We began the day with our usual breakfast of salad and then boarded the bus for a short ride to the Western Wall and the Old City of Jerusalem. We rode or walked through each of the four quarters, which, as we learned, aren’t evenly divided quarters at all. Walking through the Muslim quarter was especially interesting. We saw stores selling Jewish souvenirs right alongside giant wooden crosses, with huge Persian rugs for sale hanging on the walls. Delicious smells came from the bakeries selling flat ovular “Jerusalem bagels” and of course, fresh pomegranate juice.

What trip would be complete without a visit to the western wall? We entered the plaza next to the wall and I went in to get a closer look. I never realized how tall the wall actually was until it was towering overhead. There were tons of people praying and touching the wall. Then we entered the tunnels under the wall for a tour led by our wonderful educator Efrat. Interesting fact, the western wall is not actually part of the temple, but part of the foundation that held it up. The tunnels underneath lead through cool cisterns and mikvahs. The most amazing part though was the size of the stones. They were enormous. We saw one that was a solid piece of rock 35 feet long and 10 feet wide. It weighted 500 tons and somehow they managed to drag it to the wall. It was one of the coolest places I have ever been

The hotel served meatballs for dinner, but let’s just say there aren’t any Italians in Israel.

After dinner, we all put on our matching “Taglit: Birthright Israel” shirts and went to the International Convention Center for the Mega Event. As soon as we approached the building we saw a group from Brazil waving an enormous flag, jumping up and down, and shouting BRAZIL. Of course in response, the 1000s of American taglit kids began a U. S. A. chant effectively drowning out the competition. In addition to the Brazilian group we met people from Argentina, Russia, Canada, the U.K, Urguay, Poland, Australia, Germany, and all over the U.S.

As soon as we took our seats in the hall we were standing up again for a crazy dance party and, of course, some more cheering. Then Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyaHOO entered and gave a rousing, freestyle speech welcoming us home and encouraging us to get to know Israel. We next heard from the people who made Birthright possible and were glad to be making their dreams come true by coming Israel. ….and then the show began.

The whole thing felt like a rock concert. A rapper jumped on stage with his crew and spit some sweet rhymes about Israel. Next a dance troupe performed as an Israeli singer sang a bunch of songs. There were fireworks going off and really cool video effects. Finally the mega act stepped on stage: a famous Reggae musician from Israel named Mosh ben Ari. All of Taglit started dancing, even our tour guide Efrat joined in. She definitely moves like Jagger. But of course the night couldn’t be complete without one more dance party, so we all stopped in the lobby for one last rave. One of the Isralei soldiers with us, Shacher, started breaking it down and even engaged in a dance off with one of the other kids in our group. By 11:30 we were partied out and trekked back the hotel where we all fell into bed for our last night in Jerusalem. Next, onto Tzfat!