Hello, my name is Hannah Srour and I’m from Ottawa, the amazing capital city of Canada  (no it’s not that boring, we do have parliament hill and the prime minister). So far this trip has gone way beyond my expectations. Not even two full weeks in and I’ve already made amazing friends. This week, our bus got the opportunity to  spend Shabbat in Jerusalem. Before I left, my father sat me down and told me something extremely important: absorb and understand the holiness of the land of Israel. He told me that everywhere I go, I should think about the history and who might have walked in those places in previous years. I took this piece of advice to heart but I don’t think I really absorbed it until I came to the kotel (the western wall) on erev Shabbat. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that it was a very emotional experience. When I first saw it, I was in awe and the only thought I could really process was: wow it’s so tall. After that, we ate our meal in the old city with our guest speaker rabbi Nissel and his family. Saturday was a bit more relaxed than the intense experience of the night before. Rabbi Nissel spoke to us before we ate lunch. In the afternoon, we had the option to got to a question and answer activity with the rabbi which was followed by a walking tour of the city. I’ll admit, I did not go on the walking tour (sorry family) because myself and a few others stayed to speak with the rabbi for 3 hours (I hope that’s a good enough reason). However, from what I heard, the walking tour was really amazing. Overall, Shabbat in Jerusalem was an extremely inspiring experience and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the trip. Shalom!

P.s. I was asked to write this: “hi mom”- Julien
Ps. I was asked to write this as well “this trip is awesome, love you mom and dad” – Ian