July 8th

Jerusalem on this Sunny Sunday

The group ventured to Jerusalem, they went to the Davidson center to over look the city and talk about the history of the amazing old city and try to understand some of the political history as well.

After lunch, MBI went to Machaneh Yehuda which is a huge open air

market in Jerusalem. Though some were initially surprised that it

didn't look like a shopping mall or grocery store, soon MBIers were

exploring the different parts of the market and buying things like,

fruit, snacks and candy. Others were buying spices and/or Judaica to

take home after MBI. They also had a group activity to do in the market as a way to keep there eyes out for new things.

The last stop today, was at one of the most spiritual of cities in the

World - Jerusalem. First the MBIers explored the narrow alleyways of

the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and made their way to the Kotel

(western wall). The Kotel is part of the surviving outer wall from the

2nd temple period, and is the most spiritual and central location of

Judaism today. It is sometimes an overwhelming experience for some

MBIers to come face to face with such a meaningful and historic place,

but this is not always true. A common conversation that came about

spontaneously amongst different groups of MBIers was about whether

visiting the Kotel had been meaningful for them or not. You might be

surprised at how large the range was of emotions in visiting this holy

site.