Zeminar Part 4

The Gush Etzion Bloc

Our first stop was at the Kfar Etzion Sound and Light Show.  It was basically a movie telling us about the history of the Etzion Bloc.  Afterwards we took a stroll on path of our forefathers.  We walked on the path that Abraham and Isaac walked, the path that David walked, and the path that many other Jews walked to get to the temple.  We saw the hills where different ancient battles took place.  Battles of the Maccabees (not to be confused with Maccabeats) and battles against Herod's Roman armies.  On the path we saw an ancient mikveh that people used to spiritually cleanse themselves before going to the holy temple.  We walked from Kfar Etzion to Ne've Daniel.  In Ne've Daniel there is a famous bakery where everyone bought some pastries to munch on.  Once we were in Ne've Daniel, we went to a shul called the box shul, because it looked like a box, and there we had someone speak to us about the history of Ne've Daniel.  He told us about all the wars that took place there and how people would defend it until they died.
The last thing that we did is we went to Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem.  There we learned about the six day war in 1967 and the capture of Jerusalem.  Before 1967, only half of Jerusalem was in the hands of the Jews, and one of the parts that was not in their hands was the Old City where I live today.  We saw how the Jews conquered the territory from the Jordanians and the land that they conquered continued growing.  Ammunition Hill was a specifically harsh battle because the soldiers fighting there were unfamiliar with the area and there were many places for the Jordanians to hide.  After losing many men, they finally won the battle.  That night was our night off so I went out for dinner with my friend from camp, Michal.  We haven't seen each other for a couple of months so it was really good to just catch up.

Politics


The Israeli government is different then all other governments because what happens in Israel influences Jews all around the world.  If the government tells someone to do something against religion and it isn't in a life or death situation, they don't have to obey.  If it is any other kind of order, they are obligated to do what they are told.  The Knesst is the Israeli parliament.  There is only one house and there are 120 members.  There are many differnt parties and each year there are a different number of parties in the Knesset.
The biggest issue that people vote on is security.  The left wing parties are willing to do anything for peace while the right wing parties still want peace but they have a firmer, stricter stand.
Meretz- the most left wing party (3 seats)
Labor Party- left wing  founded by David Ben Gurion (8 seats)
Independance- a deviation from the labor party (5  seats)
Kadima- this middle party is the biggest party today (28 seats)
Likud- a right wing party led by Binyamin Netanyahu (27 seats)
National Untion- the most right wing party (4 seats)
Some parties have their focus mainly on religion because it's a major concern in regards to a Jewish state.
United Torah Judaism- ultraorthodox Ashkenazi (5 seats)
SHAS- ultra orthodox Sefardi led by Rav Ovadia Yosef (11 seats)
Jewish Home- modern orthodox (3 seats)
There are also always a couple of random parties that apply only to specific groups of people.
Arab Parties- Arabs make up more than 20% of the population (11 seats)
Yisrael Beitenu- represents Russian Jews (15 seats)
(The Green Leaf Party who is trying to legalize marijuana tried to join with the Holocaust Survivors party so they could get seats in the Knesset but they didn't get enough votes)

Mount Herzl


The last part of the Zionist Seminar was visiting the famous military cemetery. Graves of all the members of the army who fell in battle are here.  Also here are the graves of prime ministers, presidents, and speakers of the knesset.  There are also many memorials for people who aren't buried here but deserve to be remembered.  There is the memorial for soldiers who fought in battles before the IDF was established.  There is the memorial for soldiers who fought in the old city, the youngest one being only ten years old.  There is also a memorial for all victims of terror attacks. One of the biggest memorials was for the soldiers whose grave sites are unknown.  Tomorrow they are holding a ceremony for these soldiers.  The significance of this date is that it is the date the Moses passed away and just like these soldiers, we do not know where her was buried.

We closed Zeminar with seeing all of these memorials of things that we have learned about over the past week or so.  I learned so much on the Zeminar and it really helped me greater appreciate the country that we Jews have to live in.  I hope you too have learned a lot from all I have told you.  Shalom V'lehitraot!