MOMentum Day 4- Ode to Jerusalem

Thursday in Jerusalem began with a short walk to the morning session with Adrienne, as all mornings began on our Momentum journey.  Today we considered the value of Emunah.  

She asked us to consider that Emunah was not blind faith but rather about trust, faithfulness and steadfastness, sticking with the faith filled journey, even when we don’t understand it.

With this as our guide we set out on our day’s journey; first visiting Har Herzl (military cemetery) and then the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem and finally the Kotel.

As we entered the hallowed Har Herzl with our guide Yael we were still raw with emotions from our visit to Nova Festival site on the prior day.

Our walk began with graves of historical Jewish heroes such as Yonatan Netanyahu, it concluded with the fresh graves of young men and women who are the fallen heroes of the current war with Hamas that has raged since October 7, 2023.  We solemnly visited each grave, filled with pictures, flowers, keepsakes and letters torn apart by the visible grief of parents; children and loved ones. 

We did not know these soldiers, but we also grieved for the loss of young lives cut short by a hate filled war.

Following reflections in our groups, we gathered our belongings and went on our pilgrimage to the Old City of Jerusalem.

We entered Jerusalem through the Zion Gate and found ourselves in the central square of the Jewish Quarter, which was rebuilt after 1967. Most of us ate Falafel for lunch and quenched our retail therapy before accompanying Yael through excavations and the ancient Cardo from Roman times which sits below the Jewish Quarter. 

As we wrapped up our tour we found ourselves on the rooftop terrace of Aish Hatorah with a magnificent view of the Kotel and the Temple Mount.

Adrienne joined us in the evening to prepare us spiritually for our visit to the Kotel. We welcomed Soul Full – a guidebook for prayer. She reinforced the notion that prayer doesn’t have one right form, and each person can approach their prayer in their own voice freely.

Together we walked out onto the Western Wall Plaza and joined our sisters at the Kotel for prayer. 

In a moment of “Higher Power” we shared the plaza with a large gathering of young soldiers and their families, brought together in a ceremony to celebrate their induction into their platoons.  Singing Hatikvah with them at the conclusion of the ceremony was a hopeful end to our day.

— Leslie O