We met with a rabbinic student who works with the Israeli Religious Action Center (IRAC). They are funded in part by the Reform Movement. The state funds construction of synagogues and pays Rabbis only if they are Orthodox. Marriages and divorces are controlled by the Chief Rabbinate which is controlled by the ultra-orthodox. The last three chief rabbis all have the same last name. There are 50 reform congregations in Israel. They are different than the reform movement in the US because they are more innovative. The IRAC plays a major role in taking legal action against the state and the chief rabbinate to support the religious rights of all. They are actively involved with Women of the Wall. After this talk we visited the Hand in Hand school. There are 6 such schools in Israel and they are building two more. Hand in Hand was founded by Lee Gordon, a Portland resident. Hand in Hand is a bilingual school with Israeli Jewish and Israeli Palestinian students. It is a K-12. It’s mission is to build partnership, coexistence, and equality between the Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel. After this we walked through the Nachlaot area which has been inhabited by Haredi for over 150 years. We then lunched and looked around the Mahane Jehudah market. After lunch three of us separated from the group and visited the Mt. Hertzl National Cemetery. I like to visit the grave of Hannah Senesh. She was a young parashooter during WW II who jumped into Germany to help resistance fighters, was captured and killed by the Germans. She was a brilliant poet and wrote the words to the song Elli, Elli. I didn’t want to go to Yad Vashem. I have been there twice on previous visits to Israel. The first three pictures are from the school. The next two from Nachlalot. The sign says women must dress conservatively so as not to desecrate their holy space. The last picture is Hannah Senesh’s grave site.