Early to Bed, Early to Rise...Experiencing Tel Aviv was Wise

We started out Thursday in the worst way possible - AN EARLY WAKE-UP. We had to wake up at 5:45 because we were in a new hotel and had to drive at least 40 minutes just to get back Tel Aviv, where we will spend most of the remainder of our trip.

Anyway, we realized that everything in our new hotel is actually much better than our previous hotel - the food, rooms, and even key cards instead of keys.

We then went to Israel's Independence Hall where on May 4, 1948 David Ben Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. We learned that the staff who prepared the room for the event had to take furniture and art from local buildings to decorate the room.

We then went to Rabin Square/Kikar Rabin where we viewed the memorial for former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, who was assassinated by a Jewish extremist who was opposed to the peace process on November 4, 1995. This major event in Israel's history caused major controversy throughout the land. In small groups, we met and interviewed Israelis about that day. Two of them had been at the rally for peace held immediately prior to Rabin's assassination. 

 After viewing Rabin's memorial we made our way to the Palmach museum. (Rabin himself was part of the Palmach as a young man). The Palmach was one of the para-military groups before the IDF was created; they were the "striking force" of the Haganah. Much of the Palmach was made up of teenagers. Their efforts are a major part of why the land of Israel exists today.

Then, we made our way back to the hotel where we relaxed until 7:30 when some kids had visitation and the rest of us had a fun program run by our Israeli staff. After visitation our staff understood it had been a long 24 hours...so we headed to our rooms for an early night.  -Sam