Adventures in Israel: DAY 9 Public bar-mitsvah and the final party

The jews have always been looked at with this curious look and some of their culture and tradition have gradually become common knowledge. I do remember watching Bar-Mitsvahs on TV (American) always in a synagogue , mostly by invitation I would guess, but nothing prepared me from our encounter on our free day yesterday the 29th which happens to be the day before the netherlands celebrates the queens day. Well, as we arrived at old city of jerusalem again, just by the Jaffa Gate, we saw a group of people and then the Shofar was blown,this signifies the begining of celebrations,a call. Then it gradually became obvious, this was a joyful procession towards the western wall
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PRESS PLAY

Getting there, we saw people in every corner of the plain. There must have been at least 12 different boys celebrating their Bar/Mitzvah with their families . Sisters, friends stayed behind a fence and threw sweets and made some screaming sounds. Sweets were also being shared on trays to anybody. They were all dressed in the necessary attire and wow was it colourful and moving to experience this feast!




We took time to visit the Bookshops around the area too.
In the evening we had a final celebratory gathering to look back on 9 amazing days as we get ready to fly back to the netherlands the next day. We sang, gave public recognition to those who had worked so hard to lead, take care of matters and there were dances wrapped up by the song days of Elijah! This is an unforgettable experience. I´ll recommend a visit to Israel to anyone and everyone. It will bless you and probably change a bit of our attitudes and witness the miracle of an oppressed people try to have and existence and actually blooming and growing.



Note: This ends the reports on the Israel trip. We since arrived yesterday back in the Netherlands.