May 30 - Benjie S., Matt G., Davin A., Ben R.

This morning we woke  up early, had breakfast, and went to visit a Shabbat service at Kol HaRina Synagogue, after which we returned to the hotel and had a leisurely walk through Jerusalem. Because today was Shabbat, the streets were almost completely empty and we could walk on the rails of the train as none of the trains were operating. Our walk ended up at the Israel Museum where we took a wonderful group picture at the famous Ahavah statue (included) and then were allowed to wander and see the many exhibits. There were many statues and beautiful art from many different artists from different nationalities and periods in artistic history, but the most interesting was the exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Aleppo Codex, which is considered to be the most accurate version of the Bible and is over 1200 years old. After the museum we walked back to the hotel, had a leisurely lunch and some down time to socialize. Before dinner we had a group gathering where we shared personal stories about the Holocaust in preparation of Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust Musem, tomorrow. After dinner we had a speaker come to talk to us about Middle East Geopolitics, giving a surprisingly unbiased view, followed by a healthy discussion and then some much-needed sleep.

Go Blackhawks!

Benjie Matt Davin and Ben