Day 12 - Sightseeing Jerusalem & Tel Aviv: Tali Katz

Yad Vashem - a Holocaust museum in Israel, the land of the Jews. Today I felt the pride of being a Jew. As we walked out of the children's museum to see a view of the whole of Jerusalem, a city that the 6 million Jews including the 1.5 million children, never had the opportunity to see, I felt proud of how far the Jews have come.
 
We then went to Shuk Hakarmel and Nachalat Binyamin in Tel Aviv where we met with the Canadian delegation and sat and ate with them. Again, I felt part of something bigger than myself. Sitting in Israel having lunch with complete strangers I felt safe because I had the security of knowing that they were also Jewish. We had many things in common and didn't battle to find a topic of conversation. We spoke about our feelings and lessons from the experience and what this trip meant to us.
 
During the bus drive back to Jerusalem, I've been reflecting on the trip. When I first arrived, I didn't know what was awaiting me and I was ready to put the experience behind me because I was scared and nervous for what lay ahead of me. Looking back, I'm not ready to leave and go home back to reality. I wish it was still my first day. This whole experience has been life changing. I became a witness amongst witnesses, I engaged with Jews from all over the world, I learnt so many lessons, and I learnt about the importance of tolerance. As we head back to our hotel and prepare for our last Shabbat together, I am privileged and grateful to be spending Shabbat in Jerusalem. I am spending this Shabbat in Israel in honour of the 6 million that never had the opportunity to do so.
 
March of the Living has been a life changing experience that I will never forget and as I prepare to go back home, I take back with me all the lessons and memories but most importantly the realisation of how important it is to educate the future generations and learn from our past so that history will not repeat itself.

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