Tel Aviv

May 22nd

We started the morning by driving to the middle of Tel Aviv to meet our new travel companions. The Birthright program really wants us to understand Israeli culture and life so every group gets 5-10 Israeli soldiers. Our group got seven soldiers and we broke into groups to talk and connect with the soldiers. It was amazing to sit with them and talk about the differences in our lifestyles. After high school, I went straight into college and after college, I may have a month to travel before I start my full-time job. Women soldiers serve for two years, men for three. After their service is fulfilled, they all spend some time travelling. Some hike within Israel, a lot go to South America, and some do Euro trips. Some take the SAT’s and come to school in America while others stay in Israel for school. Their careers don’t start until their late twenties. More than half of all soldiers live at home while serving. The others live on base for 10-14 days at a time and travel home on their weekends off. Since they are only paid about $125 a month, parents support the soldiers until they finish their service. It was amazing to talk with them and realize that every single one of these soldiers is younger than me. The diversity of the soldiers was surprising too. While they were all Israeli, they had very different ancestral origins; Poland, Russia, Argentina, Spain, Germany, and many more. In America, every person looks different but I thought that Israelis would have more similarities than differences. The Diaspora caused the diversification of the Jewish population and it was visible with our soldiers. I got a picture pf all of the soldiers and you will see for yourself when I upload them.

After our meet-and-greet, we learned about the square we were standing in. It was called Rabin Square after Yitzhak Rabin, a Prime Minister of Israel who was assassinated. Rabin wanted to give up some of Israel’s land to create a peace with their Arab neighbors. There was obviously some disagreement and Rabin was shot three times. There is a beautiful memorial in the exact spot he was assassinated and we had a discussion about if assassinations are ever justifiable.

After lunch we went to Independence Hall. We first learned about the history of Tel Aviv. Sixty-six families came together and raised enough money to put in the foundation for the city. Before breaking ground, the area was simply sand dunes in the desert. Tel Aviv’s planners wanted it to be a modern city, “The New York of Israel”, so they installed tap water instead of wells and had extremely wide streets. Each family had their own plot of land to build on so each house in the original Tel Aviv looks different and unique. We spent time in one of the founder’s houses that was converted into an art museum. When Israel was rectifying a constitution and becoming an official state, Jerusalem was under siege so Tel Aviv was chosen for the announcement location. This art museum was chosen as the meeting house and David Ben Gurion broadcasted Israel’s independence on May 14^th, 1948. We sat in the room where the announcement took place and heard all about this day. It was beautiful and really meaningful for me.

After Independence Hall we had free time on the beaches of Tel Aviv. We swam for an hour and really got to know the soldiers. We then dried off and drove to our new hotel about an hour south of Jerusalem. We were supposed to stay closer to the Holy City but because of the pope’s upcoming visit, we had to stay farther away. We are right on the Dead Sea and it is gorgeous! A little muggy at night but if you find a breeze it feels great. Zach and I roomed with a soldier named Matan and Josh was with another soldier named Dani. We had so many great conversations with these guys about life in the army, what the current conflicts mean to them, and what they think Israel’s future looks like. The nights with the soldiers is my favorite part so far.