed toward our evening program.

Our evening was to be at Na Laga'at, the only blind-deaf theatre program in the world. Just as our bus arrived at the theatre, Leora, our madricha, announced a special surprise for the group. "Direct from Gaza," she said, and all eyes turned to the front as Didi, our beloved madrich/guard/medic boarded the bus. Pandemonium ensued; we have never seen the kids get off the bus so quickly, as they hurried to hug Didi. After a week of basically not sleeping, Didi said, he was granted 24 hours of leave to visit his grandmother, who lives near the theatre, so he was thrilled to surprise us as well. He was only able to stay with us for about a half-hour; though the time was short, it was exciting for everyone to reconnect with our friend.

We walked into Na Laga'at and sat down at their cafe, Kapish, which is run by deaf waiters, so everyone has to communicate in sign language. (They also have a restaurant called Blackout, which is run by blind waiters and gives diners the experience of eating in total darkness.) Following tea, cake, and a Hebrew Sign Language lesson at Kapish, we entered the theatre for Lo Al Lechem L'vado (Not on Bread Alone), a performance done entirely by actors who are both deaf and blind. The show was extraordinary.

Exhausted, we returned to Jerusalem late on Tuesday night.

Wednesday was a whirlwind. We started with a lecture from Chicago native Gil Hoffman, who is the chief political correspondent for the Jerusalem Post. He spoke with us about his journalistic interactions with political figures and his perspective on the current situation. We then spent much of the day focusing on democracy and law in the State of Israel, with visits to the Supreme Court, the Knesset, and the Menachem Begin Center, where we had a tour and then participated in a Knesset simulation activity.

Tonight, we had a low-key evening; many students spent time with friends and family, and others just hung out at our youth hostel.

On Thursday, we are spending our day around the Dead Sea, with a great hike planned, as well as an exploration of Qumran, the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

As we shiver in our warm clothing and fleeces in 40-50 degree weather here, we hear that it's ridiculously cold and snowy in Chicago. We are thinking of you and will see you all very soon.