5/9/12
Shalom Y’all,
Today has been a day of celebrating beauty—the beauty
within, the beauty of art, and the beauty of nature. Folks were, candidly, a
little groggy at breakfast. The reality of being half-way around the world
seemed to have sunken in. But we perked up as we enjoyed the traditional
Israeli spread—fresh baked pastries, various cheeses, eggs, hot chocolate, nes
café, and so on. After reminding the kids that Israeli hotel room doors don’t
swing shut automatically like their American counterparts we boarded to bus for
an incredibly short ride to the Israel Museum.
At the Israel Museum we participated in all the usual
activities. We studied the incredible 2nd Temple Era depiction of
Jerusalem (which is much cooler than it may sound) and learned about the Dead
Sea Scrolls. Then, something truly unique and truly Davis took place—our first
“spiritual check-in.”
A huge part of this trip involves reflection, dialogue,
exploration, and growth. While these
things invariably happen just by virtue of being in an amazing place like
Israel, we’ve found that it’s good to be “intentional” about creating
opportunities for this kind of “self-work.” Over the years the chaperones have
created a series of spiritual check-ins. A spiritual check-in is basically a
structured conversation that uses a Jewish text as its foundation and
reflective questions as a platform for dialogue. For example, today’s spiritual
check-in was based on the teaching of Rabbi Hillel, “If I not for myself who
will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am i? If not now, when?” Sample
discussion questions include: “How have you ‘been there’ for yourself and
others lately? How might you have let yourself or others down?” Mr. O’Dell and
Ms. Kendrick modeled appropriate dialogue for the kids and then we all broke
into “chevruta” (groups of two) for discussion with the guidelines of: respect,
confidentiality, listening, and “silence is okay.” When we came back to share
it was clear that this was a profound experience for most of the kids. A number
of students and chaperones were literally in tears, and 95% were eager to know
when the next check-in would be.
When you look at the traditional picture of all the kids at
the “ahava” sculpture at the Israel Museum know that this picture was taken
immediately after the check-in. One student remarked, “When we go to take the
ahava picture let’s make sure that the “ahava” (Hebrew for “love”) is more than
just a sculpture but a real value in our lives and in our grade.” After the picture we explored the remodeled
Israel Museum and then headed off to a delicious lunch.
After lunch we explored the beauty of nature by heading to
the Sataf Springs hike. Imagine your child climbing down a huge mountain in the
Jerusalem hills! On the way we saw the ancient cistern that supplied water to
the entire area and noticed many budding plants including: pomegranate, almond,
olive, raspberry, wheat, barley, figs, carob, and others. There was definitely
a sense of accomplishment upon completing the hike! Everyone was disappointed
that we didn’t stop at the perfectly placed ice cream truck at the bottom of
the hill, but they know that Ben Yehuda Street will definitely satisfy their
ice cream needs! After pausing to learn about the Kinesset (Israeli parliament)
and view it’s famous “menorah” sculpture we made this “pilgrimage within a
pilgrimage.”
Ben Yehuda Street is now lacking in the following items:
watches, shofars, kippot, crepes with chocolate and coconut, T-shirts of all
shapes and sizes, CDs, stickers, mezuzot, hats, necklaces, bracelets, hamsas,
drums, ice cream, and various other keepsakes. Check out the pictures (hopefully posted in the next couple of hours) to see
our kids embracing the time honored tradition of bargaining. Know that within
minutes of our arrival several of the stores had signs saying, “Welcome Davis
Academy, Special Prices Here.”By the way, today's pictures are courtesy of the photographically gifted Max Harris and Larry Yanovich. They took their responsibility with the utmost seriousness and professionalism.
Israel is indeed a technologically advanced society as I am
writing to you from our tour bus, which is both driving across the city and connected to the internet. We’re
headed to the beautiful home of the Meline family (Becca’s grandparents) who
will be hosting at least their 3rd
Davis Academy group that I know of (possibly more!). We are excited to be guests
in their home overlooking the old city and will continue to use our best
manners to make a good impression. They are incredibly generous hosts and we are honored by the invitation. Of course, who wouldn't want to see Becca and all her classmates???
Tomorrow will be a very profound and challenging day as we
begin our travels with a visit to Yad VaShem (Israel’s Holocaust Memorial) and
then to Har Hertzel (Israel’s military cemetery). By the end of the day our
spirits will be lifted, but we know that our people’s story is a complex and
sometimes very painful one. Tomorrow we explore the cost and the reward of
being a part of this incredible Jewish world.
