Last night was the last true Israeli Experience on our trip. We made the long journey from our hotel in Tel Aviv all the way to Jerusalem. Once we got there we met with our friends from Beit Shean. Together, we walked for about 15 minutes until we reached a delicious restaurant where we had dinner together. At the restaurant were given an endless supply of Israeli food such as pita, hummus, chips, meat, and salads. The food was very good and we all enjoyed it along with the fabulous company from our hosts.
After we were finished eating, we walked outside and then began our walk. Finally, after days of anticipation, it was time to go to the Idan Raichel concert! We arrived at The Sultan Pool arena – a magnificent outdoor theatre. We were all given tickets and headed up to our amazing seats, (definitely not as far away from the stage as possible or anything) were we were all able to lounge back and enjoy the music even though most of the Americans didn’t understand a single thing Idan Raichel was saying.
After some time, a large part of the group decided to head down the stairs to a more open area where we could dance around and pretend like we knew the music. Everybody had a great time jumping around and going absolutely crazy together. The new shinshinim – who will be coming to Cleveland in August – came down to dance with us as well which was very fun.
Finally, at the very end of the concert, the 1 song we actually knew was played. Amnon showed us the song at a seminar a few months back and since then it has transformed into one of Israel’s biggest hits. I truly believe that the concert was able to give us all a different taste of Israeli society as well as a memory that can last a lifetime.