The on again, off again heavy rain in Tel Aviv did not get us down for one second on our 3rd action packed day in Israel. Highlights of the day included a tour of the Tel Aviv Arts Museum, lunch at the Sarona Market, and a special activity with an Israel Aspergers organization known as EFFI. There were even more special moments of connecting and discovery which are harder to capture in words.
We were treated to a presentation and discussion to start off our morning with noted journalist, Nathan Jeffay, on the topic of Geopolitics. He taught us a lot about the history of the Middle East, shared many maps of Israel and its neighbors, taught us about history of Israel’s wars, and captured the nuances of covering Israel for foreign publications. Our presenter was very impressed with the types of questions participants asked, and he was impressed with their level of knowledge Israel and geopolitics.
One group member asked, “To what extent do writers covering the region consider historical context?” Another participant asked if David Ben Gurion is really equivalent of George Washington. Someone asked about Israel ‘s relationship with Saudi Arabia, while another referred to the well-known expression, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” The group was mesmerized as Jeffay shared a YouTube video put out by Hamas--in Hebrew--in the form of an MTV-type music video, intended to be used as propaganda. The presenter elaborated on some of the challenges covering the regions, charged us with coming here to see the region with our own and conceded that many news organizations don’t have a sophisticated understanding of geopolitics.
The next stop of the day was the Tel Aviv Museum Art; a place we have not visited in past years on our Birthright trips. We split into two groups and spent about an hour on an organized tour, and about an hour touring the museum on our own. The groups saw some highlights of the museum including works in the main lobby by Agam and Lichtenstein, then entered galleries with impressionist art, some Jewish themed paintings by Gottlieb and Chagall, and 4 works by Klimt. We also viewed some very funky contemporary art.
A short, rainy bus ride ended with excitement at the famous, modern, indoor Sarona Market. We divided into groups and were given the choice of many different lunch options including burgers, pasta, and Mexican food. A real highlight for many was purchasing cookies and milk shakes from one of the vendors!
Another short review bus ride took us to a room belonging to the municipality of Tel Aviv in the building which also houses Google Israel. We spent some time preparing for tomorrow’s visit to Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum. Group participants listened to a very interesting story of Holocaust survival told by one of the staff members about her grandfather and his experience in Poland. Participants demonstrated a tremendous knowledge about the Holocaust, and discussed possible feelings which may be evoked tomorrow.
Following a short period of rest and some games to restore our energy, we spent the next few hours interacting with members of Effie, the Israel Aspergers Association. Arie Syvan, the CEO addressed the group and discussed Ellie’s various social, vocational, advocacy and army service programs. Howard then shared with the Israelis information about Birthright in general, and about the Aspergers trip. Group members from Effie and Birthright then participated in several getting to know your discussions and games, candle lighting and songs, sufganyot (jelly donut) eating, and finally—the eating of TONS of pizza! In the bus discussion on the way home, participants spoke of how nice and interesting it was to meet and get to know Israelis with Aspergers.
Tomorrow, we set out for Yad Vashen in Jerusalem. Following lunch, we will head home for Shabbat, which comes in quite early. I have enjoyed speaking, texting and writing with some of the parents of our participants. Our group phone was not working—our new working phone number is: 055-245-8759.
Please understand that I may not be able to post our next blog until after Shabbat late Saturday night here—we will be heading to the Old City and Kotel—it is magnificent to see all of those oil Chanukiyot burning!
Shabbat Shalom, Happy ‘Chanukah and Chodesh Tov.