The exit to the tunnels
Inside a cave
Me finding stuff
My group digging
Getting ready to dig
In Jewish history class on Wednesday we
talked about where we believe our Jewish history begins? Personally I don’t
know where I believe our Jewish history starts. Many of the traditions that my
family participates in are things passed down from generation and we continue
to do them because we see our other Jewish friends doing it. I don’t want to
say that I don’t believe in the stories said in the Tanakh but a lot of them
sound unrealistic and a little fairy tale like, such as Noah’s Ark. All Jewish
people have different views on traditions but the story’s in the Tanakh are
universal to Jews all over the world and brings us together. Therefore I
believe if we had to pick one place to start our Jewish history I would use the
Tanakh because all Jews agree on the stories so its a good place to start our
history.
Today we went on our first tyoul (field trip)
to an archeological dig! This was a great opportunity to see first hand where
our history began. In class we also
talked about the Merneptah Israel which are ancient Egyptian stone that has
carvings engraved in them dating back 1200 BCE. On this tyoul we all got down
and dirty digging through caves 2000+ years old where we found old sheep bones,
and pottery. We also went inside two barrel caves. Barrel caves are rooms under
ground that have a bunch of holes in then, and in ancient times each family had
a cave of there own and they would all be put into one of the holes in the
family barrel cave when they died. Finally we crawled through tunnels
underground created by the Jewish people to hide from the Romans during the Bar
Kochvah rebellion. Seeing these sites aloud
me to understand where the Jewish people started and what the world was like at
this time. Friday was also my first Shabbat in Israel! The whole experience
gave me chills! I think the most amazing part of Shabbat was being with all the
students of EIE who live all over the U.S and go to different camps, and youth
groups but we all have the same traditions such as songs and dance moves! Even
though we all just met less then a week ago we have all come together and
created a family! I think coming together as a group of reform teenage Jews is
a very powerful thing even though we all come from different back rounds and
traditions. We came together and made friendships based on the core fact that
we are Jewish. I think the coolest part
about being in Israel over Shabbat is when ever we would rise and face
Jerusalem, normally I would face east but this was the first time that I was in
Jerusalem and everyone around the world turned and faced me, that was a feeling
that gave me shivers.
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