March of the Living 1999 Diary

April 19, 7:55 AM

Ah, an up on the emotional roller coaster. I’m in it and loving every minute.

After I took the shower, I decided not to let things ruin my trip. This was helped when Ari came to the room and we talked a bit. I swear, without him I would have hated this trip. But he’s here, so all is good.

I read for a little bit, the first real reading I’ve done since the March began. Then I went downstairs and played Mau. We made so many more rules! I must write them down before I forget. [Note: The point of the card game Mau is to figure out all the rules. Each time a person wins a round, he gets to make up a new rule.]

Then we went to the Kotel. We walked through the streets of the Jewish Quarter of Old Jerusalem. I loved it there. Most of the streets are really small, so there’s no cars, and it’s all clean. It’s really pretty.

Just before we got to the Kotel, we saw a group of army people doing a practice, I assume for tonight. I watched that for a while.

Oh! I keep forgetting to mention: culture shock! The thing I’ve noticed most about Israel so far is that there are people in uniform everywhere! We went to the mall yesterday for lunch and I saw so many of them. Everywhere. I love looking at them. It’s not because I want to go out with an army guy or anything like that, like everyone thinks, but just because I love the look of a uniform.

So, the Kotel. My first thought was, "Wow, is this big!" Then I went closer and walked right up to it and touched it. The floor in front of the Kotel was smooth and white, marble, I think. I was surprised that the stones of the Kotel were so smooth. It almost didn’t feel like rock. I don’t know what I was expecting to feel, but I don’t think I felt it. It was very nice there. I remember thinking that all these people, thousands and millions of them, all came together, drawn by this own wall. That, to me, more than anything anyone else might say, is the power of the Kotel. It brings people who might have nothing to do with each other together.

I have to get on the bus now. Back in a minute.

I’m back. Wow! In the lobby I saw an actual monk! Chinese, I think. I guess all sorts of people come here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before.

Okay, the Kotel. I guess I was thinking like a humanitarian. While I didn’t feel any sort of super-natural power, I did feel something. It was the power of faith, of coming together, and of bonding. So many different people come to this one place to pray and to hope. It’s amazing. A wall that might otherwise have been considered old and ugly is seen as beautiful and holy. That’s power.

Two very good things happened since I came back. The first is that I got my razor to work! I can now wear shorts. The second is I found my Israeli Shkalim that Bubby gave me. I have 220 shkalim, or about $45 US. Very happy-making. : )

Okay, until later,
Julie