From Josh De Young:

We got to Philadelphia on Tuesday night and stayed in the suburbs, which are actually in New Jersey. While our trip can be educationally intense, we take time to have fun. Tonight, we went to see Dave Matthews in concert. It was a great night to sit under the stars, people watch and listen to some music and just have a good time.

There is no better way to experience America in the city it was started in, then to really practice one of the main ideas of America. To love your fellow Americans, and we started our stay in Philadelphia doing just that.

Early in the morning we went to Trevor’s place. Trevor’s Place is a shelter for those in need started by a 14 year old suburban teen who saw the plight of the homeless and began to take blankets out to them. That was in the late 1980’s and it has turned into a major operation. We worked with kids at a day camp. We helped a baseball camp, played basketball, and made hats with the children. When our short two-hour stay there was up, there was not a person in the group who didn’t have a huge smile on their face.

After our good byes, hugs, and high fives, we headed downtown to Independence mall. I started thinking, if Boston was the birthplace of the revolution, then Philadelphia was the birthplace of America. We started at the Liberty bell, a symbol for our country. It’s not perfect, but it is there, and holds true to liberty and justice for all. As Jews, we took great pride in the fact that the inscription on the Liberty Bell is from the Torah.

We then went to the Constitutional museum. Billy spoke with us about the importance of the phrase, “We the people of the United states, in order to form a more perfect union….” The opening words to the constitution of the United States are what this trip is all about. We the people, are investigating our America, in order to make change in America to form “a more prefect union.” America is not flawless, but we must work to make it MORE perfect. Those opening words really spoke to me as an American. It is my job as a citizen of America to investigate, question, and make change to form “a more perfect union.”

After all this time looking into the constitution, and what it really means, we all were ready to have some time to show some patriotism and spend our money. On our way to South Street, we stopped by Benjamin Franklin’s house. Nothing remains of it except the base house the house. Leaving the frame of the house to our imagination. We then went into the underground museum. To put it lightly, the museum was straight out of the 1970’s. We still got a lot out of the museum.

We finished the night out by running up the steps of the Museum of Art as Rocky did in the movie “Rocky” and we ate Philly cheese steaks at the place they originated, Pats Steaks. Tonight we drove to Washington D.C., I cant wait to take everything I have learned the past 30 days, and use it in our conversations with the people who make the decisions for our country.

Meeting the children at Trevor’s Place

Making hats for funny hat day

Seeing the excavations at the Ben Franklin house

Eating the home cooking of Philadelphia