We traveled in the morning to the hilltop of Ramat Rachel for a last look at the Old City. Jerusalem is to the north and Bethlehem, site of Rachel’s tomb, to the south. We heard verses from Jeremiah, Chapter 31, “…thy children shall come again to their own border.” I think we’re all a little stir crazy by now. When Hiam started talking about Jeremiah, we spontaneously began to sing, “Joy to the World.” You know, Jeremiah was a bullfrog… etc. We looked at the pre 1967 border, which ran along this very hilltop. On the next till to the east, we can clearly make out the security barrier being erected by Israel to keep the terrorists out.
We had the afternoon free to do some last minute shopping, and then we had a farewell dinner in the evening where we heard closing remarks from Jonotan and Haim. Then we all said our good-byes. After almost two weeks together the group had begun to feel like family, including Moshe, our bus driver. I will miss them all. We have one another’s email and snail-mail addresses, and I hope we will be able to exchange photos of the trip and keep in touch with each other.
I will be spending one more Shabbat in Jerusalem before heading back to Atlanta Sunday night. Below are photos taken from Ramat Rachel, and yes, those are trees on top of the tall columns.
