I woke up in Netanya and got a passion fruit and mango smoothie. It was really yummy. Ron Zach and I then took a two hour bus from Netanya to Jerusalem. It was a long journey but we got to Jerusalem at around 15:30.
After settling into our Airbnb Ron and I went to Gan Sacher to get a nice workout in. The air was so crisp and the weather was so nice.
In the evening Ron and I met up with Chaim Rosenheim and his friend Miles at Hatch at the Shuk. The last time I saw Chaim was 5 years ago at FSU. It was great hearing about his experiences in Israel and all the amazing opportunities Jerusalem had to offer.
At dinner we sat next to a South African by the name of Dean. He is a reservist in the IDF and told us how he was probably going into Lebanon tomorrow. He told us how a bomb flew by his arm a couple days ago. He has been in and out of Gaza and Lebanon the past year. **It was crazy seeing a hero in the flesh just casually sitting next to you at a bar. This is Israel.**
He told us how the IDF tried to airstrike a mansion base in Lebanon but it was so secure they had to go in by foot. On the ground they destroyed it and found truck loads of explosives with names of places in Israel they were about to drive in and do an attack on. It was really inspiring to see his bravery and he acted so nonchalantly about his experiences.
After the Shuk we went to the old city for selichot. We sang songs and danced together. It was great energy and an awesome time!
