The youth movements starts off the year with a Forgiveness Tour in Jerusalem
For the last 10 years, Hanoar Haoved – the youth movement associated with Dror Israel - has run a Forgiveness Tour in the old city in Jerusalem to mark Yom Kippur – the holiest day on the Jewish calendar during which Jewish people traditionally beg forgiveness for their sins from both humans and God. The Forgiveness Tour is a way of marking Yom Kippur in a uniquely youth movement manner, and appropriate for teen participants from both secular and traditional backgrounds. The activity consists of a walking tour around the old city of Jerusalem with textual learning at each stop. At the end, the participants go to the Kotel (the Western Wall) and pray for the new year. The 250 participants from throughout the country were in grades 9-12.
“We invite the participants to a tour of the old city and a visit to the Kotel in the month of Elul. Elul is the month of forgiveness and mercy and is just before Rosh Hashana and the Days of Awe,” said Roei Moisa, a leader of this year’s tour.
The tour started in Park Teddy near the old city. They then walked on the promenade on top of the city walls, entered the city via the Zion gate and had a discussion in one of the gardens inside. From there they continued to the Kotel and then returned to Park Teddy via the Dung Gate and Derech HaShalom.
“It’s important to run a Forgiveness Tour because Yom Kippur something big that happens in Israeli society and is important to a lot of participants. It’s an opportunity for the participants to come with their friends to the Kotel. There is also a desire to start the Jewish New Year and school year with an activity that talks about repairing society, forgiveness, justice and dreams for the new year for the individual, for the youth movement, for their families and Israeli society,” Moisa tells us.
May we be written in the Book of Life- Gmar Chatima Tova!