March in Israel

by Rebecca Cushman

Hello again! I can’t believe it’s March already. I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun! Being here in Jerusalem has continued to be an incredible opportunity. So, like last time, I’ll share with you some of the highlights of my trip, specifically from the month of February!

When I was in Israel with my family a few years ago, I remember the incredible feeling I got when we visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Thankfully, I had the opportunity to go back to the Western Wall this month! There is something about the Western Wall that will never fail to make me feel so uplifted and just so happy and excited to be in Israel! There is a tradition to write wishes on little slips of paper and put them in the cracks of the wall, and I was certainly happy to partake in that tradition!

One thing that I’ve been taking advantage of, while being here in Israel, is the many lectures and guest speakers at Hebrew University. Every Monday night, I attend the Beit Midrash Program, where I get the opportunity to learn from a different guest speaker about Judaism and Israel. It’s a wonderful opportunity, and I’m so fortunate to have so many opportunities to learn every week about Israel and Judaism, while I’m actually here, in Israel! My semester classes, at the University, have also gotten off to a great start! One of my favorite classes is about the architecture of Jerusalem, especially because we get to go on so many field trips!

An amazing place I went to this month was the Refuge Caves from the time of the Bar Kochba Revolt, which took place in 132 CE. I was with a group of students, and a tour guide, and we all crawled through this cave. Some of the spaces we crawled through were on 40-60cm high! It was a pretty thrilling experience!

Recently, I went to the Israel Museum, which is amazing! This place is absolutely incredible, and it was a beautiful day out, so I was able to walk around the gardens of the museum in a t-shirt, in the middle of winter! The exhibits at the museum are awesome. I got to see the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are the oldest known record of Biblical Hebrew. I also got to see some fascinating exhibits of modern art, as well as beautiful replications of ancient synagogues.

Just one more highlight. This past weekend, I spent Shabbat (Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon) with an Israeli family. The mother had given a lecture at the Beit Midrash Program, which I discussed earlier in this blog post, and since there were only a few of us at the lecture, she gave out her number and said that if we would like to spend Shabbat with her and her family, we are more than welcome! It may sound strange, but this is extremely common in Israel. Shabbat is all about community, and so, many families have guests stay with them for Shabbat. My roommate and I went, and it was a wonderful experience. We ate two delicious dinners - one dinner with the family we were staying with, and a lunch on Saturday with friends of that family. Everyone was extremely welcoming, and it was really great to get to see what Israeli life is like outside of our dorms!

And finally, just like last time, here are some pictures to conclude!