Wow I cannot believe it’s been three weeks already everything’s gone by so fast.

Wow I cannot believe it’s been three weeks already everything’s gone by so fast. We went to Jerusalem for the third time and I fell even more love with the city. Going for Shabbat and seeing everything shut down was so insane and surreal especially at the western wall with hundreds of people coming to pray. It was a beautiful experience. As I look back on this past week I cannot believe that I hiked Masada, swam in the Dead Sea, and went celebrate Shabbat at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

In the beginning of the trip the one thing I wasn’t looking forward to was hiking Masada. I’m terrified of heights so hiking is not my forte especially a full mountain. So I made it a goal of mine to hike to the top to face my fears and I did it. I reached the top of the mountain as scared as I was making sure not to look down never being more proud to reach a goal. We finished the whole hike and exploration by 9:30 am and made our way down to the Dead Sea where we floated for about an hour and got back to Hod Hasharon by 4pm giving me and my friends enough time to go out to dinner and relax. After an extremely accomplished few days it was nice to have a break for two days and get back to our usual rhythm but that only lasted two days. That’s part of the fun if you choose Alexander Muss High School in Israel your always busy.

After two days of rest we got right back on our nice coach bus and drove to Jerusalem for the third time in the three weeks we’ve been here. This time was different however because we were going for Shabbos. We started by going to a shuk and buying way to much good food. The shuk was jammed packed with so many people trying to get food before the holiday. Another goal of mine was to see an orthodox service because it’s so foreign to me how people would stop everything for two days each week and have so much respect and discipline for two days. Although I didn’t get to see an orthodox service on this trip I still had the opportunity to see a Sephardic service at the most beautiful synagogue I have ever seen and already plan on going back to that very synagogue next year when I come with my family. Over all this week helped me grow as a person and gave me more respect for Judaism. From this week I know have new goals to expand my knowledge of the religion, come back to each place I visited, and to learn how to relax like everyone here does for two days over Shabbos.