Israel Day 3

By Atara Segal

On Friday morning we set out for Har Herzl, the most well known cemetery for Israeli soldiers throughout the country. There we met the Selters’ friend Mr. Eliot Young, and he led us to his brother’s grave, a Golani Brigade soldier named Natanel Young. Natanel was the fourth soldier to be buried on Har Herzl after October 7th. We listened to his story, learning who he was as a person and connected to him and his family. We learned that many of the surrounding buried soldiers were also fighting in Golani and had connections to Natanel. After putting stones on his grave, we walked around to visit other graves, and said tehillim. We then went to visit Rose Lubin’s grave, which was especially meaningful and necessary because of her deep Memphis connections. Her grave truly reflected her personality, with lively pictures of her and personal items covering her kvar. After saying a meaningful goodbye to the cemetery we left for the shuk. 

We walked through the shuk, and anyone with family or friends in the area were able to meet up there with them. We did some essential Israeli shopping and then headed to Ben Yehuda for lunch. Everyone got pizza and we returned to the hotel with giant tubs of ice cream for the evacuee families living in the hotel. The Selters also bought bouquets of flowers for each family and I had the privilege of serving ice cream to the kids of the hotel. It definitely helped me improve my Hebrew, and maybe one day I can work in an Israeli ice cream shop. It was so wonderful seeing the kids and parents so happy over seemingly small things, and it made a huge difference to their shabbat prep. 

After a few hours to nap and get ready, we rushed out of the hotel and took taxis to Nitzanim, the Rabbi Shai Finkelstein’s shul, before shabbat started. We all regrouped, lit candles and sat in shul to hear a beautiful kabbalat shabbat and davening. We then split off into two groups for dinner, and enjoyed lively conversation and delicious homemade food. We all met up afterwards and exchanged entertaining stories as we walked back to our hotel in the calm and fresh Israeli nightime weather. Shabbat day was restful and enjoyable and was a good time to reflect on what we had experienced so far and try to shake off some of the jetlag. We davened at a closer shul in the morning and enjoyed a yummy lunch in the hotel and lots of time to nap or have family visit in the hotel. Later in the day, before mincha, the group went on a sightseeing walk that was breathtaking. We were privileged to hear from a panel of college-age Israelis who were about to tour American colleges to speak to Jewish students about their experiences on October 7th. We got to hear their stories as well, which were miraculous and full of bravery. For seuda shlishit we ate on the balcony outside the hotel and heard from more friends of the Selters, Aron and Miriam White, who spoke on their Aliya and Israel experience since October 7th. They especially focused on Aron’s choice to join the army as a social media coordinator on reserves. We ended shabbat with havdalah in the lobby and set out for the kotel. After reconnecting with the kotel, we met up with MHA alumni and hung out at the hotel, an amazing ending to our evening.