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Hello Gross Schechter!
On Monday, after tefillah and breakfast, we immediately headed to the ANU museum in Tel Aviv, which is the museum of the Jewish people. There we learned in-depth about the history of our people. We learned about the traditions Jews from different places in the world have as well as some of their cultural contributions in sports, arts, and government. This museum also contained the oldest Tanakh called the Codex Sassoon; it’s encased in bullet and fireproof glass.
After visiting this museum, we stopped at כיכר החטופים (Hostage Square) to remember all of those affected by the war. The square was fully built by the people of Tel Aviv and the Hostage Family Forum and it’s beyond impactful. The fact that people came together to recognize people who they might not even know and show love toward them is beautiful. This was definitely a favorite part of the day, because it shows the care and resilience of the Jewish people in times of great sadness.
Then we went to the Ayalon Mall for lunch where we went shopping and we got to hang out with our friends. This was the first open Kosher McDonald’s that we were able to eat at, so most people enjoyed burgers and fries there for our pizur.
After that, we went to the Parasport Center, where we got to learn about the people who have disabilities and how they get to play sports. We met with Ariel and he told us about his muscular dystrophy and how he plays bocce ball. Israel is a major participant in the Paralympic Games, partly because of the many wounded soldiers.
While we were there, we learned how to play wheelchair basketball and we even got to try playing it in the wheelchairs they use. The chairs are specialized to help protect players so that they don’t get hurt from running into each other and their fingers don’t get jammed. We were a little over-confident at first about it being easy, because wheelchair basketball was actually really challenging, because we didn’t realize how much we rely on our legs to give push power or force when we go to shoot the ball. Eli did a great job though and actually scored.
After this, we traveled to the Children’s Museum, where we did something called Dialogue in the Dark. This is a tour guided by a blind man, and it guided us through seven different everyday experiences that he has to go through everyday. The catch was that we couldn’t see either. We definitely left with an appreciation for our sight!
Lastly, we went to the Azzarelli Mall where we had dinner and walked around and went shopping.
