Achim in Chicago's Sister City | Shorashim - Israel with Israelis

Achim in Chicago's Sister City

There isn't anything like snuggling up with people that you have barely gotten to know. We are not only close in proximity but in spirit and kindness as well. Although yesterday we spent most of our time inside a bus, the quality of the time we spent is unmatched.
It was an extremely humbling and enlightening experience to spend time with the 5th graders in Kiryat Gat's Menachem Begin Elementary School. The intelligence and kindness of the children was fantastic and they made all of us feel like rockstars. They loved having the presence of American's, and I think we learned more from them than they did from us. I was blown away at how well the kids knew English and how much they wanted to know about us. I personally spent time with a young boy who loved soccer and Real Madrid. I like FC Barcelona so we had a lot to talk about and how our teams were rivals. He enjoyed learning about us and America and was especially happy to hang on to the puzzle piece that defined me. I then was able to step out of my comfort zone and I danced with young children who taught me what happiness really was. I realized that for the first time in awhile that I was genuinely extremely happy, sameach. Chilling on the playground with all of those nice and young children embodies what this trip is about for me. We must give back for this extremely generous gift that was bestowed upon us through birth.
An afternoon spent in the home of Noy (one of our Israelis) was great. The tremendous hospitality shown by her family made me understand what Israelis are really about. I'm not sure that people in the US are the same, as I have never experienced such generosity from people that I have never met. We learned about the hardship of living near Gaza and how they are always prepared for the worst. Many of the condos had shelters to protect from rockets, which have occurred a couple of times within the last 10 years. Noy's parents, we learned, both made Aliyah to Israel from countries in Europe and they felt that it is a big part of being a Jew.
Understanding the struggle of people that live near the Gaza Strip is hard to put into words. Gaza is sealed off from the rest of Israel by a fence and wall. Gaza contains mostly Arabs and what remains of the Palestinians. We all know that peace has been long-awaited for several people on each side of the conflict, and one woman that we encountered tries to gain peace through a different kind of method. Her artwork allows her to express her want for peace and serenity. She, along with many others, constructed an incredible and majestic work of art on a wall that signals their want for peace. Each person that visits the wall can add to it with little ceramic piece of art that this woman constructs. All of us chose what we wanted to place on the wall from her selection and the one I picked said peace on it. As a supporter of Israel, I understand the want for peace and desire it as well. This woman's optimism along with many others allows me to believe that peace is possible. Although this conflict has raged on for years and years, peace is achievable through cooperation and patience.
After our view of the Gaza border, we visited a greenhouse in the community and it was a bit of a different activity. Moving away from talks of conflict, we experienced some fun as our peers tried several different vegetables with a blindfold in an attempt to figure out what each was. We then planted beets and picked them as well as tomatoes. We then settled into the Bedouin camp and learned their core values and ideologies. Their culture and way of life is much different than most of us. I respect and understand why they live a certain way. We ended the night with a nice meal and campfire, which couldn't have made the day any better.
Each day here has brought a new experience, a new friend, and a new idea of why we are all here. This once in a lifetime opportunity has been embraced by each and every person on our trip. People have opened themselves up to each other and have shared things that they may have never done before. Our campfire brought a new experience and time of reflection that was executed phenomenally by all 51 of us. I have many close friends at home that I have never told the things that I told the group. There is a great sense of comfort and calm for me that allows me to be myself and share who I am. Birthright might be one of the single best experiences of my life and will shape me as an individual for the foreseeable future.

Sincerely,

Josh Epstein