Day 18 - Tel Aviv

If I hear the words "Wakey Wakey" again, I think I'm going to hurt someone. :-) I didn't hear it this morning, but its what I wake up to every time I fall asleep on the bus. And when the crazy kiwi man says it…well then its just funny. Anyway, this morning I was having another dream and I know I was under pressure on in trouble or something and Shamir yells out "Josh" and I awoke with a fright. I'm like WHAT WHAT? And he's like…what time is it? Grrrrr. Not the best way to get up. But it still was a good day. And now I will tell you all about it.

We first went today to Independence Hall, where the Israeli Declaration of Independence was signed on May 14, 1948. (not to be confused with the US one - some people back home got a little confused when I told them about it over the phone lol). It was signed at 4 pm exactly, which was a Friday…right before Shabat started. The people invited were only notified about it the day before, and only 350 invitations were sent out. It was 2 days before the British would have totally pulled out of Israel. The name "israel" for a country was chosen at the meeting, and a Jewish state of independence was declared, to be called Israel. It's important to notice it was a JEWISH state that declared independence, not just any old country. The US was the first to recognize Israel as a country. We also learned about the history of Tel Aviv through a movie that we watched afterwards, which is crazy because Tel Aviv is such an awesome city, and 100 years ago it was literally sand dunes. It is a booming metropolis today. We are going to the beach tomorrow. Who's excited for beach day!?!

After Independence Hall, we journeyed on to the US Embassy, where we had a variety of speakers. It was really interesting to learn about all the things an embassy does in addition to its foreign affairs and political agendas. For instance, we heard from a guy (who smiled really big the entire time) about the economy, another lady about trade, another guy about the military, another person about education, another about PR affairs, and one more who is the "stand in" ambassador while another one has yet to be appointed. I was surprised at the way this ambassador regarded Israel in light of the Palestinian conflict. He definitely showed more of a negative bias towards Israel and glanced over the faults of the Palestines. For instance, about 450 million of our funds from the US are allocated to projects in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank each year. Now, we know that in the education systems there, children are taught to hate Jews and that the country of Israel doesn't even exist, but it's called Palestine. When asked about this, the ambassador glanced over it and didn't really answer the question. Again, I asked about how the PA (Palestinian Authority) is being heavily funded by the USA, as well as Saudi Arabia and the EU heavily for projects such as education and rebuilding and the like, and I asked about whether there is a plan to help them build stuff up for themselves (such as we are doing in Iraq - stepping down as they step up). I got no response that would even hint we are working towards that. Which bugs me. Because a lot of our tax dollars are going to this and we're just giving and giving and the PA is mooching off of it. I know I need to be a little more sympathetic, because I know in Gaza Strip, Hamas totally runs the show, and has kicked alll foreign parties out. But I also know that since Israel has pulled out of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the PA has had the chance to elect their own gov't and hasn't done it because they know if they do they will be a legit. Country and then be responsible for their actions and have to take charge of their own land - which they have refused to do. That bugs me.

I know there are good Palestinians in need, and whose corrupt government abuses the funds that are allocated to them, so I'm not saying we shouldn't help them. But there has to be a better way than what we're doing now.

These meetings at the Embassy took us until 2:30 (and by that time my stomach was singing the national anthem in starvation!!!) Oh, by the way, at Independence Hall, we got to listen to Ben Guron's speech that he gave when they created Israel, and then listened as they sang their National Anthem. We all stood in the place as they played it. And there is something about that song - something that just tells of the story of the Jews that is so powerful and I just feel like I can identify with it so much. It's moving.

Anyway, we finally get out of there and board the bus and take a drive to Rabbi Kahn's house. I'm not sure if I've mentioned him before, but he's a rabbi here in Israel who is one of the developers of this program. He is originally from the States, Jersey I think, and he made aliyah to Israel about 7 years ago (I think). He's been with us for many of our excursions. Anyway, we went to his house for pizza, pringles, and a good time. Then we had discussion about Israel (what else?) and the Jewish people and cultures. We learned about the Orthodox Jews and their interaction with the Secular Jews, and talked about tolerance and a lot of different issues. I asked what we could do to overcome the christian stereotype. He gave a lot of answers, but one thing he said was that Israel is not very open to missionaries. I understand why, but it was just something I wasn't really expecting. He also said that communications between the Jewish community in the STATES and Christians need to be better - that we need to reach out to Jews and let them know we support them and Israel's right to exist. I think that is very important, and that the Evangelical Community needs to show this support and I believe it will have a very positive impact.

We stayed at the house for quite some time, and then came back to the hotel for dinner with Linda Olmert. Dinner was GOOOD - good chicken and good beef stir fry…hummus and salad and potatoes. I wanted seconds but there was no food when I went back up. So I eyed Ben's food the entire time we were talking and when we were done went over and ate all of his beef. Haha. Linda Olmert is a 2nd generation Holocaust survivor (both of her parents survived Auchwitz). We will be spending tomorrow with her. She just wanted to get to know us, and what really stood out to us on the trip thus far. I said it was Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial. I said that I guess I've always heard that 6 million Jews were killed, but I don't know if it came alive to me until I was there and realized how many Jews were massacred just because they were Jews. It still is so overwhelming to think about. It turns out she is on the board at Vad Yashem, and as she was talking to me, she kept bringing up this question, "What's the point?" 6 million died. But is the figure important? What if it was 5? What if 12 million other people died in another massacre? Would this still be important? Whats the point?! It made me think. Think about what I will do with this information. Think about why this is important. Just think. I hope I get to talk to her tomorrow.

Now I am up in my room blogging and packing away as tomorrow we are leaving Tel Aviv. I hope you are all doing well back home.

Shalom. From Tel Aviv.