Wednesday 5th August:
Today we were in Tel Aviv and we
started our day at the Children’s Museum in Holon. The Museum runs
courses that are actually in story form, allowing us to take part as
characters. The Museum allowed us to touch displays and be
part of the exhibit as we followed the story and got a small feeling of what it
is like to be blind.
We then had
some free time in Carmel Market and Shenkin Street where we were able to spend
some of our money and buy some lovely Israeli gifts.
Our day continued with a tour of
Rabin Square. Rabin Square, formally Kings of Israel Square, is the
largest public city square in central Tel Aviv and has held political rallies,
parades and countless other public events. In 1995 the
square was re-named ‘Rabin Square’ in honour of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
who was assassinated there earlier that year by a right-wing extremist. This was a thought provoking and powerful afternoon.
Next we headed to Independence
Hall, the place where David Ben-Gurion announced the founding of the state of
Israel on Friday 14th May 1948, just before Shabbat began. It was oddly
nostalgic to see the chairs and table where the declaration was signed
and read out, and to imagine all the people crammed into such a small
room.
The juxtaposition between the significance of the moment and the
place in which it happened was extraordinary indication of what Israel was like
as an Infant in 1948.
Our final stop of the day was
Modiin – a relatively new city that has had a huge influx of Anglo olim
(immigrants). It has a large Modern Orthodox demographic and we had the
opportunity to enjoy dinner with some local families. We heard about what
it’s like living in Israel, what sort of jobs they hold and what the Aliyah
(immigration) process is like.
After a very busy day we headed
back to the hotel and the group got ready for their talent contest – it was a
fantastic ending to an amazing trip!
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