Day 6 - Final Day

During my final day in Jerusalem, I met up with another friend from the States who I met at a Model UN competition. He graciously gave me tour around Jerusalem, and we had tons of fun walking through the Shuk and exploring the streets and lane ways.

Now when I had gone to the Mahane Yehuda market previously, it was pretty much empty. This time, however, was completely different. On Fridays the market is full of people who are getting ready for Shabbat, which is the Jewish day of rest. It begins a few minutes before sunset on Friday until Saturday night.

Sabra - Israeli prickly pear. Sabra is also the term used to describe a native Israeli. Like the prickly pear, they are tough on the outside but soft and sweet on the inside.

People eating out in the Shuk

As we walked through the Shuk, I noticed a couple of stalls where some Orthodox men from the Chabad organization had set up and were offering to perform prayer services called tefillin. To humor my curiosity, my friend agreed to show me how it was done.

In front of the Chabad stalls

First, he had to put on a special kippa while our Chabad friend got these small leather boxes ready. The tefillin boxes contain scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. 

Next, one of the boxes was tied to his arm with a leather strap.

The last box went around the head.

Finally, they finished off with some prayers in Hebrew.

Tefillin is used as a reminder of God's intervention during the Exodus from Egypt. I've never seen anything like that done before, so it was fascinating from an outsider's perspective to learn about this ritual. 

Best line of the day was when my friend and the Chabad guy were speaking to each other in Hebrew. I don't speak Hebrew obviously, so my friend told me what was said after we left.

Chabad guy: Is she Jewish?

Friend: No

Chabad guy: Are you going to marry her?

Friend: Probably not.

Chabad guy: Thank God!

Kippas

After leaving the Shuk, we wandered around the alleys and lane ways nearby. 

We saw a synagogue

And an arts & crafts festival

And we stopped by an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian church. Israel has an Ethiopian population close to 120,000 and has experienced an increase in immigration from Ethiopia since 2009. 

Church gate

Inside the church

Our last stop was just outside the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood Mea Shearim, one of the oldest, most insulated Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem, whose residents adhere to a very strict religious lifestyle. We couldn't actually go in and walk around because I was wearing a tank top, and the sign outside warned passerby not to go in wearing immodest clothes. Proper dress would include long skirts and shirts that cover the arms and midriff. I was told of children throwing stones at people entering the area who were not dressed appropriately, so we didn't want to risk it.

Outside Mea Shearim

"Please do not pass through our neighborhood in immodest clothes"

We ended my last tour just in the nick of time. Since Jerusalem is a religious city, it completely shuts down once Shabbat starts. Luckily, I still had an hour or two to spare and was able to get a cab to the airport, where I began planning my next trip back.

My final day in Jerusalem was a wonderful end to an absolutely brilliant trip, and I'm so glad I was able to go around the city one more time and soak it all in. It was disappointing that I couldn't stay longer, but I'm looking forward to the next time I come. 

Jerusalem Day 2 - The Old City

After our first official day of the conference hearing about theory and practice from a number of fascinating and engaging speakers, we went to the Old City to see the Night Spectacular at the Tower of David Museum. The Tower of David is an ancient fortress, which also used to be the palace of King David.

Walls of the Old City

They have a nighttime light show here which, true to its name, is indeed spectacular. The walls serve as the stage, and the show traces Jerusalem's long history up until modern times in the most dazzling way. The story of Jerusalem was displayed before us through enormous, breathtaking audiovisual effects and dramatic music in a celebration of sight and sound. It is truly remarkable, and one of the most captivating shows I've ever seen.

The entrance

Upon our arrival, we walked through the garden and saw an assortment of projector images displayed on the walls, ranging from farming and garden scenes to people playing chess. After we made our way to our seats, the show started, executing an enthralling performance. I was hypnotized for 45 minutes as Jerusalem's history unfolded before my very eyes.

The stage for the light show

When the Night Spectacular ended, we walked around the Old City and made our way through the Arab, Christian, and Jewish quarters.

We ended at the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall. It is situated at the western end of the Temple Mount and is the most sacred site for the Jewish faith aside from the Temple Mount itself, and has been a site of Jewish pilgrimage and prayer for centuries. The area surrounding the Wall is split into two sections - one for men and one for women.

Torahs

There's a great quote which describes praying at the Wall as if one "has prayed before the throne of glory because the gate of heaven is situated there and it is open to hear prayer". Visiting it was the most intense part of the whole trip; chills ran up and down my spine during my entire time there. When I entered the women's section, I could feel the energy radiating from everyone praying, and could almost see it whizzing around in the air. All around me women were muttering prayers, their heads bowed and eyes closed. Many were crying, wailing, as they read from their Torahs and touched the Wall itself. I have never seen anyone express their faith in such a heartfelt, impassioned manner. It was beautiful and emotional to be around so many people displaying such a strong spiritual connection.

This was definitely one of my favorite days of the trip. Not only was it an incredible cultural experience, everything - from the relations formed with other delegates, the speakers we heard from, and of course our night tour - went along swimmingly and without a hitch.

Jerusalem

Back in August, I had the most amazing opportunity to travel to Jerusalem for an international law conference. During the six days I spent there, I learned more about international law in a series of thought provoking, balanced, and challenging lectures. Furthermore, I was able to meet brilliant, thoughtful, and kind individuals from all over the world; all while spending time in what is probably the most incredible place I've ever been. This was a truly remarkable and transformative experience that I am incredibly fortunate to have had. Walking away, I am more than satisfied with all that I've learned and the friendships that I have formed.

Applying for this conference was one of the best decisions I think I've ever made. Before coming, I was worried about taking a week off of classes and unsure of how my time in Israel would really be of benefit. Law school has been very demanding, and I found myself losing perspective and forgetting why I wanted a law degree in the first place. In making the choice to go, I was able to remind myself why I want to study law, and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Since I took way too many pictures to fit it all into one post, I will be dividing my experiences into each day I spent there. Enjoy! :)

Group shot overlooking the Holy Basin

At the Cricket!

In late January, I went with some friends from Couch Surfing to my first ever cricket match! A friend of a friend happens to be a member of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and we were able to go with him to the members area. It was so interesting; despite everyone saying how boring cricket is, I thought it was really cool and fun! My friend explained the rules to me so I could follow the game.
The match we saw was the Melbourne Stars vs. Adelaide. It was a Twenty20 match, so I think the rules differ slightly than test cricket. Now, I'm certainly no expert and only saw that one game which was months ago, so I may be completely wrong, but this is how I remember it:
They have a pitcher (they call him a bowler) and someone batting (kind of like baseball). The bowler tosses the ball, and the batter hits it. After the ball is hit, the batter has to run as many times as he can between two posts and the teams are scored by how many runs they get in between the time when the ball is hit and when it is caught. And that's the game! I'm probably missing tons of important details, but that's what I understood, and I was able to follow pretty well for a first timer (I think)!

Play ball!

Me and Tom, my cricket teacher!

Cricket is fun with friends!

My first meat pie! Australians love them and eat them at all the sporting events!

Group shot!

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

I'm pretty sure Melbourne won this game

Group shot in the members lounge!

Ladies love cricket!

We had so much fun watching the game from the members area, but then we got bored and wandered down into Bay 13, which is notorious for being fun and rowdy! The fans will throw beach balls, evade security, make waves, chant cricket things, and have a good time!

Beach ball! You're actually not supposed to throw them around. It was fun seeing them try to keep it away from security!

There's another one!

The view from Bay 13

Bay 13!

The members area we were in before

There was a cricket at the cricket!

I love how when Australians refer to sporting events, they always say that they are going to "the" cricket; "the" footy, etc. It's one of the many endearing quirks I've found about them since coming here!