In Yad Vashem
Our day began with a visit to Yad Vashem, Jerusalem’s Holocaust museum and memorial. The new exhibit hall, built into a hillside, opened in 2005. David gave us a brief introduction to the significance of the Holocaust in modern Israeli society. Then students had two and a half hours to go through the winding exhibition halls by themselves. For some of our students, this was the first time they learned about the Holocaust in such graphic and personalized ways.
Halva
After Yad Vashem we needed to refuel, so we gave students over two hours to explore Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market, an open air bazaar where vendors sell everything from vegetables, fish, and pastries to phone cases and clothes. Our students loved the atmosphere and the food. They all had lunch in one of the many restaurants and sampled fruits, halva (picture), and nuts, while stocking up for our hike in the Judean desert on Friday.
Then we got back on the bus to go to Mount Scopus, the hill that separates the city of Jerusalem from the Judean Desert and that is home to the Hebrew University. Adi Livny, a graduate student in the history department who is currently writing her dissertation on the history of the university from 1925, the year in which it was founded, to 1948, the founding of the State of Israel, gave us a tour of the beautiful campus. Even though it is a relatively young university, it has a rich and interesting history that is intertwined with the history of both the state of Israel and Jerusalem itself.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Then it was already time to return to Beit Shmuel, our hostel. Most evenings we have heard from guest speakers, local residents who come to speak to the students about various aspects of life in Israel today. It is usually one of the highlights of the trip for students. Last night we hosted Mikhael Manekin, a political activist who mesmerized our students with his thoughtful and eloquent reflections about the current, pre-election political climate in Israel. Tonight we enjoyed a presentation by Karin Lindner, a woman came to Palestine as a child prior to the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, and who for years has been active with an organization called Machsom Watch.
Tomorrow morning we depart for a couple of days in the Judean Desert.