Today we went on a tour of Har Hertzl with Benji Davis specifically focusing on 4 major leaders: Theodore Hertzl, Zev Jabotinsky, Golda Meir, Chana Senesh. At each one of these graves we discussed what the leader did in their lifetimes and how it effected people In the moment and the lasting effect. Throughout our tour Benji used many techniques that modeled leadership. Firstly, the first thing he did before even entering the cemetery was frame what we were about to do. This really helped us get into the mindset and really reflect on what we were about to embark on. Then at each grave Benji gave a quick but thorough summary of what the leader accomplished and then asked a question of what we thought of the leadership style that person chose. This created an environment where we were able to be completely honest with our opinions and express what we felt would be the right path to take if we were in the shoes of one of these leaders. Another thing that Benji did that particularly stood out to
me was the way he brought conversations back. If the discussion had veered off to a different direction, we would continue the conversation and Benji would slowly, without shutting down our ideas, bring us back to the main point. Benji is a prime example of a leader because he knows exactly how to engage the audience with a balance of getting the information he wanted across while also making it a fun experience. The tour we took today was not the traditional tour of Har Hertzl, but nonetheless, it was an extremely powerful, meaningful, and moving experience for us all.