By Elysheva Barnett, NFTY in Israel Participant, Bus 9
Saturday was Shabbat in Jerusalem as we all know, we received the option to wake up for breakfast or show up for services at 10:55 a.m. I personally chose to wake up for breakfast, it was very good and we were offered a lot of choices. It was a nice reprieve from the desert we had been in just a day ago. Then, once 10:55 a.m. rolled around, we had Saturday morning Shabbat services, however it was also an extremely special Shabbat service because Molly from Bus 8 had her Bat Mitzvah. It was really nice for me to be in a room of people who knew all the songs and sang them with such enthusiasm. For me, that service really brought me closer to Judaism.
Once the services had ended we had lunch and were granted a free day until 6:00 p.m. The pool was open from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., and we could hang out in the lobby, hallways, and our own rooms should we choose. I found it nice because I was able to interact with all the buses and people I hadn’t before. When the time hit 6:00 p.m. we all had dinner. Then at 7:00 p.m. we climbed in our buses and went to Ben Yehuda St. We got explore until 9:00 p.m. and then we went back to the hotel, with rooms in at 10:00 p.m. All and all it was just a very relaxing day for me in general.
