Today was Yom Hazikaron (Israeli Memorial Day). The first thing we
did was to see an archaeological restoration of an ancient Jewish synagogue in
the Golan. We also saw a natural freshwater spring.
Later in the morning we
went to a tekes(ceremony) where we
and some Israelis listened to the siren and remembered those who lost their
lives defending this country. It was very emotional for the Israelis who knew someone
who had died.
After that we visited a non-active Israeli military base on Mt.
Bental. Our counselor gave us a lecture about the Israeli-Syrian border, which
we could see from Mt. Bental. We listened to a peer give a speech about the Yom
Kippur war. Then we explored the military base, including the bunkers, where we
saw how the Israeli soldiers lived.
Next we went to Kibbutz El Rom and saw a film called Oz 77 about the tank battle, which took
place in the Valley of Tears, during the Yom Kippur war.
Then we hiked the Jilabon stream in the Golan. It was a very rocky
hike, which was very fun and physically challenging, especially during the
uphill climb on the way back. At the end of our hike we reached the Jilabon
waterfall and natural pool, which we swam in. It was really, really
cold, but we had a lot of fun swimming through the waterfall. Some people hit
their legs on underwater rocks, but it didn’t hurt that badly because the cold
quickly numbed the pain. The whole class loved it.
Tonight we went to another tekes,
this time for Yom Haatzmaut (Israeli Independence Day). It was very nice to see
the Israelis gather to celebrate. There were slideshows, music, and
presentations.
No comments:
Post a Comment