Our “Music United – All together” project was launched with an Israeli breakfast consisting of matzo bread with tahini hummus, crunchy vegetable pieces and scrambled cake during Passover, a Jewish religious family festival. The day was full of new impressions, special stories, and the first rehearsals of the music groups, keeping us motivated.

We began the morning by delving deeply into the main topic of our project, the Holocaust, within small groups. We exchanged perspectives on how we had previously encountered this sensitive subject at school or other stages of our lives. For many of us, it was fascinating to learn about this catastrophe from the perspective of Israelis, who have been affected by the violence of that time through their relatives. Schools often organize meetings with contemporary witnesses, and on Holocaust Remembrance Day, a siren goes off throughout Israel, prompting each person to take a two-minute break in silence. Through our discussions, we broadened our understanding of culture and history and engaged in role plays related to discrimination and diversity.

In the afternoon, we formed three teams of media designers, musicians, and singers, based on our strengths, to work towards a great performance.

We set ourselves the goal of exploring Jerusalem on our own after a productive day and set off as a small group at dusk in the direction of the Old City, also known as “the city of gold”. Jerusalem is not only unique spiritually and historically, but it also unites three different religions. During our walk, we explored pretty neighborhoods, narrow alleys, and the center of the Old City, where we encountered the remains of the second Jewish temple, the Wailing Wall, or the Western Wall. It was an incredibly valuable experience for many of us to visit the most religious and sacred place of prayer.

Ph: Bojan Lacmanović

Text: Ninika Schrey