A Mega Day

We started off today with a big adventure. We made a small trek to the Refuge Caves. These are small underground chambers connected by narrow, and I mean VERY narrow, crawl spaces. Dozens of these cave systems were found in the Judean lowlands. They are assumed to be dug as a response to the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-135 CE) and served as hiding places for the Jewish rebels from the Roman army. When we arrived there we were definitely not prepared for the intensity of the crawl, but it was so much fun. We all entered the cave through a tiny hole no more then two square feet. Bending and contorting our bodies, we navigated through these tiny spaces as the soldiers before us did a couple thousand years ago. It was dark, scary, and very tight but the caves were very cool and historically significant. As we drove back towards Jerusalem, we stopped for lunch and then it was time for the March.

This March is the polar opposite to the one in Poland. While the March of the Living in Auschwitz-Birkenau has been around for 22 years, the March to the Kotel is a relatively new idea being only a few years old. Anyways, the March today was a joyful, happy, and high-energy walk from Kikal Safa (a square in the middle of Jerusalem) to the Kotel (the Western Wall of the Second Temple). There were thousands of people, most of whom had marched with in Poland. Before the March started, there was a huge concert in this square with all of us singing and dancing. Like my typical self, I needed to be in the center of the action, so me and a few other of the BBYO kids pushed our way to the stage where there was a whole bunch of kids really into the festivities from Argentina, Australia, and all of over the United States. We were throwing water on each other, waving Israeli flags, and just enjoying the afternoon. To be honest, I don't know what the performances were, but they were really cool. The performers did traditional Israeli dances for us and there were a few people who sang as well. One of the acts was the Israeli Defense Force doing an impressive dance routine. The real show, however, was on the ground. It wasn't necessarily the performances, but it was our pride of being able to watch them, together, as Jews, in our homeland. It was an incredible experience. We were chanting "Yisrael" and singing songs that, somehow, we all knew. Despite if we could even say hello to each other because of the multitude nationalities represented, we could do so much more by screaming the words to "Am Yisrael Chai". The Jewish people, no matter what corner of the world we are from, have a unique bond, unlike any other, that was palpable at this event. The March began with the singing of Hatikvah, Israel's National Anthem. We Marched together, making new friends from all over the world (shout out to Montreal, Los Angeles, and Cincinnati). We sang and chanted as we marched and just had so much pride and excitement. With the Israeli heat, we were all getting tired, but at the half way mark a large white van contained volenteers who handed out refreshing cold water. Nonetheless, I think the best thing that I saw was the ending point. We ended our March in Jerusalem at the Western Wall. It was a breathtaking site; thousands of teens rejoicing amongst other Jews at the holiest place for our religion. I approached the wall and made my own personal prayer to Hashem. It was a very intense moment. As I finished my prayers, a group of people were circling up and singing and dancing by the wall together in a lively group. This was such a joyous experience and was only a prelude to the Mega Event. We had a break at the hotel and then made our way to the most exciting part of the March of the Living.

All that I can say is that we had a rave tonight. The event was at an Army Base named Latrun. As we arrived they had an outdoor catered dinner that was absolutely delicious. It was crazy, there were thousands of people there eating dinner with us. The place felt like the most incredible concert ever, and it was. It was the Jewish Woodstock of the 2010. We all ate and really enjoyed ourselves and then made walked over to the actual location for the Mega Event. The event took place on a huge stage that was part of a massive outdoor amphitheater. There were thousands of people, thousands of Jewish people, congregated in this arena for the most epic concert ever. Like earlier in the day, I once again needed to be in the center of th actions so myself and a group of my friends pushed our ways to the front gate surrounding the stage and stayed there for the remainder of the show. I have no clue who the performers were, but they were good and it was a lot of fun. The show started with a big song and dance routine that livened up the crowd. The two main singers had really good voices and there was a huge crew of awesome dancers in the background. They sang songs in both Hebrew and English and I actually knew just about all of them. One of the most impactful songs was dedicated to Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was abducted in June 2006 by Palestinian terrorists in a cross-border raid. He is alive today and is held hostage in the Gaza Strip by Hamas. The song was the Beatles' Imagine. Everyone stopped their jumping and chanting and just put their arms around the person next to them. Stranger or friend, everyone swayed with their neighbor in love and in honor of Gilad. Additionally, in between songs, the video screens would show videos with clips from our experiences in Poland last week. The March of the Living staff had been following us at times and BBYO had a lot of appearances in the videos. Our survivor, Trudy, and one of the participants, Zach, had full interviews played on the big screen. Anyways, from the somber to the celebration. They played American songs like "Tik Tok" by Kesha, Michael Jackson's "Heal the World" and then Israeli songs like "Am Yisrael Chai" (a song that we have been singing very frequently on our journey), and many others. We were all jumping and screaming, people were crowd surfing, and good old moshing and parting. Other performances included fire twirling and there were fireworks going off all night. The excitement was outstanding. We made new friends and I will definitely say there was love in the air, especially with American girls and IDF soldiers, if you know what I mean. This Mega Event was the most amazing way to end the March of the Living. Tomorrow is our last day and we are scheduled to climb Masada and bathe in the dead sea before flying back home. It is really sad because I feel as if I could stay in Israel forever. But I guess all good things must come to an end. There will still be one or two more blogs so keep checking back on this site. I thank the loyal followers who have helped this site get so many hits during this journey.
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