Back in time, Candy, the Kotel and Hoops

On Friday I went back in time to the beginning of Jerusalem in the Time Elevator and learned all about the history of Jerusalem. When we got back to our time my Dad and I went to Machaneh Yehudah and bought a HUGE bag of candy!!!!!! When we got back to the SEC it was time for Shabbat and we davened at the Kotel, which was was really beautiful. I danced with Hesder Yeshiva guys, it was lots of fun. We had dinner at the SEC with Shlomo, Navah and Yisrael. The next morning we went back to the Kotel to daven Shacharit. After that, we had a scrumptous lunch at the SEC. We went up to the room to rest for half an hour and then we took out our basketball. We played basketball first by ourselves and then played a few pickup games with some really nice Israeli high school kids. We played until Shabbat was almost over. Then we made Havdalah and went to Malcha Mall, where we had KOSHER KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN!!!!!!!! Then we headed back and fell asleep right away. We are now packed and off to our journey through the Dead Sea, the North and the South -- away we go!!!!

Thursday, December 16 -- History, Caves and Monkeying Around

Today I went to three places: Herodium, the Stalactite Caves, and the Monkey Park. Herodium was built by King Herod about 2,000 years ago and, after he died, it was used as a fortress during the Jewish rebellion against the Romans. After we went to Herodium, my Dad and I went to the Stalactite Caves, natural caves that are about 20,000,000 years old with stalactites and stalagmites that are about 6,000,000 years old. I think that's really neat! Our last stop was the Monkey Park, where we looked at monkies of all types and even some peacocks, geese, and goats! For dinner we went to Burger Bar, in the Old City of Jerusalem, with my cousin Joseph, who is learning at Yeshivat HaKotel for one year. The food was great! So far this trip is going great!! It is Friday, and we are off to the "Long Market" which is Mahane Yehuda.

 Happy Blogging, Ilan

Wednesday, December 15 -- Ancient Yerushalayim

After a relaxing first day hanging out on Ben Yehuda

street (where we bought really cool commando hiking boots!), Wednesday kicked off our trip with a journey through ancient Jerusalem. We started our day at the Kotel, the holiest place on earth. Then we had a tour through the Archeological Park, which is right next to the Temple Mount and is an archeological digging site where we went inside an 1,800 year old Byzantine house. I climbed the same steps that the Jewish pilgrims used to climb when going to the Beit Ha-Mikdash. We saw a virtual tour of ancient Jerusalem, which gave me a better understanding of what Jerusalem once looked like. After that we had lunch -- yummy salami sandwiches and pickles. After that we went to the City of David (Ir David), where we learned and walked through King Hezekiah's tunnel, a tunnel of water that was used about 4,000 years ago by the Cananites as a fortress and about 3,000 years ago it was used by King David and the Jews as a water supply. Daddy and I were the only two brave ones from our tour who went through the water tunnel. We needed flashlights, and it was fun getting wet! We learned that what we think of as the old city of Jerusalem today is really only a small part of what it used to be! Ancient Jerusalem was so cool! I had tons of fun today and will have more tomorrow!