First days in Israel!
Today, we woke up to a beautiful, sunny day on the Golan Heights. We’re staying at Kibbutz Afik. The first place we went to was Banias, which is the site of ancient Greek and Roman ruins. It was a place dedicated to Pan, the Greek half-man, half-goat, who represented nature and festivity, and who liked to jump up behind people and scare them, thus creating Pan-ic. When the Greeks came here, the Hebrews didn’t know how to say “Pan” with the “P”, so it became “Ban”, and thus the name Banias. We saw a beautiful stream, Roman bridges, and a hydraulic flour mill which, when the water level is high enough, is still used today. Next, we went to see the Banias Falls, where the stream becomes a beautiful waterfall. There was an excellent view of Mt. Hermon here, which is covered in snow right now. The Israelis, and those of us who are not normally exposed to snow, were very excited. We even pulled over before our next stop, to play in the snow, and we had a snowball fight! We then drove to Mt. Bental, which overlooks the border between Israel and Syria. There, Ido, one of the Israelis on our trip, told us about the history of the area of the Golan Heights, and we talked about the Six-Day War, and its importance in the history of Israel. I think it’s incredible that in only six days, Israel was able to defeat encroaching armies, and also spread its borders to new limits. The Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, and parts of the West Bank, were all acquired in only six days. AMAZING! Next, we went to a cemetery near the Kineret, in English it's the Sea of Galilee. Rachel, a poet who came to Israel in 1909, is buried there. There were stones on her grave, which made me feel very connected to Israel and to our location, because my family puts stones on the graves of our family every time we visit a cemetery where our family members are buried. It has been amazing listening to everyone’s background, and the way we all connect with Judaism. It is a different experience for everyone, but it is nice to know that some things about Judaism are universal. The Israelis were very surprised to see that everyone on the trip knew the Shehechianu, the prayer for renewal, which we said after dinner last night. I have loved interacting with the Israelis. Their experiences and lifestyles are so vastly different from ours, serving in the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) at 18 years old, and not going to University or Higher Education until they are ready, is very interesting to learn about. The boys have to serve in the IDF for 3 years, and girls are required to serve for 2. Something that has never been clearly conveyed to me is how many different parts there are of the IDF. Ido, for instance, works intelligence, so it’s mostly a desk-job which involves reading very important, private documents, and the job makes him sign a document saying that he will not enter Jordan until 5 years after he leaves the IDF, because the information he knows is so important to the State of Israel. Bat-Chem’s job is keeping in touch with the reserves - people who can be called on for service in case of an emergency - and maintaining contacts with many different stations of the IDF. She gets to go home every night to her family, and live her life as if her job is a regular, 9-5 job. This is another concept that I feel most Jews in the U.S. do not realize is part of the IDF: it’s not just sleeping with troops, and living on a base as a unit. Oshri is a medic, so he helps with car crashes, accidents, and he even volunteered to help at the West Bank, with a group called Lev Echad, which means “One Heart”, when he was only 17 or 18 years old. Noam gets to lead tours and teach classes to soldiers, including those who did not get to finish learning Hebrew in school. Tonight, we had a group discussion on what it means to be Jewish, and what is important in maintaining a Jewish lifestyle. It’s been awesome so far, and I think everyone is getting along really well with each other! I can’t wait to see what other experiences we can share, and what else we can all learn from each other. That’s all for now, L’hit Raot (See you later)!
