Photos, Day 7 through 11

Day 7, Saturday, August 9, The Kotel (aka Western Wall, aka Wailing Wall) on Erev Tisha B'Av. Now, I'm not sure that the evening when this holiday begins is actually an "erev" since it's not a holiday that's celebrated for two days, in part I assume because it's a fast day and recalls the destruction of the First Temple. But regardless, you can see how many thousands of people crowd the esplanade and prayer areas. On the left in the photo is the area for the men and on the right, the women. I have video from both sides. (This is the place where Barack Obama placed a note in the cracks and someone removed it and Ma'ariv published it.)


Day 8, Sunday August 10, Yad Vashem These two large pieces of artwork (relief in some kind of metal) are absolutely speech-stopping. At the moment, I can't locate specific info about the artwork, but the one on the right contains images primarily of Jews being shuttled out of the ghetto toward delivery to concentration camps with only two or three images looking up (a child is one) while the rest look down and downtrodden. The image on the left is of several individuals who appear to be fighting or putting up a fight, showing resistance.

Day 9, Monday, August 11, Tel Aviv, The Ayalon Institute This location was an underground, secret bullet factory which manufactured something like 2 million bullets for use during the War of Independencein 1948-49. Not even the residents of the Kibbutz knew what was going on beneath a bakery and a laundry.


Day 10, Tuesday, August 12 Bike ride south along the Mediterranean, from Rosh Hanikra down to beach location for sunset swim and BBQ dinner (this day was my birthday).

Day 11, Wednesday, August 13 Underground portion of the Western Galilee Hospital (ancillary to regular hospital) that will have more than 400 beds, located near the Lebanese border, north of Haifa. Was used during July 2006 military conflict with Lebanon. You can see tours of the underground on YouTube.